I managed a few bars and breweries on the San Francisco part of my holiday. Here they are in chronological order:
21 March: Schroeder's, 240 Front Street
A rather beautiful interior in this German style bar/restaurant offering
sausages, schnitzel and so on, and a good range of local and German
beers. A 1 litre stein of a German wheat beer cost $25 plus tax, ouch. The wurste were excellent.
Very busy at six on a Thursday, I was worried I wouldn't get in, but it was OK, and the service was prompt and efficient.
22 March: Almanac Beer Co, Alameda
A very good brewery tap in a large warehouse. Lots of
brewing vessels to the rear. I was first in at opening time (This is going to become a theme, think) and was presented with about thirty taps, all unlabelled. The
barmaid fiddled with the TV remote and up popped the beer list, from
which I chose a rather fine plum sour.
22 March: Admiral Maltings The Rake, AlamedaAnother
part of the same warehouse as Almanac also converted into a bar, this one has umpteen craft taps and, joy of joys, two handpumps (Or as they call them here, beer engines.) I had a very good ESB.
I was startled
to discover that it is a maltings, and if you sit at the back of the
room you can observe the maltsters at work raking out the barley. I
don't think I've seen inside a maltings since I was about five years
old.
A big group came in and occupied a long table. They were all
drinking whiskey (or maybe whisky?), it's not just a beer place, this.
22 March: Humble Sea Brewing Company, Alameda
This
bar in the corner of a more modern looking building has naked concrete walls and
pillars. There were umpteen beers on tap. Oddly, a lot quieter than the last two
calls, I think I was the only customer here while the last place was quite busy by
the time I left.
22 March: Faction Brewing, Alameda
Finally for this pub crawl (although the distillery next door has a
tasting room as well!) in a repurposed aircraft hanger is Faction
Brewing. There is a small front room with serving counter with about two dozen taps, a much larger beer hall behind, and plenty of tables outside as well. Lots of people were sitting outside despite the forecast rain being
imminent. I think I was the only one inside as I enjoyed a superb strong dark
one, Smoked N Oaked Imperial Stout, 9.9%.
23 March: Tigers Taproom, Oakland
A pleasant plain shop conversion with about sixteen taps, I selected a delicious hazy IPA. Outside
they were operating some kind of food offer, not very satisfactory in the blustery weather, in fact they were hunting for a heavy weight such
as a (full) beer keg to stop the gazebo blowing away.
Quite empty at five on a Saturday, maybe it'll be packed later?
What
a terrible glass I was given, shaped exactly like a beer can, I really don't like the little taper at the top, it feels wrong on the lips. (Subsequent bar visits revealed that this is a fairly common style of glassware.)
23 March: Buck Wild Brewing, OaklandA
converted shed (aren't they all?) this one has a wonderful arched
wooden roof which looks newish from the inside, so could it be a new
shed? Umpteen brewing vessels in the back, quality craft beers and food
served in the front.
Much busier than the last place, with
customers of all ages. Board games seem to be a theme here, and one
group of eight adults seemed to be engaged in colouring in.
I had a pint
of Clouds of Nelson, a gorgeously sweet hazy IPA, and a very good
burger and chips. For "dessert", a terrific coffee stout.
24 March: Off the Rails Brewing, Sunnyvale
Apologies, I seem to have failed to photograph today's bars.
Off The Rails Brewing is a pleasant standard brewery tap. I
couldn't quite make up my mind about this one. I look around and see
pleasant modern decor, plus some rough wooden panelling, so I should be
describing the interior as well done, and yet somehow it doesn't work
for me.
At three on a Sunday it was fairly empty, just ticking over.
Shall I stay for another beer and some food? Do we need to ask? The Hazy Lazy IPA was good, the Imperial Stout even better. And the sausage platter was also great.
More
people came in than went out, gradually increasing the level of chatter
in the somewhat echoey room - The concrete floor makes it a little
noisy.
As you can imagine, the great beers and food warmed me to this
place, and my previous cool attitude changed to one of admiration.
Make of that what you will.
24 March: Fibbar MaGees, Sunnyvale
"Irish" pubs are
the same the world over, aren't they? Yes, but this one is definitely
above average, beautifully decorated and with twenty or so beers on
draft. I'm afraid that faced with a choice that wide I bailed out and
had a Guinness, which was excellent. Before it arrived I had written
that it tasted a bit thin after the ten percent imperial stout I'd just had, but to
my great surprise it didn't!
Again sparse custom at four on a
Sunday, I'm guessing this is not peak time for these places.
Nonetheless, some food was being ordered.
Do You Want To Open A Tab?
