Bottoms Up

By Amanda Brand
SAN FRANCISCO – And Moses said to thy Boss Man: Open the Flood Gates of the Finacial District: It is 5 O’Clock!

The turnout at the CCOF Organic Beer and Wine tasting event (Friday, Oct. 24, 2008) at the Ferry Building was epic. It was elbow to elbow in the normally roomy space. “Certified Organic” was the name of the game, with organic wineries and breweries serving generous full pours of their wares. In plain English: for 25 bucks (the price of a reusable wine glass and 10 drink tickets) people were getting pretty drunk.

My main points of interest were San Francisco’s Thirsty Bear, Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, Eel River (Fortuna, CA) , Ukiah Brewing and Butte Creek Brewing (Chico). Unfortunately, Ukiah and Butte Creek didn’t show. This narrowed the beer options immensely, so the booths of the breweries that did show were extra-crowded with  hop-heads pushing for some organic brew.

I stopped first at Thirsty Bear, where brewer Brenden Dobel  was pouring some mighty tasty Polar Bear Pilsner (pictured) which was hoppy and wet with just the right amount of carbonation. A really nice starting point that got my palate hopping on to their Belgian, called Legalized Insanity. While I was savouring its syrupy coffee flavor with just the right touch of acidity, he shrugged and told me “These funny names just sell.”

Teetering after the insistently large pours, I wobbled down to Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, whose whole line, like Thirsty Bear’s, is organic. A frosty blonde met my cheerful inquiries. She was seemingly not too thrilled to be asked to compare their Peoples Porter (pictured) and their Devout Stout. Frankly, they tasted pretty similar. Dark coffee porter flavors wrapped up in creamy overtones with just a slight, I don’t know, organic funk in the finish.

Eel River was last. Man were they swamped; yuppies, hippies, hipsters and every hip in between were weasling in for a pour. Two men (who I didn’t get to introduce myself to) were exploding tap-draws into sticky glasses. They had their amber, IPA, porter, blonde and “Triple Exultation.” I don’t blame these guys, but man were they surly. I wasn’t able to get my hands on a bottle of the Triple Exultation which I was drinking, so I asked if they brewed it like a Belgian triple. I was met with this glacial response and a drawn out frown: “No. It’s just called that.”

Man, to be a 21-year-old girl in an old dudes’ beer hall. CCOF had said Ferry Building vendors would be “offering” their wares, which I assumed meant free nibbles. Wrong. 3 bucks for a mini quiche. I snagged a sizeable 3 buck spicy Italian sausage from Golden Gate Meats and ate it looking out over the water off the pier. A nice way to end an event that, at the end of the day, was really about the wine, anyway.