Sacramento Beer Week: 37 Breweries and Ten Days of Independent Pours

Sacramento Beer Week is what ten days look like when thirty-seven independent breweries each agree to do something different from their usual taproom rotation. There’s no single festival capstone, no master ticket, no big-tent finale. What you get instead is more than a hundred individual events spread across taprooms, brewery dinners, restaurant pairings, and the occasional out-of-the-way warehouse where a brewer is tapping a barrel they laid down two years ago. The 2026 calendar runs from Auburn down to Lodi and out to Davis.

I’ve gone intermittently over the years. The breweries show up. The collaboration beers are usually worth tracking. Two breweries done well beats six breweries done in a hurry.

Sacramento Beer Week 2026 runs April 24 through May 3.

What Sacramento Beer Week Is

Sacramento Beer Week launched in 2010, organized by the Sacramento Area Brewers Guild (a nonprofit founded in 2003 to represent the region’s independent brewers). The format borrowed from older beer weeks in San Diego and Philadelphia: turn ten days into a coordinated regional event, let each brewery run its own slate of programming, and draw on the collective scope to create something bigger than any single venue could pull off alone. The Guild ran a closing-weekend festival called the Brewers Showcase in 2024; that festival hasn’t returned in 2025 or 2026, and the week now hangs on individual brewery events plus a handful of curated multi-stop spotlights. Sacramento’s craft beer scene has grown into one of the densest in California, and Beer Week is the only stretch of the year you can sample the whole spectrum without driving four hours of loops.

The shape of the week is consistent across editions. Opening weekend tends to feature firkin nights, brewery anniversaries scheduled to coincide, and the first wave of collaboration beer releases. Mid-week is where the more curated events live: brewer’s table dinners, beer pairings, cellar tappings of vintage barrel-aged pours, food truck takeovers. The closing weekend stacks the densest programming: the Brewers Olympics at New Glory, multi-brewery passport events in Rancho Cordova, paired European-style tastings at Geisthaus, and most breweries’ biggest single-day pours. Sunday is recovery, but several breweries still pour through the afternoon.

Beer Week is a loose umbrella under which thirty-some independent breweries each program their own ten days. There is no single master app for the week. Each brewery posts its own schedule on its own social channels, and the Sacramento Area Brewers Guild rolls up the bigger picture across its website (sacramentobeerweek.com) and Instagram (@sacramentobeerweek). The shared collaboration beers the Guild releases each year and the multi-brewery passport events on closing weekend are what give the week its shape; otherwise it’s a self-curated tasting tour.

What Happened to the Brewers Showcase

The Sacramento Area Brewers Guild ran a closing-weekend festival called the Brewers Showcase at Heart Health Park (Cal Expo) in 2024. Thirty-five-plus Guild breweries pouring under one tent for four hours, ticketed entry, food trucks, the works. It was the closest thing Beer Week had to a single capstone event, and for one year it gave the week a clear festival shape.

The Showcase has not returned in 2025 or 2026. The Sacramento Area Brewers Guild has not announced plans to bring it back, though the door isn’t closed. The closest 2026 equivalents are the multi-brewery Spotlight events below: the Sunrise Sippin’ Passport in Rancho Cordova, Passport to Pints at Geisthaus, and the Brewers Olympics at New Glory.

2026 Spotlight Events Worth Building Around

More Events Worth Putting on Your Radar

The three Spotlight events anchor Beer Week, but the calendar runs more than 80 events deep across 10 days. Here are 17 more worth building a day around. The full list lives at sacramentobeerweek.com and on the Sacramento Brewers Guild Instagram @sacramentobeerweek, both updated through opening weekend.

Opening Weekend (April 25-26)

Mid-Week (April 27 – May 1)

Closing Weekend & Beyond (May 2-4)

A Map of the Sacramento Beer Scene

One of the things that makes Sacramento’s craft beer scene different from, say, San Diego’s or Portland’s is the geographic spread. There is no single “brewery district.” Midtown has a respectable cluster, but the foothills on the I-80 corridor toward Auburn produce some of the region’s most awarded beer (Knee Deep, Moonraker, Auburn Alehouse), Davis has a small but serious scene, and a few outlying breweries (Solano in Vacaville, Three Forks up in Nevada City) are worth the drive on their own.

Brewery Directory by Neighborhood

Every brewery below is a Sacramento Area Brewers Guild member and participates in Beer Week each year. Several non-Guild taprooms (Burning Barrel, Movement Backstage, Mindscape Fermentations, the Rancho Cordova Barrel District collective) also program events during the week, and dozens of restaurants and bars across the region run ticketed pairings, tap takeovers, and themed dinners. Addresses are taproom locations; some breweries also have satellite locations not listed here.

