+1 on thirsty bear. i took my gf there on our first date, lol. but the food menu is good and the beer menu is great.

going to try to make my way to citybeerstore.com when it stops raining this week and stop by the whole foods in SOMA on my way home for some of that deschutes reserve xxi.

if you guys want another good beer pairing in the city, hog island oyster co. happy hour ($1 sweetwater oysters) on mon/thurs from 5-7p. the oyster stout is a great match and DO get the grilled cheese. 3 kinds of cheese. it's amazing.

 

I didn't mention anything about Sierra in the thread and I hear ya! Haha.. It was pretty much everything, I mean I could write an article on it. Made me sad. It probably sounds like just whining and maybe we were spoiled by going to Deshchutes first, but we were "here for the beer" and they clearly didn't get it. They also would not fill our growler, nor any growler of any kind, because..... They were concerned about our ability to properly store and care for their beer and having it reflect badly upon them. I mentioned that since it was not yet 9pm, they were closing the bar and we were HERE FOR THE BEER that we would be able to purchase some beer and drink it that night on our own at our hotel. Nope. They will only serve Bigfoot in .5 pint glasses and you are allowed two per table or customer - I forget - at $4 per half. Yes, that is one $8 pint per customer or table. Our waitress (again we said we were "here for the beer") got us 1 sampler and a .5 pint and then left us. The next time we got her attention it was a lot later and at 8:30 they did their "last call" so we quickly moved to the bar to try a couple more beers... The bartender ignored me, then when I was able to get her attention - I said that I was trying to get in on that last call she rolled her eyes and said "okay well I guess it's last call AGAIN." and poured us two beers. Then a bit later some people came in with a guy that worked there, and they all got HUGE beers with no attitude, and had a great time right next to us. It was a lot of little things that added up to make the whole thing suck. Plus, we ordered a "Mediterranean pizza" that was essentially disgusting. The whole center was a grease/oil puddle and there wasn't any meat so where did all the grease/oil come from! SO BUMMED but that is probably because of the buildup of years of wanting to go there for so many years. Incidentally we had breakfast at a cafe called "Coda" that was flat out amazing. If you are ever in Chico, check out Coda. Nice people and amazing food (we just had breakfast tho).

Rogue brews their beer in Newport, Eugene and Portland, Oregon as well as Issaquah (or however you spell that) Washington, but they do actually have a "Public House" location in SF, in Northbeach with 40 taps. It's pretty much Jeremy's hood so he would be basically required to show up. Been there a few times, nice spot. I have had a few beers with Jeff and I may owe him one or so, but never me the other fellows. That would be pretty cool. We should get Ed (soggy) to join us too as long as he doesn't get us kicked out of anywhere... Else.

Thanks about the pics. I think if I didn't stop to get that 50mm 1.4, none of those would have worked out. Great lens and I highly recommend borrowlenses.com - where K&S wanted $15/day and didn't have any inventory, borrowlenses got me the lens I wanted, that day, for $45 for 10 days including insurance...! I am definitely going back! I want to rent a 5D and a 24-70L for a bit as that is my choice setup at the moment.

 

Nice - citybeer is a cool spot. The purveyor is a nice guy and happy to chat it up about beers and can offer a great recommendation for you should you need it. They have a pretty incredible selection, and always some choice selections on tap to try. Walking distance from the train.

 

i can stumble back from beach chalet to my place. i can stumble back to my gf's place from citybeer . k&l wines right by the caltrain used to have big bottles of a variety of trappist ales up until about 3 weeks ago. then the city came down on them and they can only sell a limited selection of 6packs now (sn pale ale and big daddy). wtf sf? but i like that pete's tavern down the street has widmer's drop top amber ale on tap.

 

Wow, sucks to hear about the horrible SN experience. I'll have to ask my friend who is from Chico if her experiences have been the same.

I know the barleywine at Stone came in a smaller glass, but I don't know if there was any kind of limit per table as I was the only one that had it.

I do know though that they had no problems filling their growlers

 

Oh my god the 21A "Brew Free or Die IPA" is awesome

 

Oh, and in a few years I'm going to make a barley wine and I'm going to time it so that it'll be done aging on December, 21, 2012

 

 

Question for the beer folks... My wife and I want to take my dad out on a brewery tour for his 50th birthday. Anyone know of good places in the bay area that offer tours on the weekends? So far I'm thinking of Gordon Biersch, Pyramid, and Anchor Steam. Any others that I'm missing out on? Ideally I'd be looking for something within an hour of San Jose. Thanks!

 

FYI, anchor steam is weekdays only

drinking a dogfish head IPA i picked up from whole foods. this was after a mirror pond pale and a bear republic red to accompany my friend-famous beer chicken. life is good, my friends.

 

^Crap, well Anchor Steam is out...

+1 for the Bear Republic Red

 

Hour and a half north is Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa.

Anchor Steam seems really weird for such a big brewery:
There is also Devils Canyon in Belmont, but they are only open to the public the last Friday of every month at 6pm.

 

I just picked up some Mirror Pond... never have had it before. I'm making a pizza crust with some Dead Guy Ale tonight though, so I may just finish off the DGA bomber with dinner and save the MP for another night.

I read a good recipe for "hop chicken" that I'm going to try with some leftover hops that are in the freezer.

 

I'll shoot Russian River a note, looks like they do some interesting stuff with the barrel aged beers.

Sounds like Devils Canyon would be a good time. Fridays are a no go until I get a change in my work schedule though.

Thanks!

 

Mirror Pond is... My favorite all around beer. I have other favorites in categories and such but, to just pick one - it's Mirror Pond. It might be a little bland after Dead Guy though - FYI.