BEER

[Kraftster]

Companion to the restaurant reccos, here is my list of SF area breweries/taprooms

City:
- Fort Point Beer Company
- Anchor Brewing (obvi)

Not City:
- Armstrong Brewery (South San Francisco)
- Steelhead (Burlingame)
- Russian River Brewing Co (Santa Rosa, always a line so go early)
- Bear Republic Brewing Co (Healdsburg)

Places I've Never Been, But Have Had The Beer Out And About:
- Cooperage (Santa Rosa, probably the best IPA I've had)
- Drake's Brewery (San Leandro)
- Lagunitas (Petaluma)
- Trumer Brauerei (Berkeley)
- Speakeasy Ales & Lagers (City)

Cellarmaker

[tifosi77]

We never went there, unfortunately. But if you go to Google Street View and check out their taproom, there's like a 75-person line waiting to get in.

[genoscoif]

I'd never tried the Fat Heads Goggle Fogger hefe until about 2 weeks ago. Found it on tap at a local establishment. It's really good IMO...and has provided a nice contrast to my normal IPA and Porter/Stout winter habit. Style-wise it's very much in the Weihenstephaner banana forward mold. Me likes.

[shafnutz05]

Trying my first offering from Maine Beer Company, their pale ale. This is fantastic, even for an overly saturated style. 5.5% but a really nice, full but smooth flavor. Pleasant surprise.

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

Picked up a case of Sierra Nevada Resilience on Friday. Pretty decent IPA. Also the proceeds go to helping with the Camp Fire recovery.

When the Camp Fire started in the hills above our Chico brewery on November 8, 2018, it soon became the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. The fire burned more than 153,000 acres, killed at least 85 people, and destroyed more than 13,000 homes. Many of our employees and community members were severely impacted by this tragic event.

In the days following the fire, we announced plans to brew Resilience Butte County Proud IPA, a fundraiser beer for Camp Fire relief. We committed to brewing the beer and donating 100% of the sales to the Sierra Nevada Camp Fire Relief Fund, aimed at long-term community rebuilding support. And we asked every brewery in the country to do it with us.

We sent out the “bat signal” calling our friends in the industry, asking our suppliers to donate ingredients, asking other breweries (our competitors) to donate their time and labor costs, and asking our wholesalers and retailers to carry the beer for free. It was a big ask, and we never could have anticipated the response.

More than 1,400 breweries signed up to brew Resilience. Our suppliers donated ingredients to every brewery nationwide. Wholesalers and retailers agreed to carry the beer and donate every dollar they received.

[iamjs]

anybody doing the beerfest this weekend? Was gonna go if there was a discounted code, but it looks like a lot of it is similar to what was carried last summer.

[the wicked child]

Yeah, going to the Friday session. I actually thought the beer list was quite different than the past few times. There are some retreads of course, but I saw a lot of new stuff I haven't seen before.

[iamjs]

I looked at the brewers and not so much the beers when I posted. I skimmed it and saw Fathead, New Belgium Voodoo Ranger, Guinness, 21st Amendment, and Abita and figured it was a lot of the same old, same old. But once you get further down the list, there is definitely some stuff that I haven't seen before.

Ok, you talked me into it. I'll probably be doing Friday too. Can't roll into curling Saturday night after three hours of drinking.

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

You're going to go to curling sober? That seems against the heart of the sport...

[iamjs]

I'm not good enough to curl after going foot to the floor for several hours, not yet anyways. I tried it one weekend and I literally threw the same shot each time.

Every shot was down the center line, give or take an inch, but didn't curl at all because it was too heavy. Several nice takeouts were made, but I'll be the first to admit they were not intentional. When there weren't other stones in play, I sent it straight through each time. They'd try to adjust me, and I'd send it right down the middle.

Maybe one day I will be good enough to curl and drink, just not in early 2019.

[Kraftster]

Trying my first offering from Maine Beer Company, their pale ale. This is fantastic, even for an overly saturated style. 5.5% but a really nice, full but smooth flavor. Pleasant surprise.

MBC kills classic IPAs. Lunch, especially fresh, is a fantastic beer. Had Woods and Waters recently and was pretty impressed with that one too. I don't seek out Lunch with so much fresh Head Hunter available around here, but it's an equally great IPA.

[Tomas]

I don't know how far the Fossil Cove Brewing Co. market goes, but if you ever have a chance to drink La Brea Brown, go for it. So far the best brown I have ever tasted, IMO (better than Bell's Best Brown )

https://www.fossilcovebrewing.com/our-beers

[shmenguin]

I’m pretty much switched from drinking beer to drinking Negroni’s full stop. But my local place has basically unlimited bottles of Founders CBS. That’s one of the best beers I’ve ever had.

[MR25]

Got my hands on a can of Heady Topper. Can't wait to try it.

[shafnutz05]

I’m pretty much switched from drinking beer to drinking Negroni’s full stop. But my local place has basically unlimited bottles of Founders CBS. That’s one of the best beers I’ve ever had.

Hmm... Haven't had this one.

[eddy]

Got my hands on a can of Heady Topper. Can't wait to try it.

Is Heady Topper still a hot item to get in the beer world? Just curious, because while it's a great beer, I feel like the market is flooded with great beers all easier to get than that.

I had a Grimm Artisanal Ales Magnetic Compass last weekend and that is a brewery to watch for if you ever see anything in PA.

[MR25]

They only sell it in Vermont as far as I'm still aware. Someone brought back a couple and gave them away.

[eddy]

They only sell it in Vermont as far as I'm still aware. Someone brought back a couple and gave them away.

Enjoy!

[count2infinity]

It's a fantastic beer... but like you said, Eddy, there are plenty of breweries doing something similar (and even better) that you can get your hands on more readily. That said, if I'm ever in that area, I'm definitely stopping in to grab some heady topper.

[shmenguin]

I feel like those guys are gonna kill themselves in 10 years when the craft beer craze is offset by increased cannabis use, and meanwhile they decided to protect their recipe instead of living on a Mediterranean beach for the rest of their lives.

[the wicked child]

Heady Topper is definitely worth experiencing once, but not worth killing yourself over or anything.

Also I would echo @eddysnake and say that Grimm is worth checking out. I've never had a bad beer from them. They do a lot of good sours and stouts... Haven't tried any of their ipas, but had a couple hopped sours that were fantastic... The Mosaic Pop! certainly comes to mind there.

[shafnutz05]

Heady Topper is definitely worth experiencing once, but not worth killing yourself over or anything.

Agreed. When I finally had a chance to try it, I really liked it, but it wasn't appreciably better than, say, DirtWolf.

[Freddy Rumsen]

I really like the Sam Adams Cold Snap that comes in their winter variety 12 pack.

[MWB]

Heady Topper is definitely worth experiencing once, but not worth killing yourself over or anything.

Agreed. When I finally had a chance to try it, I really liked it, but it wasn't appreciably better than, say, DirtWolf.

Wut?

[count2infinity]

Yeah, not a good comparison IMO. Very different beers. It's like saying, yeah, fresh caught lobster is good and all, but it's not appreciably better than say, a ribeye steak.