I should explain something about tabs in US bars for my UK readers. When you go in and
order a drink or drinks at the counter they normally ask if you want to open a tab. If
you say yes they scan your credit card and hand it back to you. For
subsequent drinks, in a quiet place it will just be added to your tab,
if it's busy or a different barman they may ask your surname. When it's
time to go you ask to "clear out" and you get a computer screen or a
piece of paper on which you can optionally add a tip and usually also a
signature. Signs warn that uncleared tabs will have a 20% or more often 30% tip added.
25 March: Eagle Cafe, Pier 39
Not really a pub, it's more of a tourist restaurant on Pier 39 where I had a beer and a breakfast burrito.
25 March: Irish Times, 500 Sacramento Street
This is a pleasant comfortable bar in one open room, Irish themed but not to excess.
The place was nicely quiet on a Monday evening,
unlike last Thursday when it was so busy I couldn't walk down the
sidewalk outside let alone get in the door.
There were at least three sports channels on multiple TVs, I think there may have been more TVs than customers!
I must say I enjoyed my
shepherd's pie, accompanied by an excellent hazy IPA from Henhouse Brewing, I forget the name. I followed that with one called "Cali Squeeze Blood Orange" which is truly delicious, I'll keep a look out for this one over the next few days.
26 March: No Name Bar, Sausalito At last, a proper boozer, and what an
unexpected place to find one. Sausalito is an up market waterside
tourist destination, a short ferry ride from San Francisco, and
certainly not at the Blackpool end of the spectrum. Nonetheless,
here's a plain pleasant one room boozer with a handful of regulars at
various levels of inebriation keeping it going at three in the
afternoon.
I had another tasty hazy IPA here, this one called Mind Haze.
What
makes it different from the UK equivalent? Someone is drinking from
one of those triangular martini cocktail glasses, you would never see
that in a Liverpool boozer.
26 March: Joinery, Sausalito
Now this was more like I was
expecting here, a nicely done out shed in beer hall style. The food
looked and smelled good but I just had an oatmeal stout which was great
despite the inevitable over-gassing and over-chilling that come from keg
beer. It was served in what I can only describe as a fat dimple; it has
the traditional pattern of the UK dimple but was more barrel shaped.
Does that make sense?
A rather strange, to English eyes, mode of
operation here; the only menu - food and beer - is a big sign as you
come in, and you order at the counter before finding your seat. No
perusing the menu and eventually reaching a decision. There was a slow
but steady flow of custom ordering as I enjoyed my stout.
27 March: Toronado, Lower HaightI made my way here especially because they were reported to have cask
ale, but I only got the last dregs which had a terrible end of the
barrel taste, so I rejected it. The barmaid apologised and gave me a
much stronger one I had quickly chosen at random from the enormous list
for the cask price, very good it was; Humble Sea Tropical Supernova. She
had come back yesterday from a visit to Derby!
One bar room plus
a side area constitute this proper bar. Every inch of the walls is
covered in breweriana, is that how you spell it? Boosting its
credentials as a proper bar, they don't do food and, the only one I've
seen so far this trip, they don't take cards.
I had decided on a
barley wine for my second drink but the barmaid informed me the cask was
back on, a very tasty bitter which purported to be a 6.2% IPA but
didn't taste that strong. I think it was Bombay By Boat from Moonlight Brewing of Santa Rosa, not far away. Very nice, anyway.
27 March: Old Ship Saloon, Battery / Pacific
This is a pleasant friendly one room bar with an island servery within which the
barman was continuously busy serving drinks. A good choice of craft beer was on offer, I chose Allagash White, a Belgian style wheat beer. I was a little disappointed to discover it came all the way from Portland, Maine, I prefer to stick to local beers when possible, but it was very tasty.
I also enjoyed a very good sandwich and fries. On a Wednesday evening the room was pretty busy with what I suspect was the after work crowd, but no problem finding a table.
28 March: Twin Peaks, Castro
Very good fake antique decor in this historic gay bar where one of the regulars bought me a pint as soon as I walked in! I had Blue Moon I think.
Some pleasant jazz mixed with chatter in this pleasant pub.
At three in the afternoon all
the customers were older men, my benefactor was the only one younger than
I. I tried to buy him
one back before I left but was refused, so I thanked him and left.
28 March: Harrington's, Front/Sacramento
A very
well done out pub in one open room, with dark wood and bare brick walls, and
some Tiffany lampshades. The bar food, wings and so on, looks good.
The
place was full of noisy Americans, I think Thursday is the new Friday,
perhaps. I perched at the corner of a large table that had two blokes
at the other end. Oddly, shortly afterwards they departed leaving loads
of food. Are they coming back? Someone from another table came across
and pinched a rib, perhaps it is free food for anyone. Sadly I'd just had a hefty dinner
so couldn't take advantage. A waitress appeared and cleared it all away.
More from my USA vacation will follow in due course...