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February 15, 2011July 9, 2011

Our Day at SF Beer Week

Last year, we attended events on all but two days of SF Beer Week. For a variety of reasons, Merideth and I didn’t have it in us to repeat 2010’s hectic schedule in 2011. We planned on only doing one weekend this year, the first. One weekend morphed into one day as we couldn’t find a pup sitter for Porter and Stout.

The main event of the day would be the Bistro’s 11th Annual Double IPA Festival, followed by some beer tramping around the City. The weather forecast, sunny and temperatures in the high 60s, was a cause for some concern. We are some of those crazy beer geeks who like to enjoy themselves at beer festivals. Really nice weather could translate into very crowded conditions at DIPA with long beer lines.

We had one ace up our sleeve, however. Having spent a quiet Friday night at home watching a movie, we would be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Saturday morning. Our plan was to get to the Bistro early while most other beer geeks were still sleeping off their SF Beer Week opening night celebrations.

Leaving our car in Fremont, we rode BART to Hayward. We met our friend Renee at the BART station a few minutes past 11am and made the short walk to the Bistro under brilliantly blue skies. Walking past the penned in side street that houses the festival, I saw a short admission line and a few people milling about with beers. Our threesome passed through the pub, exited the side entrance and joined the quick moving line.

First beer at the 2011 DIPA Festival; Russian River's Pliny the Younger

Fifty dollars lighter in my pocket, I was now armed with my taster glass and 10 paper tokens. I already knew what my first beer was going to be but consulted my beer list to find out what number it was. Seeing that it was #48, Renee and I bee-lined to the far tent to get Russian River’s Pliny the Younger. I knew I would have more opportunities during the day to drink this hop-tacular, once-a-year brew, but figured it would be more enjoyable while I was still fresh.

Just like last year, there was much anticipation for that very first sip. Would the Younger still be the elyxir of the Hop gods? The short answer was yes. I should also add “WOW” to my review.

While, Renee and I got our Plinys, Merideth went into the pub to get herself a beer. Not the hophead, Merideth pretended to be at a Wheat beer festival. Drake’s Hefeweizen was Merideth’s beer of choice (To her credit, Merideth did try most, if not all, of the beers that I drank). Merideth’s pint-sized beers seemed to be the envy of many a person. Was it the person’s natural inclination to be jealous of someone with something larger or were they really wanting to be drinking pints of 10% ABV beers?

After the Younger, I focused on DIPAs that I had never tried before. Hopbombs from High Water Brewing, Kern River, Knee Deep, Sutter Buttes were not only the first DIPAs from these breweries but the first ever beers I tried from them. Drake’s Hop Salad and Bear Republic Cafe Racer 15 were also firsts for me.

On my beer list, I rated the beers with a complex scoring system that I devised. If liked a beer, I drew a smiley face. If I didn’t care for the beer, I drew a frown. Brews not in either of those categories got a straight line drawn next to their listing. I ended trying 15 of the 58 DIPAs available. My favorite brew not named Pliny the Younger was Drake’s Hop Salad. Other beers receiving smiley faces were Triple Rock’s IIMAXX Imperial IPA and Bear Republic’s Cafe Racer 15.

In the official judging, Firestone Walker Double Jack came out on top followed by Moylan’s Hopsickle and Drake’s Hopocalypse. I didn’t have any of those three on the day. The “People’s Choice” award went to Kern River Citra DIPA, a beer that got a frown on my list. It was one of my last beers so maybe my palate was worn out by that point.

A glorious February day for a beer festival

The weather was glorious! Eventually joined by our friends Philippe and Chris (Devlin to you Seattle folks), our now group of five spent the early afternoon chatting with friends, enjoying the sun and drinking some great beer. It did get crowded early in the afternoon but I never felt I was in the mosh pit of a punk show. And more importantly, the beer lines moved very quickly.

Our group ran out of tickets around the time I was hoping to head over to the City. So we finished up our last beers, Green Flash Palate Wrecker in my case, and headed back to the BART station.

