Two years ago, Visit Oakland, the city's tourism bureau, launched the Oakland Urban Wine Trail, an effort to showcase local wineries and create a new travel destination for residents and visitors.
Building on that success, Visit Oakland has demarcated the Oakland Ale Trail, which will make its debut on February 18 during San Francisco Beer Week.
Frances Wong, senior PR manager for Visit Oakland, said the idea came up two years ago, but the work didn't start until 2016. Coincidentally, the tourism office and several of the city's craft brewers were working separately to create a similar model.
"Visit Oakland took the initiative and proposed the idea," Wong said. "The brewers had been trying to start something on their own as well, so it was great timing," she said. "Everyone had the same idea, and we got the conversation started."
There are a total of twelve breweries in Oakland, but only nine have tasting rooms — the other three establishments serve wholesale customers only.
The breweries participating in the Oakland Ale Trail include:
- Ale Industries, 3096 E 10th St.
- Diving Dog Brew, 1802 Telegraph Ave.
- Drake's Brewing Co., 2325 Broadway
- Federation Brewing, 410 3rd St.
- Independent Brewing, 44 Harrison St.
- Novel Brewing, 6510 San Pablo Ave.
- Pacific Coast Brewing, 906 Washington St.
- Temescal Brewing, 4115 Telegraph Ave.
- Woods Beer Co., 1701 Telegraph Ave.
"Oakland is a really exciting place for craft beer right now in that, in the last few years the number has exploded," said Sam Gilbert, owner of Temescal Brewing. "There's a lot of excitement and a lot of people putting passion into the craft beers."
Gilbert said Oakland's dynamic beer culture is due to passion and enthusiasm, as well as the fact that there's room to grow. With more industrial spaces than San Francisco — and cheaper rents — there are more unique, innovative things going on with the beer scene, he noted.
Similar to the wine trail, visitors can pick up an Oakland Ale Trail passport that lists participating breweries and their addresses; beer pilgrims will receive a stamp from each of the businesses they visit.
Once tipplers have completed the trail, they can bring their fully-stamped passports to Visit Oakland at 481 Water St. to trade them in for a commemorative growler.
Gilbert said he's excited about what this promotion may herald for the beer culture in Oakland.
"I see this as a way to recognize what's already happening here," Gilbert said. "I'm excited for being able to share a map for folks who are in from out of town and show them what else is going on here."
If you have a chance to check out the Ale Trai let us know what you think in the comments below.
