Breastfest a good reason to drink beer

At a San Francisco beer tasting about five years ago, an attendee — apparently experienced in wine tasting — spat a mouthful of beer into the grass.

Two beer writers standing nearby shook their heads.

“Total rookie move,” I recall one saying to the other.

For the record, I was neither the guy who spat or one of the guys casting judgment. But I sympathized with the spitter. I don’t usually enjoy being heavily affected by alcohol in the daytime, and I have often been irritated at not being able to find dump buckets for my beers at such events, especially in an era when so many beers are most of the way to wine-strength levels.

At wine tastings, spit buckets are standard items on the tabletops, and no one is expected to guzzle everything they’re poured. Finally, in 2017, these buckets have become standard at beer events, too — though my understanding is it’s still not cool to spit out what’s in your mouth (unless it really sucks, I guess). Instead, one may pour out what remains in his glass if he’s had enough. I have an annoying habit of apologizing to any nearby brewers for dumping out beer, but, in fact, they don’t usually mind as long as you don’t splatter their shoes. It would also be wise to make sure you identify the dump bucket before you use it. I once poured the unwanted dregs of a pinot noir into what I thought was a spit bucket but which was actually a carafe filled with a rare vintage of wine. Total rookie move.

Anyway, this has been my only-slightly awkward way of segueing into a brief column about the annual Breastfest, coming up on its 18th rendition this Saturday. The beer-tasting event is sponsored by Marin and Moylan’s brewing companies and is once again combining breast cancer fundraising with the age-old art of drinking beer — and some cider. About three dozen breweries are scheduled to pour scores of beers, including small-batch brews not available in markets or on draft.

Brendan Moylan, the owner and founder of Marin and Moylan’s brewing companies, says his event is geared toward supporting local and independently owned beer producers. This year’s fest will include newcomer breweries like Adobe Creek and Indian Valley, as well as more established breweries, like Moonlight, Russian River, Lost Coast, Half Moon Bay, Third Street Aleworks and Bear Republic.

The Breastfest Beer Festival was founded in 2000 under the name “Brewfest.” It was from the start aimed at generating proceeds for the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic, an Oakland-based non-profit that offers cancer treatments — including alternatives to conventional medicine — for low-income women. Cancer is four times as likely to be fatal for low-income women in the United States than it is for those living above the poverty level. The goal of Breastfest, then, is to help economically disadvantaged women lessen the pain of cancer and its treatments and, hopefully, beat the disease.

A ticket to the Breastfest allows one complementary food and unlimited beer tasting. At an event like this, the world is your oyster, and it’s packed with pearls. So take your time and be selective. Don’t drink something you’ve had a hundred times off the shelf at Whole Foods or Safeway. The Breastfest is a chance to drink small-batch oddities you’ve never heard of or sampled before.

Chances are you have not yet met Adobe Creek Brewing, a one-man show operated by Jonathan MacDonald. So, go say hello. He’ll be pouring his Derealization Pale Ale and his Spontaneous Combustion Sour Ale — the latter of which MacDonald says should be a great beer for a hot day.

Iron Springs Pub and Brewery will be pouring a hazy IPA called #nowtrending. Why the hashtag, you ask? Because hazy, or New England-style, IPAs are about the hottest thing trending in craft beer culture and at online beer chat forums. They are intentionally brewed to look something like a banana milkshake — an effect brewers achieve using certain yeast strains, by adding hops later, rather than earlier, in the boiling stage of brewing and by not filtering the beer. Some people love hazy IPAs beers, while others hate them.

If you hate yours, empty your glass into the grass or into a nearby bucket, and perhaps even apologize if the brewer who made it is watching, though he probably won’t care. But don’t spit. It’s still considered kind of a rookie move.

The Breastfest is scheduled for 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Marin Center’s Fairground Island in San Rafael. Tickets are $65 at the door, $50 if bought in advance. Go to the event’s website for more information at thebreastfest.org/index.

Alastair Bland’s Through the Hopvine runs every week in Zest. Contact him at allybland79@gmail.com.