- Bottoms Up (RSS)So-so beer in the Bay Area? A Washingtonian is mostly unimpressed
By William Brand
Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 4:30 pm in Uncategorized.
Note: I’m posting this from an e-mail list I’m on, because it provides a spontaneous and unrehearsed glimpse of our home turf by an outsider. I disagree rather strongly on some of the author’s opinions. Here we go….. (The bold face is mine, so are the links and photos)
Outside San Francisco Brewing on the edge of North Beach.
Greetings,
A few weeks ago, I asked DC Beer for beer-related suggestions
for San Francisco & Northern CA in general. A lot of you offered quite a
bit of help, which I really appreciated in my planning. Kathy & I just
returned from the trip, so I thought I would put together a beer-trip
report for DC Beer …
Overall, from the standpoint of beer-brewing, there are a couple
of great places north of SF, but San Francisco itself is only an average
city. Now, before anyone takes too much offense, there are some caveats
to that statement. I am only talking about beer-brewing w/in SF, as
there are several fine places just outside SF which some might consider
SF breweries, but I am listing them elsewhere. Also, while a place such
as Toronado is a great bar, it’s not a brewery, so I’m trying to
differentiate bars w/ breweries.
Here is my run-down for the whole trip:
San Francisco
- San Francisco Brewing Co – the 1st brewpub I ever went to, 20 years ago. The ales were marginal at best, but I was pleasantly
surprised at the quality of their Czech Lager & Maerzen.
- Thirsty Bear – A bit disappointing. “Perfumey & Treacly” were my descriptions of several of the 8 beers of theirs that were on tap when I visited. But I did like their wit & brown ale, so I guess I was mainly disappointed in the variance of the beer quality. I also liked the feel& ambiance of the place.
- 21st Amendment – Mediocre beer & poor food. This experience really disappointed me. I thought their strong & hoppy beers were pretty decent, but the session beers were either lacking in any character, or had too many grainy or unusual phenolic flavors. And as for food, it made their beer look really good …
- Magnolia
- (Photo: Magnolia proprietor Dave McLean with some of his beers.) After two of their pale ales/bitters, I almost wrotethis place off. But then I got a sampler of six that I picked at random. Fantastic! They had 10 beers on CO2, & 5 on cask. At $6/pint, they were also the most expensive. While the bar feels somewhat pretentious, IMHO, this was the best brewery in SF.
- Anchor – We also took the Anchor Brewing tour. If you ever get a chance to take the tour, my suggestion is to take it (but sign up at least a month in advance), but show up at least 45 minutes late, as the tour guide will spend at least that long in just the first location droning on (w/o any beer to drink!) But the tour is interesting, as I found it to be similar to a working museum. I also found the tasting of actual Anchor Steam to be fascinating as I had never tasted it before. Or, to be more precise, the Anchor Steam I have drunk in DC for the past 20 years never tasted like that I had at the brewery. But after seeing their packaging operation, I can see where oxidation would be a real challenge for them.
- Rogue – The Oregon brewer has a bar in SF offering all of their beers. I really like Rogue, so I tended to really like this bar.
- La Trappe – One of the 3 new Belgian bars in the SF/Oakland area. A fine selection of Belgian beers with 15-20 on tap, and over 100 in bottle. Unfortunately, the food was not up to the level of the beer list. Someone needs to tell them that a Belgian frite needs to be double-boiled in oil. Simply offering a French fry with mayonnaise does not cut it.
- Toronado – A classic bar; I’m glad I finally have drank there. A fantastic selection of beer. My first beer was a Schlenkerla Rauchbier, which was followed up by a Moonlight Brewing “Death & Taxes”. So, a classic from Bamberg followed up by a brand new beer from a one-manoperation brewing out of Santa Rosa. Also interesting; the last time I was in the Haight-Ashbury area was 20 years ago & I was accused of being a “Yuppie-F*ck” by one of the natives. This time, two lawyers discussing briefs bought Kathy & I beers as we let them sit at out table. While the patina of Haight may seem similar, there seem to have been real changes underneath it in the past 20 years.
Berkeley
- Jupiter - Owned by the same people as Triple Rock (2 blocks away) & Big Time (Seattle). They had 9 of their “own” beers, plus 14 guest taps. Evidently, their beers are made for them on a contract basis, but I’m not sure by whom. A pretty interesting place; very eclectic interior.
