We really and truly hope you were there!

The weather was perfect, having cooled down a bit with the lovely breeze from the bay, and the Beer Shed was super friendly. Its amazing selection of over 40 microbrews were a blast to try (the commemorative jars make us want to drink out of them all the time from now on!) and the street food was out of control in the best possible way. All the bales of hay for seating by the stage area were a great place to rest your feet and enjoy your brews and grub, which went from paella to goat milk ice cream to sauteed figs and prawns or straight-up tacos. Having just moved from the Jack London Square loft district to San Francisco, it was really amazing to see an event of this caliber executed so smoothly and wonderfully in the space they’ve been working on for such a long time. It was impossible not to be blown away by the hard work of the folks at Eat Real and the Beer Shed.

I have to admit, it made me more than a little nostalgic for Oakland (so I bought an Oaklandish t-shirt – the one with the giraffe)! The heart and sense of community that drive events like this one are why I spent 10 years living there. As for the beer, in our camp there were two clear winners – the dark scotch ale was maddeningly good, and Pony Express just charmed the pants right off of me.

We can’t wait until it’s Eat Real time again next year!