The almost 40 minute BART ride to San Francisco was a nice break from not only the beer but the bright sun which left a few of us with a pinkish hue. Getting off at Civic Center, we followed a very familiar path down 9th to Folsom Street and City Beer Store. Looking forward to sitting and relaxing with a beer, I was pleased to see that City Beer wasn’t crazy busy. They were doing brisk business but there was no Beer Week event. So it was still manageable. We grabbed one of the high tables.

Merideth drinking a Saison De Lente from the Bruery.

Despite still being a bit hopped up after trying 15 DIPAs, I remained on the hop-side and ordered a Gold Digger IPA from Auburn Alehouse. Merideth had a Saison De Lente from the Bruery.

It had been several months since our last visit to City Beer. Between helping customers, Craig and Beth took some time to chat with us. It was nice to catch up with them. Hopefully, they will survive Beer Week, then the Craft Brewers Conference and make it to their 5th anniversary celebrations.

Still not having enough hops, I pulled out of the cold case a bottle of Firehouse Hops on Rye, a rye IPA. Getting four glasses from Beth, I shared with the table one my favorite recent releases.

In the fading late afternoon sun, we departed City Beer for our next destination, the Lower Haight and Toronado. With the presence of Pliny the Younger on Toronado’s beer list, I fully expected the tiny bar to be packed and the staff extra surly. Toronado was busy, but we have seen it much worse. We quickly purchased beers without incident (It probably helped that we didn’t try to buy a t-shirt for a friend). Still not satisfied with my hop intake, I ordered my favorite IPA on cask, Moonlight Bombay by Boat. Merideth ordered Firestone Walker’s Velvet Merlin. We even managed to procure a table in the small back room.

My last beer at Toronado (and as it would turn out, the day) I finally ordered a brew that wasn’t a hopbomb. Firestone Walker’s Sticky Monkey, a 12% ABV English Barley Wine, came in a little six ounce pour. Taking a small sip, vanilla notes and barrel flavors dominated this beer. I correctly guessed that Sticky Monkey had to be part of Firestone Walker 14. It’s 29% of the beer. Finding it a bit harsh, I shared the small pour with the rest of the group.

Getting visions of pork belly and Strong Beers in my head, our quintet walked up Haight Street towards Magnolia Pub and Brewery for Strong Beer Month. SF Beer Week is not always glamor and fun. Sometimes there is disappointment. The past three years whether it was SF Beer Week or Beerapalooza, Merideth and I made this walk for Magnolia’s strong beers. I was especially excited this year because I heard there was a Strong Beer flight… and cheese! I must have looked very disappointed as I walked in and was confronted by hordes of fellow Beer Weekers. The ten person queue at the bar to get a beer discouraged us from trying to wait this one out. We had done our hard work for day at DIPA and Torondao. We turned around and left.

Celebrating the end of our SF Beer Week day with ice cream.

Our beer opportunities for the day might have ended, but we still had one more stop before Merideth and I hopped back on BART to Fremont. Humphry Slocombe, located at 24th and Harrison, was the big hit of the 2010 SF Beer Week with their beer ice cream. They returned in 2011 with more beer flavors and still the best Beer Week deal, four scoops for $5.

Merideth with the beer ice cream stare...

The four flavors during our visit were Giant Smors (Social Kitchen and Brewery), Cappuccino Stout (Lagunitas), Payback Cocoa Porter (Speakeasy) and Sour Stave (Thirsty Bear). Having got a taste for sour beer ice creams when I had the Kriek sorbet in Brussels, I found the Sour Stave the most interesting. But I truly love coffee ice cream so the Cappuccino Stout had to be my favorite. Merideth weighed in with the Giant Smors as her favorite.

Stuffed with ice cream, our day at SF Beer Week was over. We parted ways with Renee, Chris and Philippe to let them carry on with the Beer Week madness. Merideth and I walked the six blocks up to the 24th Street BART station. SF Beer Week was short for us this year, but we still enjoyed taking part in celebrating America’s Original Craft Beer City. Happy SFBW everyone!

View all the images from our day at SF Beer Week

February 6, 2011

Viva la Beer Revolution

Bright sunshine, groups of jolly friends, and excellent beer. Lots of excellent beer.