- Triple Rock - I had 5 of their ~10 beers & found them tasty, if also somewhat turbid. It looks like a 7 Bbl system, & I don’t think they have enough time & capacity to let everything settle properly. Barclay’s – not a brewpub, but a neighborhood bar w/ about 30 different beers on tap at any one time; a fine selection.
Travelling North
- Marin Brewery – In Larkspur, about 5 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. As BART services this area, maybe I should have included it with SF, but for me it was the northern suburbs. They had 8-10 beers on, of which I tried 5. Very good beer. I guess my only strike against it is that it’s a pub in a strip mall. But then again, if that strip mall were near me, I’d be visiting quite often.
- Moylan’s Brewery - Another strip-mall brewpub a few miles further north in Novato. I had 8 of their beers & was quite pleased with them all. In fact, their dry stout, served on N2, was one of the best I’ve ever had.
Santa Rosa
- Third Street Aleworks – 9 beers on tap, plus 2 more on cask. A fine pub with very good beers. I really liked this place. Unfortunately (for them), there was only one problem, but it was a big problem: the bar is only one block away from …
- Russian River Brewery – From the standpoint of beer alone, this may be the finest brewpub I’ve ever visited in the States. And in terms of the general ambiance of the place it’s quite enjoyable, but the beer is the real star. But I find that quite annoying, as it’s located 2841 miles from my house (at least according to MapQuest). I’d rather not describe the pub in too much detail, or else I’ll start crying & cause my keyboard to short-out.
Sebastopol
- Hopmonk – This is a relatively new place (1-2 years old) created by Dean Biersch (of Gordon-Biersch fame) to be his local. They have 3 beers of their “own”, but not brewed on premises, and another 13 beers of exceptional quality. This was the first time I can ever remember ordering Alaskan Smoked Porter off a bar’s menu (as opposed to getting it only via the mail or at a beer festival). While the interior of the place has kind of a weird feeling to it (70’s Vegas lounge combined with a ski lodge?), those were some fine beers!
Fort Bragg
- North Coast Brewing – This is another 100 miles up the coast. It’s probably not worth doing unless you were already planning to travel along the coast for sight-seeing. Fort Bragg is a weird-feeling town. It’s a coastal town with no access to the coast. There used to be a lot of timber industry there, & when it shut down, the beach was also shut down due to toxic waste issues, so there’s lots of metal fencing keeping you off the beach. I tried 8 of the 12 beers they offered. To be honest, most were just mediocre. But the Red Seal is quite tasty, & Old Rasputin on N2 is the perfect dessert.
Boonville
- Anderson Valley – This place has changed a lot over the past decade as they expanded into a larger brewery in 2000, and then built a separate Tasting Room in 2002. They offered 10 beers & I was happy to try them all (and also to then let Kathy drive). I still think their Oatmeal Stout is the best in the business. We took their tour, but as tours go, it was somewhat lacking.
Hopland
- Mendocino Brewing – While it was fun visiting a town called Hopland & one of the first brewpubs in the country, Hopland hasn’t grown hops since the 1940’s & Mendocino brewing moved all their brewing up to Ukiah (about 10 miles north) around 10 years ago. The pub was decent enough, but with Mendocino having been bought by Kingfisher, I kept expecting to see papadums on the bar menu. It’s also somewhat disconcerting to stay the night in a hotel where you are the only guest & the sign for the hotel also offers the sale price ($2.2M for those interested).
Healdsburg
- Bear Republic – A great pub in an unusual setting; this is wine country. The pub is just off the main square, but it’s not advertised in any of the town’s literature & even its location is a little awkward to find unless you know where to look. They had 16 beers on tap, & in interests of proper reporting, we had to stay until I tried them all. Their Double Aught Lager (Czech Pilsner) had just won Bronze at GABF, so they were quite proud. They make some great beer. A trip to Sonoma County is not complete w/o a visit to Bear Republic. Sonoma
- Wine Exchange – On the town square in the heart of Sonoma wine country is a wine store offering samples of wine, but they also offer a rather impressive yet eclectic selection of beer (Traquair House, Samiclaus, Zum Uerige Stikke, etc.) and offer five beers on tap. So I had to sample here before descending into SF for one last time.
