For each agenda, we tried to whittle each day down to the events that really matter–although there are still plenty of tough decisions to make. And if you’re a beer geek AND a food lover, well, you’ve got some major contemplation to do.

Before we introduce the agendas, a few basics to help you with your own research. Here’s the SDBW flickr group, facebook page, twitter buzz, and official website. Oh and here’s the tentative beer list for the Brewer’s Guild Festival on Friday and Saturday–these agenda’s don’t include the festival, as we’re guessing you’re probably going to at least one session.

Now here is part 1 –Friday, Nov. 6 through Tuesday, Nov. 10, of each agenda:

Agenda #1: The Beer Geek

You know who you are. You know every brewery and every venue participating in beer week. What excites you are the special releases, the events with the brewers, the chance to learn more about the craft that you love.

Friday, Nov. 6. The serious beer drinking starts early. Stone opens at 11 am with a rare opportunity: all 10 vintages of Stone Imperial Russian Stout from 2000-2009.   Later in the day, head to O’Briens at 5pm for a vertical tasting of Exponential Hoppiness. Not a hop head? Hit up Blind Lady at 7pm for a taste of wood–as in a flight of 5 barrel- and oak-aged beers for $15.

Saturday, Nov. 7. Ok, this is a high ticket and sold out event, but if you are one of the $125 lucky ones, it will be a memorable evening at the Port Brewing/Lost Abbey third annual barrel tasting night. Otherwise, there’s rare Stone vintages at Holiday Wine Cellar with Stone head brewer Mitch Steele, and barrel fever at both Stone and Blind Lady.

Sunday, Nov. 8: Our beer geek vote for today is the local beer and cheese pairing class at Taste. The cheese pairings that Mary Palmer and Tomme Nickel (yes, of O’Briens) put together will open your eyes to another dimension of the eight local beers poured during the class. Have time before the class? Head over to Sea Rocket at noon for a showing of Beer Wars (also, see our suggestions for Sunday on the foodie agenda below).

Also, this has been sold out for a while but we have pestered the friendly folk at Home Brew Mart so many times with silly questions, that we wish this All Grain Brewing Class was offered when we started.

Monday, Nov. 9: Yes we know it’s only Monday, but this is no night to lay low. The Tomme Arthur experience is at Stone, New Belgium’s wild ales are at Toronado, Unibroue is at Small Bar, Barrel-Aged Ballast Point is the theme at their Linda Vista location, and Green Flash Night–including Palate Wrecker, Coffee Stout, Super Freak, and the hop-less gruet–is at O’Briens. Go forth and try at least one beer you’ve never before tried.

Tuesday, Nov. 10: It’s five days into beer week and you haven’t hit up Hamilton’s yet! Head on down to South Park for their Small Brewery Norcal Night. Then hop on the 2-line up 30th street, for some otherwise east-coast-only Dogfish Head beers at Toronado.

Stay Tuned for Drink the Craft’s beer geek agenda for the second half of beer week!

Agenda #2: The Foodie

You love craft beer… almost as much as you love food. And you can’t get enough of the creative things chefs and brewers are doing to bring the two closer together. You’re looking at this week as an adventure for your palate.

Friday, Nov. 6: Head on over to Neighborhood at 7, for a series of tapas paired with Lost Abbey beers. Four beers plus four tapas will set you back $25, not a bad deal, especially if the tapas are anywhere close to as good as Neighborhood’s burgers or sweet potato fries.

Saturday, Nov. 7. Head to Extraordinary Desserts between 5 and 11pm for a special dessert menu crafted with Rogue Chocolate Stout, Maui Coconut Porter, and St. Peter’s Cream Stout. We wish they were local beers (Victory at Sea? Green Flash Double Stout?), but we’re still a fan of the creativity.

Want dinner beforehand? George’s California Modern, is running a Stone beer pairing menu for all 10 days of beer week. $80 buys you five courses with beer.

Sunday, Nov. 8: Yikes. We hope you are hungry on Sunday. There are more food events going on than one person could hit up in a day. Our favorites include the local beer and cheese paring at Taste, co-hosted by O’Briens, the Green Flash Smoke Out at the Linkery (more info here), and the Ale Smith Brunch at the Pearl (ok, we’re a sucker for Croque Monsieurs).

