Of Brews and Benevolence: 13th Annual San Diego Festival of Beer

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Let’s face it, we all drink for a reason. And whether our respective motivations for inebriation stem from a desire to celebrate, drown our sorrows, or more commonly, shag, for lack of a more tactless term, we all somehow manage to find or invent some excuse for imbibing.

And really, insofar as justification for the consumption of adult beverages is concerned, what better reasoning than the proceeds from partaking in said activity go towards helping find a cure for cancer? If ever there was legitimate validation for drunkenness, you’d be hard pressed to find a better excuse to bestow upon your significant other when stumbling through the front door at 3 am on a Friday night.

“Honey,” you mumble while futilely attempting to gain your composure, “I was drinking to find a cure for cancer.” Chances are the declaration will be met with some skepticism; and perhaps even a sigh, look of disgust, additional questions, or worse… a hand-delivered blanket and pillow to be used for visiting Mr. Sandman at any locale other than the bed in which the sober party resides.

If you happened to be an attendee at this year’s 13th Annual San Diego Festival of Beer, and the above after-hours scene happened to play out in similar fashion at your particular domicile, take heart in knowing although you may have been forced to pass out in a dog bed, at least you did so while being entirely honest and forthcoming. And while such knowledge will never recapture hours of sleep lost while battling Sparky for your share of the “bed,” it may nevertheless pay dividends should the Karma Police ever pay you a visit.

In 1994 the San Diego Festival of Beer was born from an idea to raise money for a cause pioneered by a dedicated group of friends. In an effort to generate funds for the fight against cancer, the group orchestrated a beer festival patterned after a popular tasting event in San Luis Obispo. Backed by a large national charity, the event was held for two years in a park setting, but was marginally successful at best. After a mere two-year stint, the future of the beer festival already seemed bleak.

Fortunately, a small group of dedicated professionals with a firm belief in the event and its benevolent agenda seized the opportunity to form a non-profit organization and created a team to independently run the re-designed beer festival as a street festival in 1996. The group affectionately dubbed itself the San Diego Professionals Against Cancer (SDPAC), and went on to host a successful event every year since.

This year’s San Diego Festival of Beer bore no exception to the trend, as dozens of brewers (both local and national) descended upon the parking lot at the downtown corner of Columbia and B to showcase their best brews and share a few hearty laughs with patrons while busily filling mini-mugs.

For twenty-five bucks, attendees received a souvenir four-ounce taster mug and were allotted 10 samples of the beer of their choice. Granted, the entry fee alone probably constituted the most expensive 40 (ouncer) ever, but given the overwhelming presence of delectable microbrews, not to mention the friendly, welcoming vibe of the event as a whole, the entry fee was negligible at best.

Beer, bands, brats, and barbeque were the order of the evening as libations flowed liberally and patrons were treated to the sounds of Len Rainey and the Midnight Players and Night Shift. For those looking to stray from their liquid diet and shift to the consumption of solid foods (why anyone would do such a thing is beyond me), Hunter Steakhouse provided sumptuous open-fire-grilled meats, and nearly every food stand featured some sort of sandwich or bratwurst. And really, where would the adage “Eat, drink and be merry” be without the food facet?

The San Diego Festival of Beer did indeed deliver on all levels. Complete with brews, bands, barbeque, and a hefty helping of benevolence (to date the SDPAC has donated almost $400,000 to cancer research), the event kept attendees entertained well into the evening hours and at the stroke of 11pm, unleashed them into the debauchery that is downtown San Diego. And whatever happened to transpire from that point forth… “Hey, I was drinking to find a cure for cancer.”

For San Diego Festival of Beer photos, visit our gallery here.