Tonight! Five-Dollar Frickin’ Firkin Fest: Say That Five Times Fast

Firk y’all, I’m gettin’ hammered!

I had to do some deep Googling to figure out what a firkin is, but the takeaway is that it involves beer. It’s also a fun word to say, so go to SF Beer Week‘s Frickin’ Firkin Fest tonight (Tuesday) at Heart, hosted by Monk’s Kettle. Entry is FREE, and each beer or food pairing is $5, cash only. I happen to think all beer goes equally well with popcorn and barbecue sauce, so I have high hopes for this event being firkin awesome.

Anyway, back to the firkin: Standard beer requires the addition of carbon dioxide or sometimes nitrogen (that’s why it gives you gas… I mean, hi?). But “real beers” are conditioned in firkins, which are generally 72-pint casks. Brewers limit the cheap preservatives by beginning with traditional ingredients. They then put the beer into the casks before it’s finished fermenting, so it ends up with a natural, softer carbonation. Firk yeah!

Tonight’s firkin lineup includes a bunch of stuff you probably haven’t heard of (cred alert!), such as Blue Bottle Coffee-infused Burning Oak Black Lager from Linden Street Brewery in Oakland, as well as broke-ass standbys like Racer 5.

Did you guys know I’m really firkin ignorant? Here’s ANOTHER word I didn’t know: cicerone, which is like a sommelier of beer. Sayre Piotrkowski, one of SF’s only cicerones, will be at Frickin’ Firkin Fest. You might remember Sayre edumacatin’ Stu on cheap, tasty beer (read: not Budweiser) in award-winning short film The Swagger Stagger. Sayre also promises “good music,” but no firkin guarantees, okay?

Frickin’ Firkin Fest at Heart
1270 Valencia Street at 24th St. [The Mission]
Tuesday, February 15, 5-11pm
All beer either $4 or $5 a glass
All food $5 or less a plate [cash only]