Unique San Diego Beer Week events

San Diego Beer Week is designed to promote local breweries, plus the restaurants and bars that sell their beer. However, with hundreds of events scheduled between November 3rd and November 12th, it's gotten tough for many to get noticed. Each year, half the fun is spotting the new and interesting special events local businesses have come up with to stand out.

Farm to Fermenter Friday, November 3rd, Noon–10 p.m. Duck Foot Brewing Company, 8920 Kenamar Drive, suite 210, Miramar. Duck Foot's kicking off its Beer Week schedule with a nod to all the locavores out there, sourcing only locally grown pomegranates, lavender, passion fruit, kumquat, and other ingredients to flavor its beers. Interesting takes on San Diego flavored beers include an orange/coriander IPA and a lemongrass blonde ale.

Boat to Belly Saturday November 4th, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Puesto at the Headquarters, 789 West Harbor Drive, Marina District. The most San Diego–centric beer-and-food pairing event this year takes place at lunchtime. Taco-maker Puesto will be securing fresh catch from the fishermen at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market, then turning it into three types of fish taco, each matched up with a different beer from AleSmith. They could probably make this work every week. Tickets $35.

Beer Nerd Trivia Showdown Sunday, November 5th, 5–7 p.m. North Park Beer Co., 3038 University Avenue, North Park. This one's for the die-hard beer enthusiasts. Their knowledge will be put to the test during this special-edition trivia night, which questions their knowledge of craft beer. Teams of four are invited to compete for a plaque designating each team member, "Beer Nerd of the Year."

Duck Foot + Nomad Macaron Pairing Monday, November 6th, 6–8 p.m. Duck Foot Brewing Company, 8920 Kenamar Drive, suite 210, Miramar. Donut beer pairings have become common occurrences in San Diego in the past year or two, so Duck Foot's terrific Beer Week calendar has Nomad Donuts providing creative macaron pairings instead. Let's hope these become just as popular. Tickets $20.

XPerience Virtual Reality Monday, November 6th, 3–7 p.m. Kilowatt Brewing Ocean Beach 1875 Cable Street, Ocean Beach. There's no law against drinking and virtual reality yet, is there? For the thirsty among us who want to check out the future of gaming, Kilowatt's Ocean Beach tasting room will be featuring the immersive technology offered by OB neighbor Expedience Virtual Reality arcade. Or, if this new-fangled tech is too confusing, just show up and let your kids do it while you drink beer.

BeerSavvy Boot Camp Thursday, November 9th, 1–5 p.m. White Labs, 9495 Candida Street, Miramar. Want to learn as much as you can about beer in four hours? This class brought to town by the Chicago-based Cicerone Certification Program won't make you an expert, but it will definitely give you an idea what the experts are doing when they taste beer. You'll experience the differences between different varieties of malts, hops, and beer styles, and get caught up on relevant beer-tasting terms, so you'll at least sound like you know what you're talking about next time you hit the local ale house. Tickets $99.