Midtown & Downtown Sacramento

The most walkable cluster in the city. You can hit four or five of these on foot in an afternoon if you start at Touchstone and end at New Helvetia.

East Sac, North Sac & West Sacramento

Beyond the grid. Several of these are destinations on their own, especially New Glory and Bike Dog East Sac.

Auburn & The I-80 Foothills

If you’re driving up from Sacramento, you can reasonably hit three of these in a day. Knee Deep and Moonraker between them have shaped what Northern California IPAs taste like.

Roseville, Rocklin & Lincoln

The Highway 65 corridor north of Sacramento. Moksa is the standout if you only have time for one.

Davis, Yolo & Dixon

The west side of the river. Smaller scene than Sacramento proper, but Ruhstaller’s Dixon location alone justifies the drive.

Folsom, Rancho Cordova & the East Side

The US-50 corridor. Movement and Fort Rock anchor the Rancho Cordova industrial-park scene that has quietly become one of the most active.

Outer Ring: Lodi, Vacaville, Garden Valley & Nevada City

Worth the drive if you’re already passing through. Three Forks in Nevada City pairs a brewery with a bakery and is a destination on its own.

A Sacramento Beer Style Primer

Sacramento doesn’t have a single signature style the way some cities do (Portland’s IPA, St. Louis’s lager, Brussels’s lambic). What it has is a cross-section, with the regional bias tilted slightly toward hop-forward beers because of proximity to California’s hop-growing tradition (Ruhstaller actually grows its own hops in Dixon, an increasingly rare integration).

If you’re new to craft beer entirely, the safest way to start the week is the pilsner / lager end of the spectrum. They’re the easiest to drink, they tell you the most about a brewery’s basic technique (lagers hide nothing), and after a long afternoon of pours, your palate will thank you for not opening with a triple IPA. Alternate styles by ABV: a 5% pilsner, then a 7% IPA, then a 4% sour, then a 6% lager, repeating. Drinking eight pours of double IPA back to back is a rookie mistake that ends in a 4 PM nap on a brewery patio.

How to Plan Your Beer Week

Ask yourself how much time and how much liver you have. Driving from Sacramento up to Auburn and back to hit one event is rarely worth it; clustering two or three breweries in a single neighborhood works much better.

Logistics: Getting Around, Eating, and Staying

Transportation. Most Midtown brewery spots are bike-accessible, and Sacramento’s bike infrastructure is consistently usable across downtown, Midtown, and East Sac. Uber and Lyft are reliable for evening brewery events; budget around $15-25 each way within central Sacramento, and expect surge pricing on Friday and Saturday nights after 9 PM. The Rancho Cordova breweries (LogOff, Movement, Burning Barrel) and the Auburn cluster require a car. If you’re stopping at three breweries in one neighborhood, walking or rideshare beats trying to find parking at each one.

Food. Eat before you start drinking. Start with a real Sacramento breakfast rather than a granola bar in the parking lot. Most brewery taprooms either have full kitchens (Auburn Alehouse, Lodi Beer Co, The Monk’s Cellar) or rotating food trucks that work the Beer Week schedule. The Sacramento restaurant scene is also worth using around brewery stops, and late-night happy hours stretch the dinner window if a brewery closes earlier than your appetite. Midtown in particular has dozens of options within walking distance of the Touchstone / Alaro / Mattie Groves cluster. Four-ounce tasting pours add up faster than you think.

Lodging if you’re visiting. Midtown hotels (Citizen, Kimpton Sawyer downtown) put you within walking distance of seven or eight breweries and the food scene, and they’re the strongest base for any Sacramento-centered Beer Week trip. If you want to base in Auburn for a foothills-focused trip, the Holiday Inn off I-80 puts you within ten minutes of all five Auburn breweries. For a Davis trip, the Hyatt Place near UC Davis is the most convenient. For the Brewers Olympics or Sunrise Sippin’ Passport in Rancho Cordova, the Hyatt House near the Folsom Boulevard light rail stop is the closest reasonable option. Book early; spring brings other events to Sacramento that push lodging prices up.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Sacramento Beer Week 2026?

April 24 through May 3, 2026, ten days. Saturday May 2 is the heaviest day for events, including the Brewers Olympics at New Glory and Passport to Pints at Geisthaus. Confirm specific event details with the Sacramento Area Brewers Guild on Instagram (@sacramentobeerweek) before you book travel.

How much does Sacramento Beer Week cost?

