Beer Week returns next week, beginning Friday the 10th and lasting through the 19th, in a fairly loose, drunken interpretation of the word "week." The schedule runeth over with events, from weeklong specials to beer education seminars to one night only tap takeovers in the yearly celebration of more than 125 Northern California Breweries.

The action starts with the Opening Gala, held on the 10th at Pier 48 from 6 to 10:30 p.m. Tickets for entrance, a commemorative glass, and all the beer you can pour into it and subsequently your mouth, are $80. VIP entry an hour early, before the hordes descend and get sloppy, is $120.

The annual Gala remains the best way to try as many breweries' offerings as you can during the week, and it also serves as the debutant ball for several new beers. The Brewer's Guild has released a list of those, as well as rare and hard-to-find offerings available at the Gala. Consider it your hit list.

*21st Amendment - Wooden Pony (Barrel Aged Belgian Quad)
*Ale Industries - Protect Ya Nectarine (Sour)
*Alvarado Street - City Club (Malt Liquor)
*Anchor - Barrel Aged Old Foghorn Barleywine (Barrel Aged Barleywine)
*Barebottle - Doom Bloom (New England-style Triple IPA)
*Bear Republic - Clobberskull (English Estate October Ale)
*Berryessa - Cellarmaker Collaboration - Fruity Rebels (Strong Belgian)
*Black Sands - Pinot Barrel Aged Kings Tide (Wine Barrel Aged Saison)
*Calicraft - 2017 Barrel Project Cabernet Sauvignon Sour (American Sour Ale with Cabernet Pomace)
*Cleophus Quealy - Aviato (Gin Barrel-Aged Sour Ale with cherries, lemon and violets)
*Firestone Walker - Krieky Bones (Wild Ale)
*Half Moon Bay - Bat Flip XXXIPA (Triple IPA)
*Harmonic - Imperial Old Fashioned (Strong Rye Ale)
*HenHouse - Recurring Nightmare (Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout)
*Iron Springs - Compulsory Triple IPA (Triple IPA)
*Laughing Monk - Barrel Aged Peach Pulpit (Belgian Tripel)
*Local - Belgian Bump (Belgian Golden w/ Philz Coffee)
*Mad Fritz - The Wind and Sun (Coffee Infused Golden Strong Ale)
*Marin - Quad (Belgian-Style Strong Dark Ale)
*New Bohemia - Headlands Collaboration - Light My Fire (Smoked Helles)
*North Coast - Barrel Aged Old Rasputin XIX (Barrel Aged Imperial Stout)
*Russian River - Pliny the Younger (Triple IPA)
*Sierra Nevada - Time and Time Again (Double IPA)
*Speakeasy - Pop Gun Pilsner Oak-Aged and Unfiltered (German Pilsner)
*The Rare Barrel - Impossible Soul (Golden Sour Aged in Oak Barrels with Tart Cherries and Sweet Cherries)
*ThirstyBear - Stave Series #14: Bugs & Cherries (Kriek)

Yes, you read that right about Pliny the Younger: The annual release from Russian River Brewing Co. will be on tap at the Gala and available at Beer Week events, which it wasn't last year. The Chronicle is already revving the hype machine with a list of Bay Area bars that are likely to receive surprise kegs of the Younger, and lines are forming as we speak at the brewery's pub in Santa Rosa, where the beer was first tapped today. According to ABC 7, Pliny the Younger brings Santa Rosa an estimated $5 million in extra revenue every year. Damn.

Also, as every year, the Brewer's Guild members put their heads together to make a special collaboration beer for SFBW. This year, it's a "post-modern kölsch" which leads me to believe some guild members have degrees in critical theory that are otherwise going to waste. The post-modern kölsch is made with Satsuma Mandarins and Douglas Fir from sponsor Whole Foods.



Related: Russian River Brewing Reveals Expansion Designs, Readies Pliny The Younger For Beer Week