Monday, Nov. 9: There’s a beer-pairing dinner at Quarter Kitchen–and it looks like Chef Nathan Coulon is pulling out all the stops with an amazing five-course menu–but we can’t help but have some reservations about the beer pairings. We like Chimay and Duvel, but would hope to see something more exciting than Stella Artois with the first course. If you need to feed your inner foodie, our rec is to go more casual–we are intrigued by the thought of Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans paired with Phil’s BBQ, as well as by Sea Rocket’s “Cooking with Beer” $30 prix fixe (plus $3 pints and Jackie Chan playing in the background)

Tuesday, Nov. 10: Sorry folks, but there are some tough decisions to make today. Luckily (in a consolation-prize sort of way), many are already sold out, making last-minute decisions easy. The amazing-albeit-sold-out lineup includes Vinnie Cirulzo at Stone and the six-course szechuan beer dinner at Ba Ren. But then there’s Green Flash dinner at JSix, the Mission Brewery dinner at Cafe Chloe, Fuller’s at Ritual Tavern, and Alchemy’s Stone-inspired menu (with live jazz!).

We don’t know about you, but we’re worn out just thinking about the first five days. We’ll be back early next week with our agendas for the second half of beer week!

We visited on the first Sunday the bar was open, and yet, from the first few minutes of walking in the door we felt like we had been going there for years. The bar exudes character, with black walls, red lighting, and subtle yet poignant red accents, including a ribbon around the front wall that proclaims, “one small bar for man, one giant bar for mankind.”

We saddled up to the bar before settling in at one of the burbon barrel tables in the center of the space, and were greeted by a friendly face: Louis of the Liars Club. When I told Louis how excited I had been to sample Pizza Port Carlsbad’s Black Lie at the SD Beer Festival (the beer was first brewed for the 7th anniversary of the Liars Club a few years ago), I was delighted to find it was also on one of the bar’s 40 taps. So I ordered fairly quickly, although the beer—as well as cocktail—lineup leaves plenty of time for contemplation.

Like Hamilton’s, Small Bar features a sprawling chalkboard behind the bar, with the current tap selections including price and ABV. The selection is diverse—premium Belgians like Rochefort 10 lie among craft beer staples like Pliny and Alesmith XPA, peppered with unique seasonals like the Black Lie and New Belgium’s Hoptoberfest. Several Anchor beers are included in the lineup, and Dennis explained that the plan was to have Anchor Small Beer as a permanent fixture, as a playful nod to the bar’s name. (Although having such a unique session beer always available is a plus in its own right.) At 3.3%, Small Beer is an excellent option for anyone wanting to go light on the alcohol but not miss out on flavor. (The beer is made from the second runnings of Anchor’s barleywine).

Unlike Hamilton’s, Small Bar has a full liquor license, and the owners have taken full advantage with an enticing mix of specialty cocktails as well as premium whiskeys. The bloody mary alone justifies the liquor license—the pint-sized drink is made with vodka, Guinness, steak sauce, bacon, and every accoutrement known to a cocktail bar (and then some): cherry tomatoes, gherkins, pepperoncini, pearl onions, pickled green beans, and, for good measure, shrimp. Oh, and the drink (inexplicably) comes with a bag of pork rinds (don’t worry—Louis made sure we weren’t vegetarians first).

If you’re still hungry after your bloody-mary-soaked skewer of snacks, Small Bar is open for lunch and dinner, and their menu features a flavorful selection of slightly (just slightly) upscale bar fare designed to be served quickly. Our order certainly lived up to Dennis’s claim—nothing on the menu takes more than 10 minutes, even when the bar is crowded. The prices are all reasonable, especially when you consider that the burgers are made with TallGrass Beef, and steaks are supplied by Hamilton meats. The beer mac and cheese was especially tasty—resonating with undertones of dark beer and generously spiked with pieces of bacon—as was the blue cheese burger, served on a soft, aromatic rosemary bun (that i’m pretty sure was Sadie Rose?). We also sampled the poor man’s cheese plate, which was a great option for noshing when you’re not sure if you’re staying for dinner.

The juke box is an exact replica of Hamiltons, so there was no shortage of good music playing throughout our visit. If the noise level inside is too loud (which it threatens to be when packed to capacity), Small Bar has soon-to-be-opened patio seating and plans for an outdoor beer garden out back (Dennis estimated spring 2010).

Many times when a bar first opens, there are plenty of things that seem like they need to be worked out. Not so with Small Bar—there was not a moment during our visit where I wished things were differently. It will be interesting to see how the space can accommodate larger crowds (most of the tables seat no more than 4 or 5), and I’m looking forward to the outdoor tables, but other than that, this bar has it down. Dennis and Blair know what they are doing, and they certainly know how to give San Diego another essential craft beer bar—one that we didn’t even know we were missing.

Note: this article originally appeared on Drink the Craft’s tumblr site on September 21, and morphed into a more formal piece, published on SDNN on October 2.