Passing an evening with friends at the local bar can be a great way to socialize and enjoy a few beers. Around the Sacramento region, patrons may find a growing selection of craft beers available from their local bars as more establishments begin serving these fine brews.With the return of Sacramento Beer Week, enthusiasts are gearing up for 10 days of events, including tastings, pub-crawls, trivia nights and festivals, starting Friday and continuing through March 4.

The week will commence with the Sacramento Brewers Showcase and Capital Beerfest Saturday at Cal Expo.

Admission to Saturday’s events includes unlimited tasting of beers from 120 breweries as well as a variety of local food vendors, according to the Sacramento Beer Week website.

Dan Scott, a Sacramento State alumnus with a master’s degree in public policy and administration, founded Sacramento Beer Week in 2010.

“Sacramento is a boomtown right now for craft beer,” Scott said. “In the last couple of years, we’ve had half a dozen breweries open in the area. We came along at just the right time.”

Unlike other beers, craft beers are meant to be savored, with a higher price tag as well as higher alcohol content; craft beers focus on quality as opposed to quantity.

Ryan Tubbs is a craft beer enthusiast and co-creator of Beerhaps, an app showcasing bars, brews and events available during Sacramento Beer Week.

“You can’t just blow $250 on a keg with $3 pints and make it a bro-fest where everybody can just hang out and slug beer,” Tubbs said. “To be a successful craft beer business you also have to successfully embrace responsibility in drinking.”

With so many events occurring during beer week, it can be difficult to decide which to attend.

The Funk and Sour Festival on March 3 is where brave beer-lovers will be given the opportunity to sample from 16 selections of wild ales; purposefully soured and laden with yeast to give them an earthy, musty flavor that Mauro said, “are a bit of an acquired taste.”

The Capital Beer Fest is one event worth attending, with nearly 100 breweries from Sacramento and Northern California bringing with them the widest selection of beers available during Beer Week, Scott said.

“We get more and more events and they keep on getting attended,” Scott said. “It’s pretty clear from the response that people are thirsty for good beer out here.”

Samuel Hornes Tavern in Folsom focuses on serving American craft beers, with 16 drafts on tap that change weekly and, during Beer Week, daily.

“The big thing for us is all-American beers and the reason for that (…) is we just feel the U.S. beer scene is so strong we don’t need to go outside the U.S. to get great beers,” said Dylan Mauro, owner of Samuel Hornes Tavern.

The bar’s main events for Beer Week will be the Folsom Hop Rodeo on Saturday where tasting flights throughout the day will give attendees a chance to sample 12 of the hop-heaviest beers Samuel Hornes Tavern has to offer.

Events like these push people out of their usual bars and give them the occasion to go somewhere fresh and try something they may have been overlooking, Scott said.

“It’s tough to walk into your local bar during Beer Week and just grab a quick drink,” Scott said.

Scott said those interested in Beer Week should be prepared to try something new and get outside their beer comfort zone.

“Not only are people going out to events this week, but they’re discovering places they can know and love and rely on,” Scott said. “It’s great to see that it pays off and it’s great to see that people come back to these places not just during Beer Week, but year-round.”

Jessica can be reached at [email protected]