Beer in the Bay: Magnolia turns 20 and Bay Area brewers craft beer inspired by Mount Sutro

The Sutro Stewards guide Bay Area brewers through local woods in preparation for their Beers Made By Walking Project. The Sutro Stewards guide Bay Area brewers through local woods in preparation for their Beers Made By Walking Project. Photo: Courtesy Sutro Stewards Photo: Courtesy Sutro Stewards Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Beer in the Bay: Magnolia turns 20 and Bay Area brewers craft beer inspired by Mount Sutro 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

Every Friday morning, SFGATE finds the biggest headlines in local (and sometimes national) beer. Check back here weekly for news, events, and information about special releases from your favorite local breweries.

Sutro Stewards, a nonprofit conservation group in San Francisco, teamed up with a handful of local breweries for Beers Made By Walking, an awesome program that "invites brewers to go on nature hikes and make beer inspired by plants, sights, and smells found along the trail." As a result, breweries like Black Hammer, Woods, FDR, Southpaw and more are serving up some beers for the wilderness-traversing drinker at Laughing Monk this Saturday, Nov. 11, beginning at 2 p.m. Such beers include an Irish red ale with redwood spring tips and wax myrtle dry leaf, an oak-smoked acorn grätzer, a cider with redwood tips, and a strong pale ale dry-hopped with black sage (the last of which is actually a Sonoma Pride beer from ThirstyBear). Tickets for the event are $30 and include 10 4-oz. tastings and a commemorative glass. Proceeds go to the nonprofit.

Pilsner Urquell is celebrating its 175th birthday at Monk's Kettle in San Francisco this Saturday, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The company's brewmaster and Plzeň native, Robert Lobovsky, will also be there taking questions and drinking along.

Magnolia Brewing turns 20 years old this Saturday, November 11 — at exactly 11:11 a.m. It's a huge milestone and certainly not one that will pass by uncelebrated. "The trip has indeed been long and strange, but also pretty wonderful every step of the way and through all manner of times," a post on the brewery's Instagram account reads. "As of Saturday, we'll have brewed 2,575 times in that basement and the Pub is still the heart and soul of Magnolia two decades later." They'll celebrate with a birthday bash that day, and pop their Anniversary Ale at the Haight Street brewpub.

Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine honored both Sante Adairius and Drake's in their roundup of the best beers of 2017. The publication lauded SARA's Saison Bernice mixed-fermentation saison as "weightless and airy with subtle citrus flavors and a touch of funk over a masterfully restrained acidity." Drake's The Void — a 17.5 percent imperial stout they released for their 28th birthday back in August — was "the single highest-scoring beer our blind panel tasted."

Anchor is doing its first ever release of a barrel-aged version of their Christmas Ale. The beer itself, from 2016, was aged in "various whiskey and wine barrels" for a year before being tasted. The resulting blend is a includes notes of "whiskey, vanilla and sumptuous wintry spice notes layered on top of a rich malty base." The ticketed release event is on Nov. 15 at the Potrero Hill brewhouse.

Monk's Kettle in San Francisco has rolled out a cheaper menu and some less expensive beer options. The menu, viewable here, still includes some house favorites, but the big news is that draft beers will be more affordable. The most expensive drafts will be $1 less, and they will "strive to offer a bottle/can option for $6 or under for all the styles that we are able to."

Rejoice! @MonksKettle is lowering their beer & food prices?! How un-2017 of them. https://t.co/GZQhNETU6x — Adrian Spinelli (@AGSpinelli) November 8, 2017

Hop Grenade in Concord will roll out a number of Sonoma Pride beers from Russian River, Cooperage, and HenHouse for a special benefit event on Friday night. More details here.

Almanac is introducing a new happy hour, to take place Tuesday through Friday, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. There will be food specials aplenty, but also a $2 discount on all draft beers and a free glass growler with every fill purchase (or a 20 percent discount if you bring your own growler).

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

