San Francisco Beer Week: Chocolate & Beer Events

San Francisco Beer Week is upon us. January 22-January 31. San Francisco is home to over 100 breweries who produce some of the best beer in the U.S. I recently attended a launch for Beer Week, and I tasted a lot of Chocolate Beers and Chocolate Ales, as well as beers that have definitely chocolate notes. I liked them all. Since I often pair chocolate with beer for tastings, I thought I'd mention a few events coming up, as well as some special Chocolate Ales. They're going to be lots of other Beer Events, too, all over the Bay Area in Bars, Breweries, restaurants, movie theatres, and even the Pinball Museum. San Francisco knows how to throw a party!

The San Francisco Brewers Guild organizes SF Beer Week, and people come from all over the world. This great festival is usually held in February (so mark your calendar for next year), but because San Francisco is hosting the Super Bowl, SF Beer Week was moved up. Brewers traditionally release their new beers during Beer Week, and I certainly tasted a lot of them at the press launch. Fabulous. Here's a short-list of fun ones.

CHOCOLATE AND BEER EVENTS:

January 23:  Chocolate Making and Beer Pairing for Charity! TCHO Chocolate Company, Pete Slosberg (Pete's Wicked Ale and Cocoa Pete's, and Thirsty Bear Brewing Co. team up for a chocolate making and beer pairing evening. Learn to make your own unique chocolates. Specialty cask conditioned Panda Bear Ale (brewed with TCHO organic coca nibs and more), and other organic ThirstyBear and SF Brewers Guild collaboration brews and taste chocolates while making your own. Proceeds benefit the Institute of Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research. ThirstyBear, 661 Howard, San Francisco. 6-9 p.m. SOLD OUT.

January 26: Chocolate & Beer Pairing. Dandelion Chocolate and Speakeasy. This is a 5-part beer and chocolate pairing featuring Dandelion Chocolate's single origin bars, paired with unique brews from Speakeasy Ales & Lagers.  Note: Speakeasy uses Dandelion chocolate nibs in their Black Hand. No tickets necessary for the event, just visit the Tap Room to purchase a flight of beer & chocolate. Flights available starting at 1 p.m. until they run out. Speakeasy Tap Room, 1195 Evans Avenue, San Francisco.

January 28. Chocolate & Beer Pairing Dandelion Chocolate and Anchor Brewing.  San Francisco's oldest brfewery and Dandelion's single origin chocolate. Pairing features new and limited-release brews from Anchor Brewing and a special selection of chocolates to compare and contrast with the beer. Chocolate making demo, too. Free. 6-9 p.m. The Chapel, 777 Valencia Street.

One of my favorite Chocolate Beers is Speakeasy's Black Hand. It's made with TCHO Ghanaian Roasted Cacao Nibs. It's a chocolate milk stout that's full-bodied and creamy, with chocolate notes. I also love the brewery graphics.. but then I'm a mystery person.