EVENTS THIS WEEKEND:

• Tonight: Friday, July 18, 6:30 p.m. It’s not to late to get into Beer Chef Bruce Paton’s beer dinner featuring the brews of Bear Republic at Cathedral Hill Hotel, San Francisco, $80, reservations: www.beer-chef.com.See you there
• Saturday, July 19, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., New Belgium Tour de Fat, Speedway Meadows, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. I gotta hand it to the folks at New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colo., makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale, the beer named after an off-road bike — they know how to do an event designed to draw publicity. Consider “Tour de Fat.” This is a traveling chautauqua, going city to city, a kind of 21st-century dog and pony show. Well, dogs are unlikely and certainly there are no ponies. It’s a bicycle festival with beer, of course. Everyone’s urged to come and bring bikes. There’s a grand parade and all kinds of biking event, live music all day and did I say beer? Yes. Proceeds from beer and merchandise sales go to the San Francisco Bike Coalition and the Bay Area Trail Council.
• They’ve added a new wrinkle. They’re going to select one person willing to give up his or her car for an entire year and only ride a bike, which New Belgium will furnish. Want to do that? Go to www.tour-de-fat.com
• Sunday, July 20, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. , 2nd annual Stone Sour Fest, Stone Brewing, 1999 Citracado Parkway, Escondido CA. Escondido is in northern San Diego County and we’re in the Bay Area, but if by any chance you live in Southern California or are going to be in the area Sunday, this is one not to miss. Stone’s Beverage Co-ordinator Peter Reeves said they have 33 beers on draft, all sour and most from American craft brewers. The include three primo sour beers from Valley Brewing in Stockton. This is a brewpug that’s earning a growing repuaation for Belgian-style sour beers. Their contributions to the Sour Fest:

–Fat Freddy;’ Freaky Kriek, a Lambic-style aged with sour cherries and pomegranate, 7.5 percent ABV
–Grand Cru- a blend of their eitht month old Belgian Quadruple and a 3 year old pomegranate lambic; 12 percent.
–Wild Cat- A sour stout aged in Bourbon barrels; 8 percent.