Conclusion:
I enjoyed the search for good beer on this vacation to San Francisco & coastal parts of Northern California. The trip was helped by 10 straight days of blue sky, sunshine, and 75F weather. But the search for beer was also helped by all the advice this beer community gave me.
And in thanks for that advice, I just wanted to submit this trip report.
Cheers, Andy
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October 20th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I would be somewhat surprised if a resident of Washington DC knew what a good beer tastes like, as there is only one place in the entire city where you can taste on (Brickskeller).
21st Amendment is great — beer, food, and service wise. Thirsty Bear is — not.
October 20th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Certainly there is more than one place to taste good beer in the DC area.
Without slamming other areas, I think the descriptions of beer brewed in SF are pretty accurate, except I would rate 21st Amendment more highly.
October 20th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
real rough on Magnolia..jeez I’ve neve had a bad pint there…..as a matter of fact I could sure use a Prescription Ale
October 20th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Well, most cities can’t boast a ton of great breweries, let alone one as great as Anchor. But in this age of beer enlightenment, a good beer bar like the Toronado is as valuable to a city’s beer scene as a good brewer. I think he’s fairly accurate in his summing up of the breweries but to judge SF on that alone would be missing a large chunk of the point beer-wise.
October 20th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
As someone who has lived in DC, but never in San Francisco this guy was off base, now granted San Francisco Brewery isn’t very impressive, but everything else is off the mark on his negative reviews. I have been going for the last 4 years because it’s consistently one of the best beer towns around. 21A, Magonlia, Thirstybear, and Triple Rock were all deeply unrated I have never had a bad experience at one.
On the second point, how can DC rank by comparison. $2 beer happy hours is the town’s beer culture and some of it’s better beer sites have closed. John Hancock as a prime example.
As for Anchor, it’s a Tour, not a personal beer tap. You go to Anchor to see an icon of craft brewing and learn about their process, if not don’t bother to take the tour and go spend your time in a bar instead. I have had Anchor in DC and it’s tasted about the same, it could be the bars you visit need to clean their lines more frequently.
Last um people still subscribe to email lists? Seriously? They were always more annoyance than useful to me, filling my inbox with a bunch of crap that I put off to read until I decide to clean house then mass delete most messages. I find blogs and message boards more reader friendly, but perhaps that is just me. Honestly I am surprised people still use them.
October 20th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Somewhat sadly, I concur with most of his views. My real question, (and i’m not worried about giving this idea away), is why doesn’t Russian River buy San Francisco Brew Co and have a Russian River Pub in the city? GOLDMINE BABY, from consumer to owner!
October 20th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Was this written before Rodger Lind was at Triple Rock? If so, the statement about Triple Rock is ok. Since Rodger has been there, the IPAX and all other brews have been spectacular. This guys mistaken if he thinks otherwise.
October 20th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Ni It was about a trip within the last few weeks. And I really liked Christian’s beer as well. But true, he didn’t mess with rhe recipes as much as Rodger does. But his beer was/is excellent.
October 20th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
I recently visited San Francisco and found the beers delicious. I visited Magnolia for a cask Bonnie Lee’s and 21st Amendment for a Bitter American. If I was judging these beers in competition, I would have championed both. My experience was very different from the
I also got to enjoy the beers aboard ship at the San Francisco Brewers Guild Festival. The combination of good people, beers and band made it a fine afternoon and a memorable beer experience.
Two trips to the Toronado allowed me to sample some of the fine craft beer from the region. San Francisco has a fine beer culture.
Andy’s trip report encourages me to try to find time to visit some of the other breweries in the region I have yet to try at the source.–PG
October 21st, 2008 at 5:33 am
I guess we can remove this person from the SF Beer Week guest list…
October 21st, 2008 at 7:50 am
About Russian River buying San Francisco Brewing. I know it’s for sale, the owner has moved to Dallas where his wife has a great job. I’m fairly sure that Vinnie at Russian River has his hands full with their new production brewery. It is too bad that someone doesn’t come along and buy the place.
