Photo: Courtesy of Templeton Rye

It’s bottoms up for a limited-release specialty beer this Sunday, when Elixir hosts the Templeton Rye Barrel-Aged Magnolia Porter Beer Release as part of San Francisco Cocktail Week.

Guests can taste the porter solo, or pair a pint with chef Livio Velardo’s beer-marinated meats soaked in Templeton Rye barbeque sauce. The Elixir team will be mixing beer cocktails throughout the afternoon, and guests can catch the Sunday NFL games on flat-screens throughout the bar, as well.

Dave McLean, brewer and owner of Magnolia Pub and Brewery and Alembic, calls the release a celebration of the connection between the craft beer and spirit communities.

“We’re all doing a lot of really similar things, and we approach our craft with similar visions. These are two communities of highly creative and passionate people trying to make things that taste good, that have integrity, and that bring people together in a sort of time-honored way,” he says.

Just one barrel of the beer – approximately three kegs’ worth – was produced, and McLean sees it as an extension of the artisan cocktail renaissance of recent years.

“To take something that was loved and cared for by talented distillers and then put a beer into it and care for that some more, is a pretty cool testament to the fact that we are all in this together and share many common bonds,” he says. “It’s fun to share a little of that with the public through small projects like this one.”

The Templeton Rye Barrel-Aged Magnolia Porter Beer Release event takes place at Elixir (3200 16th Street, San Francisco) on Sunday, Sept. 25, at 3 p.m. Entrance to the event is free; proceeds from a $10 all-you-can-eat barbeque benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco.

For more information, visit www.sfcocktailweek.com.