Sacramento-bound: 2nd California Craft Beer Summit

Despite our attempts to get things together for a trip to the amazing Great American Beer Festival in Denver this year, we just couldn’t make it happen. Luckily there’s the California Craft Beer Summit and Brewers Showcase in Sacramento September 8-10, organized by the California Craft Brewers Association.

The event is mainly two parts – the Craft Beer Summit and the Beer Festival. The Summit takes place in an expo hall and features educational sessions, cooking demos, displays and booths. Some of the highlights over the Friday and Saturday sessions  include:

• Chartering Growth Over 21 Years with Peter Zien, Owner & CEO of AleSmith Brewing Co.
• The Rise of Sour Beers with Jay Goodwin (The Rare Barrel) Tim Clifford & Adair Paterno (Sante Adairius Rustic Ales) Gail Ann Williams (Beer Journalist) and Tom Dalldorf (Editor of Celebrator Beer News)
• Past, Present and Future with David Walker, Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
• The Craft Beer Boom with Natalie & Vinnie Cilurzo with Russian River Brewing Co., Tomme Arthur, Lost Abbey/Port Brewing

Photo via CA Craft Brewers Association

The Beer Fest takes place on Saturday with over 150 craft breweries showing off 400+ California brewed beers. Last year the fest saw 4,000 attendees on the scenic lawn of the Capitol Mall. This year so far nine Los Angeles and area breweries will be on deck, including Beachwood, El Segundo, Angel City, Highland Park Brewery, HopSaint Brewing Copmany, Monkish, Scholb, Smog City and Three Weavers.

Tickets are $60 for the beer festival and $289 for the VIP Summit Pass (all access) along with some other piece-by-piece options.