Event
Drake’s 25th Anniversary – The Party Details
Hello friends and fans. We hope you are getting good and ready for our 25th Anniversary throwdown Friday, September 12 from 4-10pm, and to help you in that endeavor here is a handy guide of everything you could possibly need to know for the event. Bear with us through it all and you’ll get the prize of having an awesome time as an informed Drake’s fan at our Anniversary.
GETTING HERE (Times, Transit)
1. The main event opens at 4pm. The DBH will be open normal hours (noon) prior to the kickoff of the event. Last call is at 9:30pm and we’ll close down by 10pm. There is NO COVER to enter the event. Beer and food will be for purchase.
2. Directions: If driving, Google tends to lead you astray… beware. If driving, please have a designated driver.
3. A BART shuttle will be running from 6:30-10:30pm and circling to and from the San Leandro BART station every 30 minutes or so. The San Leandro LINKS shuttle will also ferry you from BART to the Westgate Center every 20 minutes from 3-7pm.
4. Bikers: From the San Leandro BART it is safest to use the back route down Williams St to get to Drake’s. Simply turn right (southeast) onto San Leandro Boulevard from BART (0.2mi), right onto Williams St. (1.2mi), right onto Westgate Pkwy, and left behind the Walmart (at the crosswalk). You’ll emerge right at Drake’s for the party. There is limited Bike Parking on the far side of the brewery (around the back of the building near the DBH).
WHAT TO BRING
1. We will have card processors at most stations, but it will be a smart idea to bring some CASH, just in case. Once again, there is No Cover to get in.
2. Well-behaved dogs and service animals will be allowed as long as they are on a leash.
3. The event is 21+. We will be checking all IDs at the door and issuing wristbands. Infants and toddlers in strollers, carriers, or baby backpacks/bjorns (aka physically strapped to your parental personage) may be brought to the event.
4. Have a First Friday glass? Clean it… and BRING IT. To help lessen our event footprint we will be filling First Friday glasses as well as our new 25th Anniversary 20oz Glass which will be for sale at the Beer Tickets stations. Folks who don’t have a glass and don’t wish to buy one will get compostable plastic cups.
5. The event will be both in the Barrel House and outside in our First Friday space. Due to our license constraints alcohol may only be within those areas. To pass between one area to the next, attendees must have an empty glass.
Whew… that was a lot of logistics… moving on to more fun stuff next.
WHAT’S HAPPENING!? BEER, MUSIC, FOOD, BREWER TALKS, and MORE ENTERTAINMENT
BEER
Headzo 25th Anniversary Beer– 18% American Strong Ale aged in Wild Turkey Whiskey Barrels
1. VIP Passes ($65) Available HERE. Pre-purchasing a VIP Pass for Headzo will guarantee you 2 bottles of Headzo, a Headzo commemorative 5oz snifter glass, and (1) draft pour of Headzo (5oz). You will be able to redeem your VIP pass at any time on September 12th from noon to 10pm.
2. Bottles (500mL). Pre-Sale Bottles are available online HERE for $25 each. Bottles will also be on sale during the event first come, first served starting at 4pm. Day-of sales and online bottle pickup will be located at the brewery rollup door nearest the Barrel House.
3. Draft– For non-VIPs, draft tasting (5oz, $7) will be available starting at 5pm on the loading dock of the Barrel House (toward the back of the patio). VIPs will receive a ticket to redeem their draft pour in their Headzo glass from the DBH bar.
The brewers held nothing back for the specialty beer list pulling off a smorgasbord of beers ranging from Wet-Hopped Alpha Session and Aroma Coma; to brand new sours like our Flanders Red Collaboration with Triple Rock, Barrel House Rock; to spirits aged beauties; brettanomyces fermented 1500; and a series of cask conditioned ales made in collaboration with Drake’s brewers past and present. Check out the list below.
