San Francisco Beer Week

I wish I could tell you my absence from blogging was the result of a month long vacation but that would be a lie, although there is some truth to that excuse. My wife and I finally left for our long awaited and well deserved vacation to San Francisco to emerge ourselves in the city's thriving food and beer culture. What a week! Since this is a beer blog and we didn't do any formal food/beer pairings, I'll fill you in on the beertails but if you're looking for restaurant recommendations, here are a few of our favorites.

1) Mission Street Food - Good place to dine with locals and try something different. Guest chef's change the menu every week.

2) Pagolac (Vietnamese) - 7 courses of beef - 'nuff said! Located in the sketchy but up and coming Tenderloin neighborhood.

3) Dotties (American) - Amazing breakfast, amazing butterscotch muffin and amazingly long wait but well worth it. Get there before 9:00.

4) Ferry Plaza Farmers Market - Huge selection of fresh local produce and baked goods. Arrive with an empty stomach!

OK, beer people, back to the brew. Over the course of 7 days we visited many beer joints and drank many styles of beer. Here is a list of my favorite places from best to worst and what we sampled. I'm not a
huge fan of formal beer reviews so I'll also order my favorite brews at each establishment from best to worst with a few thoughts.

1) Toronado Pub: Best bartender to ever pour a pint. What you see is what you get. Great prices and great selection. Belly up to the bar and you won't want to leave. Take a pass on the mead in the crock pot behind the bar.
Pliny the Elder Double IPA (Draught) - Beer Advocate's rating lives up to the hype! Huge floral and citrus taste.

Saison Dupont (Draught) - Refreshing and crisp. True to the style. Perfect for a hot summer day. May be better buying in a bottle from the store. A pint costs a small fortune.

Sierra Nevada Chico IPA (Cask) - Taste of citrus and hops. Heavy hop aroma like many Sierra Nevada offerings.

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA (Draught) - Malty flavor and heavy hop aroma. Worthy of topping any IPA list.

2) City Beer Store: Amazingly great concept. Every city needs a City Beer Store! Look out West Hartford!

Oro de Calabaza - Sour Bier de Garde (Draught) - Love the sour apple taste. Very refreshing. One of my favorite Bier de Garde's.

Telegraph Robust Ale - Belgium IPA (Draught) - Full bodied and well balanced beer. Very complex nose.

3) Anchor Brewing Tour: Anchor makes great beer and they provided the best brewery tour that I have ever been on. The brewery has a very rich history and Fritz remains true to tradition. We sampled six beers including Old Foghorn, Anchor Porter, Liberty Ale, Anchor Bock, Anchor Steam and Anchor Summer. All great beers, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Old Foghorn was my favorite and makes a perfect springtime beer.

4) 21st Amendment Brewery: Great atmosphere and all around good beer. They have even made the move to cans, which is more and more common these days. With all the benefits of canning, can you blame them? Great food menu for a brew pub but a little pricey. 2 meals, 3 beers = $60. Whatev, its vacation!

Back in Black Dark IPA (Draught) - WOW! I love this beer. My first dark IPA and I wish I could get more if it.

Double Trouble Imperial IPA (Draught) - Super bitter and high octane. Put an instant smile on my face after the three mile walk from the wharf.

Brew Free or Die IPA (can poured into a pint glass) - Bitter beer at 75 IBUs. Very hoppy aroma and piny.

5) Magnolia Pub and Brewery: Laid back hippie vibe as Magnolia's resides in the Haight neighborhood. Didn't get to sample too much as we pedalled our way up endless hills to refresh ourselves and still had to battle cars, trolly cars, buses and other bikers on the way home on two wheels. Be sure to visit on Tuesday to take advantage of $3.00 beers.

Kalifornia Kolsch: I love Kolsch beer but this was not one of my favorites. Not as refreshing as I hoped after a 30 mile bike ride. Maybe it was the 8 ounce serving in a tall shot glass. Can I really complain though - it was $2.00

Spud Boy IPA: My wife enjoyed this extreme IPA. No tasting notes but judging by how fast her glass emptied, it must have been tasty.

6) The Monk's Kettle: This bar by far had the most impressive selection of beers out of the places we visited. Pretty expensive and a tad snooty. Once again, I like beer people and want more of them but not the ones who try to make beer a pretentious beverage. Don't be so serious!


Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye (22 ounce bottle poured to pint glass) - OK, but didn't knock me off my feet. 18% rye, which I did not enjoy.

Alaskan Brewing Company - Alaskan Barely wine (Draught) - I know this is a decent beer but I don't think that I was in the mood for the style. I found it to be extremely sweet and undrinkable. I'll have to try it again when the time is right.

New Belgium Brewing Company - New Belgium Abby Grand Cru (Draught) - Average at best. Again, a little too sweet for me. I will need to compare to other offerings in this category as it gets great ratings.

7) Rogue Ales Public House - Visited on a Wednesday night, completely dead and our waiter was barely breathing. I like what Rogue has to offer but I don't know if I would go back there again. Definitely not the highlight of the trip.


St. Rogue Dry Hop Red (Draught) - This was my first hopped red and I loved it! I was not expecting the bitter flavor and hop aroma in this style. I hope I can find it back east.

Rogue Mocha Porter (Draught) - Malty with a hint of bitterness at 54 IBUs. One of my wife's favorite beers on the trip.

Chipotle Ale (Draught) - I wanted to try something different and this met my criteria. Spicy and enjoyable. I think the chipotle would be better served in a chocolate stout. Hmmm, I think I have a recipe to brew!

And a few more pics for your viewing pleasure: