The 9th annual Bistro Double IPA Festival, and the first major event of SF Beer Week, got underway Saturday morning in beautiful downtown Hayward. It was a gorgeous February day, cool, not cold, but with a bright, warming sun. Owners Vic and Cynthia Kralj finally persuaded the city to let them takeover a larger portion of the street for the festival. The additional space was a wonderful addition as it made getting around and navigating to your next beer far less crowded. But even with the extra space, the Bistro was full of people by early afternoon, with somewhere between 25-50% more attendance over last year.
Even with considerably more space, this year’s Double IPA Festival was a well-attended affair.
Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo with Melissa Myers, the Bay Area’s best brewer without her own brewery.
For more photos from this year’s Double IPA Festival, visit the photo gallery.
Wow! The crowd certainly has grown by 4X 5X since I was there 5 or so years ago! Wasn’t Melissa at Grants back then? Grants IPA is still a beer I dream about.