San Francisco Beer Week Bike Ride

Last week was Beer Week in the Bay Area and one group of riders in the East Bay are kindred spirits of the Sticky Bottle Team.  They combine rides with beers, craft beers to be exact.  They call themselves the Grand Cru and each month they organize a ride to a local craft brewery or beer event in the San Francisco Bay area.  They tack on a fee which supports the East Bat Bicycle Coalition.  The coalition works to improve bicycling in the region.  Last year the Beer Week ride raised $1,200 and the funding was used to support the work of the coalition in securing 20 miles of bike lanes in Oakland and helped with funding of bicycle safety classes.  

Major brewers are doubling down on a crowded market place.  Last year, the brewers of Corona opened the largest brewery in the world.  The plant produces 20 million bottles daily.  Four of the world’s biggest brewers accounted for half of all of the world’s beer.  Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, the UK’s SABMiller, Dutch Heineken, and Denmark's Carlsberg together have 50% of the global market share.  The margins are tight for the little guys.  

With that being said craft beers continue to enjoy success.  It is true that fresh beer tastes better.  Small batch brews with fresh ingredients create remarkable tastes.  The best way to enjoy this flavor is to do it in person rather than wait for the marketing, shipping, and distribution from brewery to freight to warehouse, to truck and so on to reach your palette.  

The Grand Cru Beer Week ride (officially “The Tour de Beire”) was held this past Saturday and began at Drake’s Brewery.  Drake’s opened in 1989 following the conversion of an abandoned Caterpillar heavy equipment factory.  For 21 years the facility in San Leandro, California has produced fresh quality beers for sale on site.  The Drake’s tasting room is open five days a week (closed Mondays and Tuesdays).  One way craft brewers survive and thrive is to eliminate the cost of distribution.  So, if you want the fine nectar of a craft brew go to the source.  Think of the old idiom: “If you build a better mousetrap, people will beat a path to your door.”   

Pyramid Brewery and Alehouse was another stop on the Beer Week ride.  Pyramid opened in 1984 and this year the company will brew 30 varieties.  One thing the craft brewers excel at is the seasonal brew.  The small batch system allows for frequent and easy recipe changes.  Pyramid has five West Coast locations.  This is one way to support a distribution network—create your own by opening additional craft brew locations.

 

So, how about that ride…  It is about 20 miles from Drakes to Pyramid (with other brewery stops in between).  Riders brought everything they normally take on a ride plus ID, cash, an appetite and a thirst.  A nice section of the ride was along the San Francisco Bay Trail (pictured).  The Bay is to one side and downtown Berkeley to the other.   Riders entered Oakland and for a brief time cruised along Mandela Parkway in the green confines of Memorial Park.  The park remembers the victims of the 1989 earthquake and the Cypress Freeway collapse.   The trail bisecting the park is part of the new West Oakland Bay Trail.

For more information visit www.thegrandcru.org.  Check out their future rides and events.