Most events are walk-in and free to enter. You pay only for what you pour. The ticketed exceptions are mid-week dinners, ticketed pairings, and the European-style Passport to Pints tasting at Geisthaus, which range from $40 to $100 depending on the brewery and format. Budget $80-150 for a single full day of brewery hopping plus one Spotlight event, or $200-350 for a weekend.

Is Sacramento Beer Week 21 and over only?

Most ticketed Beer Week events (brewer’s table dinners, Passport to Pints at Geisthaus, beer pairings with restaurants) are 21+ and IDs are checked at the door. Individual brewery taprooms vary; many are family-friendly during normal hours, and several program kid-friendly Beer Week events (food trucks, live music, paint nights) where children are welcome. Check each brewery’s social media or website for specific event policies.

How many breweries are in the Sacramento Area Brewers Guild?

Thirty-seven member breweries as of 2026, spread from Nevada City and Auburn down through Sacramento, Davis, Lodi, and Vacaville. Several non-Guild taprooms (Burning Barrel, Movement Backstage, Mindscape Fermentations, the Rancho Cordova Barrel District collective) also program events during Beer Week. The Sacramento region has more breweries per capita than any major California metro outside San Diego.

Is the Brewers Showcase happening in 2026?

No. The Sacramento Area Brewers Guild ran the Brewers Showcase as a one-time festival at Heart Health Park (Cal Expo) in 2024. It hasn’t returned in 2025 or 2026, and there’s no announced plan to bring it back. The closest 2026 equivalents are the multi-brewery Spotlight events: the Sunrise Sippin’ Passport in Rancho Cordova, Passport to Pints at Geisthaus, and the Brewers Olympics at New Glory.

What kinds of events run during the week?

The full programming spans firkin nights (cask-conditioned pours), brewer’s table dinners, beer pairings with chefs, vintage cellar tappings, food truck takeovers, live music nights, art markets, charity fundraisers, and themed events ranging from karaoke to puppy adoption fairs. Each brewery sets its own schedule. The variety is the point.

Where do I find the official 2026 event calendar?

The Sacramento Area Brewers Guild rolls out the official Beer Week calendar at sacramentobeerweek.com and on its Instagram account (@sacramentobeerweek) in the run-up to opening weekend, with #SBW2026 as the official hashtag. Once the week is underway, the most current information lives on each individual brewery’s own Instagram, where they post their daily event lineup, food truck rotations, and special pours. Following four or five of the breweries closest to you is the most efficient way to stay current.

What is the best brewery for someone new to craft beer?

For a soft introduction, head to a brewery with a wide stylistic range and food on-site: Auburn Alehouse, New Helvetia, or The Monk’s Cellar in Roseville all fit that profile. They each pour something approachable across pilsner, lager, IPA, and seasonal offerings, and a full kitchen helps you pace yourself. Avoid starting at Moonraker or Knee Deep if you don’t already enjoy hop-forward beers; they’re spectacular at what they do, but it’s a deep end of the pool.

Are there alternatives to Sacramento Beer Week if I miss it?

The California Brewers Festival, presented by Point West Rotary, runs in September at Cesar Chavez Plaza in downtown Sacramento and follows a similar single-day-festival format with most of the same Guild breweries pouring. The Sacramento Republic FC’s BrewFest at the Cal Expo soccer matches is a smaller seasonal option. Otherwise, individual brewery anniversaries and release events run throughout the year; following four or five of your favorite breweries on Instagram is the easiest way to stay current.

Affiliate Disclosure: Some links in this article are affiliate links. If you buy through one, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Article Updates

April 26, 2026: Significant correction. The Sacramento Area Brewers Guild PR contact confirmed that the Brewers Showcase is not running in 2026. The Showcase was a one-time festival held in 2024 and has not returned in 2025 or 2026. The first version of this article framed the Showcase as Beer Week’s central anchor, which was wrong. Substantial rewrite to remove the Showcase as the closing-weekend capstone, reframe the planning section around individual brewery programming and the curated Spotlight events (Sunrise Sippin’ Passport, Passport to Pints at Geisthaus, Brewers Olympics at New Glory), and update the structured data (FAQ + Event @graph) to match. The Showcase now appears in a single dedicated section explaining the 2024 history. Sincere thanks to the SBW PR team for the catch.

April 25, 2026: Initial publication. Sacramento Beer Week 2026 dates confirmed (April 24 through May 3). All thirty-seven Sacramento Area Brewers Guild member breweries listed and verified against the Guild directory at sacareabrewersguild.org/breweries/. Three closing-weekend spotlight events added on day-of: the Sunrise Sippin’ Passport across LogOff, Movement, and Burning Barrel in Rancho Cordova; the Passport to Pints European tasting at Geisthaus benefiting the Brewers Guild; and the second annual Brewers Olympics at New Glory.