MUSIC
HONEY COOLER
5:00-6:45pm — Of the 99%, and playing 99% original music, Honey Cooler (1930’s slang for “kiss”) is a SF Bay Area band influenced by many styles of music. These talented musicians infuse instrumental rock, reggae, and funk as their core sound with an indie vibe. Honey Cooler’s inspired original tunes are sure to move you with soulful sounds and funky beats for your listening and dancing pleasure.
http://www.reverbnation.com/
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EAST BAY BRASS BAND
7:00-8:45pm — East Bay Brass Band is a SF Bay Area, New Orleans-style brass band that specializes in mash-ups of popular artists from Jelly Roll Morton to AC/DC to Raymond Scott to Paula Abdul to Shostakovich to R.E.M. They also do straight covers drawn from a number of sources, including (but not limited to) trombone shout bands, New Orleans brass bands, hard bop, funk, rock, country, and pop. The group contains members from many Bay Area bands including Blue Bone Express, Albino!, Wicked Mercies, MJ’s Brass Boppers, Tamalpias Brass Qunitet, Cyclub, and more. “We drop bombs, kick brass, and funk people up! While mash-ups are habitual, all music that gets ’em hyped and dancing is our ritual.”
https://www.facebook.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/
FOOD
In the spirit of tradition, we decided to go back to our roots with a good old Friday night barbeque like the ones that would liven up our parking lot every weekend for many years. This time, we’re going a little bit bigger with a food truck BBQ lineup that will have even the vegetarians salivating. Our trucks for the night include:
Bourbon Bros BBQ– These local guys will be laying down classic Que with all the traditional fixins.
Bombzies BBQ– Vietnamese style barbecue with huge flavor.
Fivetenburger– Along with classic burgers and lick your fingers good truffle tots, we will have a BBQ style option sure to please.
Fists of Flour– BBQ pizza. Yes please. Fist of Flour will be slangin’ pies of both the traditional and BBQ variety.
Food Logistics: The trucks will be located in the space between the DBH and First Friday parking lot (no alcohol allowed). Food will be for purchase with both Cash and Cards taken at all 4 vendors.
DRAKE’S BEER TALKS with RATEBEER
Our brewers have always been very important people with apartments filled with rich mahogany, excellent hair, and lots of very important things to say on subjects varying from agricultural economics (hops) to chemical properties (yeast) to history (ancient Sumeria to present day San Leandro) and quality control (drinkin’ beer). Get your weekly learnin’ from them at the Anniversary during Drake’s Beer Talks, located in the Barrel House inside the old cold box starting at 6pm. Emceeing for the night will be our good friend and founder of beer geek mecca, RateBeer, Joe Tucker. Here’s the schedule:
6pm- Doors Open to the Beer Talks area. We will be tapping a special cask from Roger Lind “Francis in the Wood”- Sir Francis Stout with Oak Chips and Vanilla as well as final bottles of Reunion Barleywine.
6:15pm- Welcome and Introductions.
6:30pm- Drake’s Founder Roger Lind on Drake’s Origins 1989-1998 with Q&A.
7pm- Former brewer and owner of Oakland’s The Good Hop Melissa Myers on From Brewer to Beer Bar Owner with Q&A.
7:30pm- Former brewer and co-founder of Henhouse Brewing Collin McDonnell on Beer Destiny! with Q&A.
8pm- Former and Current Brewer Q&A Panel covering topics including Expansion planning, Sensory evaluation, Barrel-aging, and more! Bring your questions.
MORE TO ENTERTAIN YOU HEATHENS
HighWire Coffee will be on hand pouring Cold Press Coffee on Nitro to keep you going all night long.
East Bay Express will have their Loakal Booth rockin by the music.
A Drake’s Photo Booth will be set up inside the Barrel House so you and your friends can commemorate your crazy friendships and love of beer together by wearing silly things and taking pictures of it all. Perfect for those Christmas presents for Mom… Mom: “Aw honey, how’d you know I’d love framed pictures of beer partying from my wittle baby.” You: “I know. I’m awesome. Love ya mom.”
Now that you have made it through this incredibly long post you are now the kings and queens of awesome and deserve a prize. Therefore, the 1st 20 of you to go on our Facebook (here) and private message us with the following phrase as well as your full name and email will get a coupon to redeem at the beer ticket station during the event for a free 25th Anniversary glass and beer ticket. The phrase is “The Lopper.” Thanks for your diligence.
We hope you all are planning to come out next week and celebrate at the biggest, dang party we’ve ever thrown in our 25 years of being here in San Leandro. Thanks for supporting us through it all, and we hope you enjoy it all as much as we do.
Cheers.