Yesterday was the perfect day to celebrate the first beerthday of one of the East Bay’s newest and best beer establishments: Beer Revolution. They’ve come a long way in just one year and we had a great time as we joined a full house of Bay Area beer geeks and celebeerties in toasting Fraggle and Rebecca’s success.

Beer Revolution’s new 40+ tap selection was debuted for the special occasion with an all-star line up of beers, including brews from Russian River, Moylan’s, Drake’s, and Oakland’s own Linden Street. With so many to choose from it’s hard to say what stood out as the best beer of the day. I will say that 21st Amendment’s 21 Rock Triple IPA and Marin Brewing’s Comrade Kriek were among the favorites. If you have yet to visit Beer Revolution, what are you waiting for? Join the revolution!

thebeergeek.com would like to wish Rebecca and Fraggle many more brew-filled days ahead!

December 6, 2010January 25, 2013

Xmas Trees & Beer on the Central Coast

Apparently, we have a new Thanksgiving weekend tradition. For the second year running, we journeyed down to the southern Central Coast to check out their growing beer scene. Last year, we concentrated on the San Luis Obispo/Paso Robles area [Read A New Beer Destination – California’s Central Coast]. This year, our focus was the Santa Ynez Valley.

Blue skies reigned on our Christmas tree hunt

But we had one piece of business to take care of first. With a busy schedule prior to leaving for Europe in early December, we needed to get our Christmas tree. Limited time meant that driving an hour and half north to our normal Christmas tree farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains was out of the question. After a quick internet search, I located Holloway’s Christmas Tree Farm in Nipomo, just south of Pismo Beach.

Three hours after leaving our house, we were wandering the fields of Holloway’s Farm under a warm California November sun. Out of our familiar Santa Cruz Mountain Christmas tree farm environment, we struggled to pick just the right tree. After taking 45 minutes to explore the whole farm, we finally chose the very first tree Merideth had picked out as a possible candidate.

Rooney’s Irish Pub houses Shanty Irish Brewing Co.

With our Christmas tree hunt completed, it was time for a beer. We hoped to satisfy our thirst at Rooney’s Irish Pub, a short drive away in the tiny town of Orcutt. Visiting Rooney’s was a gamble because we weren’t sure they were pouring their own beers yet. Rooney’s opened last summer, but due to construction issues with the brewery, there was a delay getting Shanty Irish Brewing Co. up and running.

We’d been to Orcutt before. In fact, it was last Thanksgiving when we visited Orcutt Brewing Company. Having been to this seemingly sleepy little burg, we were somewhat surprised to discover that Rooney’s was one of those ‘upscale’ Irish pubs. Bustling early on a Friday afternoon, the pub was filled with multiple large family groups. The bar area was crowded with college football fans watching Auburn vs. Alabama. After some difficulty, Merideth ascertained that they did have ONE house beer on tap. One beer was all we needed to count Rooney’s on The List, so we grabbed a table in the bar area.

Sausage Plate and Pork Belly Sliders at Rooney’s

The beer was a 9% ABV Amber. Admittedly, I thought that was an odd choice for a first beer. The dark amber brew had a very mild flavor with a slight amount of alcohol hotness, which became more prominent as it warmed up. Nothing in Rooney’s first beer said ‘wow’ to us. But, it was a credible first effort.

The star of the show at Rooney’s was the food. Merideth and I shared Pork Belly Sliders and a Sausage Plate with Pickled Vegetables to accompany our beer. Both were excellent.

We look forward to visiting Rooney’s again in the future when they have their full beer lineup available. When we do, I think I’ll get my own order of Pork Belly sliders.

With fortuitous timing, we visited Figueroa Mountain Brewing, located in an industrial park just off Hwy 101 in Buellton, during their ‘soft’ opening. However, nothing said soft as we walked through the crowded reception area into the even more crowded tasting room. A boisterous and lively crowd chatted in groups as the staff busily tried to keep the beer flowing and glasses full.

