Brewery Tour - San Francisco

One of the things we did (which was unplanned but fun) was to visit the breweries while in San Francisco - we managed to hit most of them but not all of them. Here is the review

West to East

Beach Chalet Brewery - did not get to this one

Magnolia Pub and Brewery - this place is on Haight Street right in the heart of Grateful Dead land - it was pretty darn cool. The service in the restaurant was a little weak but the bartenders were great. This place is very old fashion with a great wood bar. This place was obviously named after the GD song Sugar Magnolia and the dead spirit was alive with an old dead concert playing on the sound system. They had man brews to chose from - I had the Dark Star and Beth had the Kalifornia Kolsch. Both brews were very good, I wish we had more time to try more.

San Francisco Brewing Company - this place is between Chinatown and North Beach - it is right on the corner by the Francis Ford Coppola building - it is a cool old building with a dart room upstairs and bathrooms down stairs. It has outside seating and a couple separate rooms - the bar and brewery room. I had the Alcatraz Stout and Beth had the Emperor Norton Lager - we both enjoyed these beers. I had another but can not remember the name - it was good too. The food was average.

Gordon Biersch - we hopped the bus from SF Brew down to Gordon Biersch which is South of Market right across from the Bay Bridge. This place is a little more upscale - not just a brewery but a restaurant too. This place had inside and outside seating and the outside seating would have been nice if it was not 50 degrees - we opted to sit at the bar. The food was good here and the beer was decent too. I had the Marzen (beer brewed in March and served in summer months) and Beth had the Pilsner - we probably would have had another beer here if some crazy dude did not start telling us about micro chips planted in people and a central bank in Luxembourg that runs the world.

Thirsty Bear (certified organic) - moving south from Gordon you come upon Thirsty Bear. we hit this place before one of the games - it was about half way between our hotel and the stadium. This place got it's name from a news article from Russia - a beer bit off a dudes hand to get to his beer - the bear drank the beer and moved along his merry way. This place is a little different - looks like your classic brewery inside but it is also known for Spanish Cuisine and Flamenco dancing on certain nights?? The food was very good here and the beer very good too. Beth had the Golden Vanilla which was extremely tasty and would be a great beach beer and I had the Brown Bear Ale which was a tasty selection too.

21st Amendment - moving a little further south was 21st - very cool place that has started to make some of their beer in cans (see the picture above). Beth had the Hell or High Watermelon (served with a slice a watermelon in the glass) and I had the Brew Free or Die - I am pretty sure I had the North Star Red too. I thought these beers were some of the best we had - delicious. We had a s'more desert treat here - which was ok. There was a big after baseball crowd in this joint - i am glad we got there early to get a seat

Speakeasy Ales and Lagers - we did not make it to this place - it is down by where the 49ers play football - however we did sample some of the beers at the Giants game - we had the Prohibition Ale - it is a classic american amber ale - it was good to drink at the game - better than other selection like Bud Heavy and Bud Light.

Pyramid Brewery - this brewery is in Berkley but we tasted some of this fine beer at the Oakland game - Beth had the seasonal Curve Ball Kolsch and I had the IPA - again, these were decent beers at the ball park - but this park also offered Fat Tire and Skinny Dip so they were high on the beer scale to begin with.

So in 3 days we sampled beer form 7 breweries in and around the area - I am not sure I can pick a favorite because I just plain like beer! I think Beth enjoyed the vanilla a lot. The best part about brewery beer is the increased alcohol content - if you are paying $6-7 for a pint it might as well be good tasting and have some alcohol in it.