I know nothing about the state of the brew plant or the lease. When I’m in the neighborhood I often drop in. Especially on a sunny day, it’s a nice place to hang out on the edge of the financial district.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:36 am
I posted this guy;s assessment because it’s important, I think, so see familiar things from an outsider’s vantage point. I can easily take issue with him.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:41 am
Vinnie has said many times in print that he’s happy in Santa Rosa. He likes staying local and has made it clear he’s less interested in profits than being comfortable.
October 21st, 2008 at 10:41 am
Got this e-mail from AT:
Hey Bill, I just read your post about the somewhat disgruntled brew tourist from our North. It seems worth mentioning that his own notes may be wrong; as the Wine Exchange is on the Plaza in the town of Sonoma proper, and not in Healdsburg.
Dan does maintain a fantastic selection of beer in his shop. Aside from a great wine selection, one entire wall of the store is dedicated to craft beers from around the world.
Here’s what I have for the Wine Echange: The Wine Exchange of Sonoma, 452 First Street East, (800) 938-1794., Sonoma. Sizeable import selection. Also, Wine Exchange, 9600 Bell Road, Windsor, 707-938-1794, and San Francisco Wine Exchange, 510-527-37904, Albany.
October 21st, 2008 at 11:31 am
I think it’s a great idea to have feedback from outsiders with no personal or emotional connections to SF breweries or brewpubs, though they invariably hurt some feelings. Locals-only opinions can be very mom-like: all my kids are my favorite, and they’re all geniuses!
He did make a couple puzzling comments, I thought, both positive and negative, but his remarks about Sonoma and Marin County breweries were mostly spot on. Well, I can’t say much about Third Street Aleworks – RRBC’s gravity well sucks me in every time I’m in the area – but his review may finally get me out of that rut and into the other brewpub in Santa Rosa.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I agree, it’s nice to have an unbiased tasters opinion although I disagree somewhat with his comments. I would like to note that unfortunately Marin Brew Co. is not accessable by BART, but there is the Larkspur ferry station right across the street.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:03 pm
i’d say this guy hit it spot on..especially 21st amendment…he should have taken the ferry to marin brewing…than he could have considered it part san fran….i disagree with his rogue…i find the staff rude and the beers over-priced
October 21st, 2008 at 10:28 pm
I really like the 21st, especially their IPA and their various strong beers and Bitter American, the 3.5 percent mild. Also, their hamburgers and sweet potato fries. Marin Brewing is super. White Knuckle Ale is a knockout.
Getting there is dead easy. Take the Larkspur Ferry. There’s a pedestrian overpass from the ferry building and it’s a five minute, painless walk to the pub. The only problem is the last ferry leaves Larkspur weeknights at 8:50 p.m. on weekends it leaves even earlier, 5:30 p.m. So it has to be a day trip. But you do get a great view of San Quentin.
October 21st, 2008 at 10:33 pm
About Third Street Aleworks, I really like to eat a late lunch there on a nice day. Their outside patio can be very pleasant; I often order the Blarney Sisters Dry Irish Stout, which was conceived, I believe, by Denise Jones, when she brewed there. It’s won tons of awards and is most excellent. Food is quality pub food as well . But agreed, Russian River is a …beer sink… hard to resist. Hell, it’s impossible to resist.
October 22nd, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I agree with most of his comments… except the Anchor tour. If you don’t want to hear about the history of Anchor, don’t bother with the tour! And, yes, the Steam beer is a fragile beer and doesn’t travel well. I’ve had a lot of stale Steam on the east coast, but when fresh it is outstanding. It has nothing to do with their bottling process, its simply a difficult beer to serve fresh on the other side of the country. I’ve toured a lot of breweries across the US, and I think the Anchor tour is the most informative, interesting, and the facility is just beautiful… not to mention the intense tasting session at the end.
I strongly agree with the previous post about Triple Rock. It has improved tremendously since Rodger took over the brewing. The IPAX is now one of the top local IPA’s, on par with Moonlight’s and in my opinion a notch above racer 5.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Moylan’s Brewing Company isn’t in a strip mall, lad. It stands free and independent of any other buildings. It happens to be near a shopping center which I hear is kind of good for business. Perhaps you were being driven away with a little bit of a stout buzz…oh the joys of beer in the North Bay!
January 15th, 2009 at 11:00 am
You are right; the shopping center’s a ways away. I’ve stopped there many times and my wife always heads for the stores…while I’m content with a pint and a burger.