Three of their five beers were available to try on opening day. All were clean and well-crafted, very impressive for a new brewery. Wrangler Wheat is a unfiltered American-style Wheat beer. Davy Brown Ale, named after a Santa Ynez Valley pioneer, was a delicious Brown Ale. Most impressive, though, was the Hoppy Poppy IPA, a 6.5% 65 IBU brew that even Merideth, a non-hophead, really liked. It’s not often we agree on the favorite beer.

While drinking our sample set of beers, Merideth and I both marveled at the swanky tasting room digs. The owners seemed to spare no expense in making an industrial building feel warm and cozy. The dark rustic wood tables and wood paneling in the tasting area were a nice contrast to the cinder block walls of the brewery.

Success is never guaranteed, but we left thinking that Figueroa Mountain Brewing is going to do very well.

Still in Buellton, we finished our day across the highway at Firestone Walker’s Tap Room Restaurant. Huge fans of their beers, every visit to the Central Coast requires a stop to fill our growler. While we are frequent visitors to the tasting room in Paso Robles, this was our first visit to the restaurant. Despite being much larger than the tasting room, the restaurant had a familiar and comfortable vibe. The only difference was the addition of an open kitchen and large dining area.

My Union Jack and Fish Tacos and Merideth’s Velvet Merlin and Mac-n-Cheese were a perfect way to end a productive day on the Central Coast.

View all the pictures from our day…

December 2, 2010January 25, 2013

The Urbane Beer Hikers

We’re not unfamiliar with walking all over a city visiting pubs, brewpubs and breweries. From our earliest days of beer travel, this was our favorite mode of transportation.

Turns out, there is a whole website devoted to this mode of beer crawl, urbanbeerhikes.com. Thanks to our friend, Chris Devlin, we met the website’s owner and urban beer hike guru, Dave, for a Saturday hike around San Francisco.

Starting the hike with a smile and a beer

On a pleasant early November day, our five-some began the hike at City Beer Store. The quintet included Dave, Chris Devlin, Renee, Merideth and myself. This was Dave’s first visit to the City so we would be covering familiar ground on our hike.

The beers that began our day included Russian River Redemption, Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela, Auburn Alehouse Festbier and Bear Republic “Mach 10”.

With a good base of beers, it was time to find some food. In a city where walking can can be quite vertical and challenging, our journey to the Public House at A&T Park (1.4 miles) was typical of what we mostly would experience on the day, nice and flat.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo on draft at the Public House

In contrast to the previous week’s World Series bedlam and subsequent celebrations, the Public House was relatively quiet on this Saturday afternoon.

While most of our crew ordered the house cask beer, Billy Sunday Bitter, Merideth began with Firestone Walker’s Velvet Merlin Oatmeal Stout. Accompanying the beers at the Public House where high-end pub grub items such as Mac-n-cheese, Pulled Pork Sliders, a BLT and Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream.

It was a short walk to 21st Amendment (.4 miles). Where the Public House was quiet, 21A was buzzing with activity. We ended up grabbing a table up in the loft.

It was the first week of the BRU/SFO Project, the Belgian-inspired brews month at both 21A and Magnolia. There were three BRU/SFO creations available on our visit. Merideth and I both passed on the cocoa Witbier to try Via, a really nice Belgian-style Single. Our valiant leader, Dave, couldn’t turn down an opportunity to have Watermelon Wheat with a slice a watermelon.

After 21A, we had the longest leg of the day, a 1.8 mile walk to North Beach. If there are any hills on this hike, it would be the walk up Columbus Ave. After a quick stop at Golden Boy Pizza for some more food, we walked around the corner to the Church Key.

The Church Key is one of my favorite beer spots in the City. I just love the laid back neighborhood atmosphere of the tiny bar. Unfortunately, on this evening, the beer selections excited no one in our group. So, we were ‘one and done’.

From the quiet Church Key, it was another short walk (.4 mile) to the opposite end of the spectrum, the loud and boisterous La Trappe. Descending the stairs into the cellar, we were greeted by a din of noise from an almost packed house. Luckily, we found a few seats at the bar.

Another one of my favorite beer destinations in the city, I could only manage a St. Bernardus Christmas beer before the Saturday night crowd got the best of us. Looking back, La Trappe maybe should have been our first North Beach stop.

We finished the evening at Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Cafe, the first new place of the day for Merideth and me. Better known as just Specs’, this old-school dive bar was only a half mile from La Trappe. Like any good dive, Specs’ was located down a alley.

We found a table in the very,very dim bar and ordered a pitcher of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. To accompany our beer, Merideth ordered a wedge of cheese and saltines. After spending the day at the higher end of the San Francisco beer scene, munching on cheese and saltines chased with Pale Ale in a dimly lit bar was oddly satisfying way to close our evening.

In the end, from City Beer Store to Specs’, we walked a short 4.5 miles. Adding in the walk to and from our hotel, Merideth and I walked close to 7 miles. Not bad for a day’s beer drinking.

View a map of of our hike

[Read Merideth’s article on another San Francisco Beer Hike]

Here are a few more pictures to enjoy…

June 17, 2010March 15, 2013

Fourth Time A Charm?

On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, we made a dash up to the City to visit the newest brewery on the San Francisco scene, Social Kitchen & Brewery.

Social Kitchen & Brewery in the Inner Sunset

Social Kitchen & Brewery is the fourth brewpub to occupy the Ninth and Irving location in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset. The original brewpub was Golden Gate Park Brewery, followed by Eldo’s Grill & Brewery and finally Wunder Brewing Company. We made it to Golden Gate and Wunder, but the one time we showed up at Eldo’s, we were turned away at the door. They were closed for a private party.

Many people, myself included, openly talk of a curse. In reality, the reason the previous brewpubs failed was probably more mundane. San Francisco has a plethora of options for the beer geek and the beers at the previous establishments had always been less than memorable.

Merideth and I were joined on this mini adventure by our friends Renee and Matt. Arriving just past the early evening opening time, there was already a good-sized crowd occupying the tables and bar stools on the lower level. Our foursome sat at the beginning of the bar, on both sides. This cozy arrangement seemed odd at first but it worked out well because not being in one long row, no one had to shout down the bar to the person on the other end. The only problem was the bartender was of a similar size to me. This made it difficult for him to pass behind me to get to other customers.

The modern, wood decor had changed little from our previous visit two years ago during the Wunder era. Strikingly long and narrow, the main floor is overlooked by a balcony level opposite the bar. The brewery itself occupies the back end of the balcony level.

The bartender offered us a welcome snack of pretzels with house-made mustard. Our beer sampler followed soon thereafter. The sample set included all five of their beer offerings: Kölsch, Alt, Belgian-style Dark Ale, Belgian-style Golden Ale and an IPA.

Before I read the blurb on SK&B’s menu, the best word I thought of to describe their beers was ‘accessible.’ None overly challenged my palate, but were enjoyable.

Imagine my surprise when I read that Social Brewery’s aim is to “brew accessible beers that are food-friendly and full of flavor.” It appears they’ve succeeded in their goal.

Drawn to bigger beers, the Rapscallion, the Belgian-style Golden Ale and Easy IPA were my favorites. Rapscallion was nicely spiced and not too sweet. Easy IPA, not the ubiquitous hopbomb, was a subtle, easy drinking brew at 65 IBUs and 7% ABV. The one beer that missed the mark for me was L’Enfant Terrible, the Belgian-style Dark Ale. Merideth, ever the Germanophile, was very happy with Social Kölsch and Old Time Alt.

As for the food, I have to admit I was holding out for sausages and tamales at Toronado. The pretzels and mustard were fun. And we did end up ordering a couple of appetizers. First up was the Bavarian Cheese Obaster, a cheese/butter spread. One of our staples while in Germany, their version of the heart-clogging Bavarian obatzda was probably the best we’ve ever had in the States. We also had the Beer-Battered Sweet Potato Tempura, another appetizer we would highly recommend.

One month old at the time of our visit, Social Kitchen & Brewery was pleasant and will probably weather the usual growing pains of a new establishment. Our group had a good time and there were definitely enough pluses to warrant a return visit. Especially with their the session brews, the Kölsch and Alt, Social Kitchen & Brewery is a great place to hang out with friends and shoot the breeze.