Museums, beer, live music and cheese.

If I were to make a list of my favorite things on earth, all four of these would figure prominently therein.

Conveniently enough, all four of these things also figured prominently in Thursday night's Sacramento Brewers Showcase, the kickoff event to Sacramento Beer Week.

The showcase, featuring nearly every local brewery offering samples of their wares, was held from 5 to 9 p.m. in the spectacular two-story atrium of the Crocker Art Museum.

I arrived five minutes before 5 p.m., ‘cause I like to party.

The breweries had set up their kegs along a large L-shaped table that wrapped around the east and south sides of the atrium. When I arrived there were maybe two dozen people milling about, some seated at the tables concentrated at the west side of the room, the rest mingling with the assorted brewers and volunteers.

I had five drink tickets, so I set about cashing them in.

The first brewery that caught my eye was Sierra Nevada. It makes sense, seeing as it was the closest to the entrance, but also because I have a long and distinguished history with their product, specifically the Pale Ale.

As I enthusiastically told their representative, Molly, "I grew up drinking Sierra Nevada!"

She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. (Do not drink until you're 21, kiddos! Or at least until you're in college. Alright, fine — no earlier than senior year in high school, and always designate a driver.)

Sierra Nevada brewed a special beer just for the occasion. Sloughhouse Pale Ale is the product of a collaboration with Rick Sellers, co-founder of Odanata Beer Company and founder of Pacific Brew News.

Sloughhouse is a light pale ale, bright and hoppy with a relatively low alcohol content (4.8 percent). My first beer of the evening was also one of my favorites.

On my first pass through the gauntlet, I skipped Brew It Up and Rubicon, because something else had caught my eye.

Cheese.

Nugget Markets had brought a selection of their finest cheeses, and, man oh man, were they good. An amazing gouda, aged 18 months until it almost had the bite of a sharp cheddar. A wonderful Gruyere, aged a year. A creamy Wisconsin Blue that was aged in abandoned mine shafts up in Nevada City. An extra sharp Vermont Cabot Cheddar. And a spectacular French triple creme brie, reminiscent of a St. André (better than?).

The only thing missing was a Manchego, or it would have been my dream cheese platter.

I went next to Lagunitas to try their Beer Week selection, Lagunitas Fusion, a dark imperial rye ale, which I readily admit was a bit rye-y for my palate. I thought it was alright, but it wasn't my cup of, well, beer. It was, however, a consensus winner among those with a bit more advanced beer palates than my own. I found many of the brewers and volunteers were drinking the Lagunitas and raving about it.

Following another cheesy interlude, I stopped by the fellas at Two Rivers Cider for a taste of their pomegranate cider. It, like all of their other offerings I have tried, was light and refreshing, fruity with a nice crisp tartness.

I asked them about a lemonade cider that I had heard rumblings about but never crossed paths with. I received confirmation that they do, in fact, make not only a regular lemonade version but also watermelon and strawberry lemonade versions. Summer is just around the corner.

On my way back to Brew It Up, I decided to check on my buddy over at the cheese table. I wanted to make sure he was doing alright. Once assured of his well-being, I was poured a glass of Brew It Up’s Valentale Ale, a raspberry Belgian triple.

Lest you think it might be a girly beer, the Valentale is 8.2 percent alcohol by volume. I actually really enjoyed the taste, smooth and with clear raspberry notes and not too sweet. Unfortunately, It had a slightly sticky, chalky aftertaste that I couldn't overlook.

It reminded me a bit of a Gordon Biersch aftertaste, which is unfortunate.

By this point the atrium was two-thirds packed and rapidly becoming more so. I could barely get back to the cheese on my next pass.

There were now fairly deep lines at most of the breweries, including Davis' Sudwerk, where I ventured next. They have a sourbock I was eager to try.

The fellow in front of me got the sourbock as well, and his response summed up the experience better than I could. Stuart Canton took a large swig and with a surprised look on his face, exclaimed, "Ooh, that’s weird!" In his very next breath, he reappraised, "Ooh, that's good!"

That's about right.

At this point I should mention that the Mulvaney run Crocker Cafe was putting out scrumptious fare for the revelers who wanted something a little more substantial than cheese, crackers and little cones of trailmix.  Two small plates in particular stuck with me: A corned beef and cabbage slider, and a pork belly corn dog.  I saw a pair of the former get delivered to a table next to me.  I asked the fellow how they were, and he insisted I take one of his.  After halfheartedly rebuking the offer at first, I quickly changed my tune before he could his ("No, really, I couldn't. . . alright, if you insist". *Yoink*). It was great.

As far as the pork belly corn dog, I saw a fellow eating one.  He appeared to be on the verge of weeping. "You alright buddy?" I asked. "This is so good it should be illegal" he muttered, tears welling in his eyes.

Soon after my interaction with the tear-inducing pork belly corn dog, the band started up.  The Freebadge Serenaders are Gregory Sabin (banjo) and Patrick Skiffington (washboard, kazoo, slide-whistle, etc.) and they play "discount jazz".  They were a perfect accompaniement for the occasion.  Great beer drinking music, which brings us to. . . 

My final beer of the evening was a collaborative effort of several of the brewers on hand, made specifically for beer week. A Scottish Ale, in cask, was tapped (or at least the first beer was pulled) by UC Davis brewing science professor Charlie Bamforth for the opening toast of Beer Week.

He gave a quick speech to commemorate the occasion, although most of the crowd was too busy drinking and chatting to hear.

"It's always an uphill battle when people would rather be drinking beer than listening to me,” he said. “You can tell this isn't a wine event. Today we're celebrating malt, hops, the world's favorite drink.”

And with that, Beer Week was underway in earnest.

This may have been my favorite beer of the evening, dark and rich but very smooth with a fairly high alcohol content (above 6 percent). This, along with the other two specially made brews, will be available at certain bars around town until the end of Beer Week or until they run out, whichever happens first. (All three can be found at Brew It Up.)

If the Sacramento Brewers Showcase is any indication, we are in for a heck of a week. As one of the revelers at last night's event put it, "I wish every week was Beer Week!"