Beer - trading & discussion
- halftonegraphics
- Art Freak
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enjoying some monkish today.
I broke something today, and I realized I should break something once a week.. - Warhol
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- sidewaysscott
- Art God
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- Joined: Thu May 15, 2008 11:22 am
- Location: denver
pay via paypal, use credit card,file dispute at the 20 day mark if suspicious. don't deal with noobs. don't trade with noobs. request feedback ahead of time. there are lots of good people 'round here.
- FrankBooth
- Art Expert
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- Location: Queens, New York
Holy Sheet, many many thanks for that Smith. I owe you some beers for just writing that out.mistersmith wrote:
If you go to the north bay, obviously hit Russian River. If nothing else it's a pilgrimage.
The best brewery in the city of SF, absolutely, is Cellarmaker. They open at 3 most weekdays and that's when you'll want to get there, the SOMA tech bros with logo backpacks all descend pretty heavy at 4:30. But their beer is incredible and their vibe is not at all tech bro...always a good day.
Take the ferry to Alameda and take a mile's walk/bike ride for Faction, they have a massive facility with a massive patio and it's a great place to spend a sunny day.
My favorite brew day right now is to BART over to MacArthur, cross the street to Temescal Brewing. Their beer is incredibly well done (generally, a hazy IPA-type of place, but super clean) and right next door is Church's Chicken...and you can bring the chicken to Temescal...just kill me now.
If you like sours, obviously you can't miss Rare Barrel in Berkeley. If you're all the way up there, there's Fieldwork and a Sierra Nevada taproom nearby, but those places generally bore me to death so, meh. FWIW locals go apeshit for Fieldwork, but I don't see why. I think it's local pride a lot more than it is the beer. It's good beer, but for me it isn't destination beer.
Also mostly sour: Almanac has a taproom now, with (word is) really good food.
If you go to a Giants game (always recommended, sit on the 3rd base side for the view and the food) you can also hit up 21st Amendment on the walk back downtown. Again, this isn't destination beer, but they've been around forever so it might be kinda cool to stop there and revisit last decade's hip beer
It's kinda out there and tough to make it a day trip, unless someone's driving or you want to spend $20 on a cab each way, but Bare Bottle Brewing is the other spot that makes really great beer but doesn't yet have a rep, that I know of, outside of NorCal. They aren't Sante or even Cellarmaker but it's really good.
You can't really talk SF craft beer without mentioning Fort Point, but their beer is forgettable as fudge. They have more handles in SF than any other craft brewer, but it's beer for the happy hour bar crowd, not the beer nerds.
You also can't talk SF craft without talking Anchor. If you're into them, the brewery tour is cool, their brewery taproom is cool, and they just opened a taproom with food across the street, but it's all very Anchor: time-machine stuff.
The last brewery-affiliated spot I'll mention is, if you're going to the Haight, hit Magnolia. Another stalwart, old-time brewery...they're going through a restructuring but have been saved, and deserve to feel the love. Get a burger and their Blue Bell Bitter ESB and transport yourself to a timeless, hype-free zone of awesomeness.
On the bar front:
- Toronado is forever the king. Amazing lists daily, good prices, metal AF jukebox, cash only, filthy bathrooms, friendly regulars, gruff bartenders. If I had one day left to live and my wife were otherwise occupied, I'd bring a pile of Memphis Minnie's bbq (across the street) into Toronado and leave everything else behind. I went with Tapecat like two years ago and he said Memphis Minnie's was the best brisket he ever had, so either the bbq was that good or Toronado got him that drunk You can also get an awesome sausage next door at Rosamunde. Pro tip: check the bottle list, absolute gems are lurking for nowhere near what they should cost. But ask if they have it, don't order it, lol, the success rate for bottles is about 70%
- Other beer bars with high-end tap lists are Crafty Fox and Monk's Kettle, both of which are in the Mission and will impress you with the draft list, and little further past that is Holy Water...they get a lot of love from the beer folks, I went once and it was ok. If you're in North Beach I love a spot called Church Key, super small and only about 8 taps but they're always good, and further up is La Trappe, a traditional Belgian beer and food joint with amazing European bottles and lots of really good local stuff too - hanging out in their basement bar is an underrated experience. Finally, there are two spots near Union Square worth mentioning: Mikkeller, even though I just find that place boring AF, and up the hill, Hopwater Distribution (great food and 31 taps of only NorCal craft beer...they don't often get the A#1 amazeballs kegs but it's a great place and I'm there like 2-3 nights a week lol). I should also mention Beer Hall on Market & Polk, they have like 20 taps and a bottle shop and seem to try really hard I just never get there and that area is basically owned by Twitter and tech dorks, so, drymount it, and then at Polk & California is a spot called Liquid Gold with a try-hard taplist, but they don't really know what they're doing (it's always fun to see how they butcher names and styles on their LCD taplist) and their bottle shop is insanely overpriced, but occasionally they'll have something on tap that makes it worth a trip.
- East Bay beer bars you shouldn't miss are The Trappist and Beer Revolution (both Oakland). Oh, and there's a liquor store in Oakland/Berkeley that looks like fudge from the outside but has one of the best selections in the Bay Area: Ledger's Liquors (keep it secret, keep it safe).
- City Beer Store deserves mention all to itself, a great bottle shop and a dozen taps that are always killer. But they're moving locations, and may be closed, so check ahead. They're only a block from Cellarmaker, that's a great double-whammy. But again, I think they're dark for a few months while they move a block away.
- Other good bottle shops are Jug Shop in Russian Hill, any of the Healthy Spirits locations, PlumpJack will have great stuff but be $$$, and since you're traveling in don't overlook BevMo, our big-box booze shop, as they'll have all but the highest tier of local stuff (you can always get the Firestone barrel aged stuff, things like that).
Finally, since a lot of this is my personal preference, here's the schedule from last month's Beer Week: I say, sort it by venue and look at what spots were doing, if a place was playing your song, head on over. There are so many places I didn't mention (Amnesia, Old Devil Moon, Woods, Willows, Pi Bar, etc.) because there's too much to do! https://sfbeerweek.org/schedule/
- sidewaysscott
- Art God
- Posts: 23731
- Joined: Thu May 15, 2008 11:22 am
- Location: denver
mr. smith is a great resource for sure. Years ago, I traveled to SF and he sent me quite the pm about what and which places to hit. Just like the above post, I would listen to his recs. Good dude for sure. Happy to have sent him some beers over the years considering his knowledge and access.
pay via paypal, use credit card,file dispute at the 20 day mark if suspicious. don't deal with noobs. don't trade with noobs. request feedback ahead of time. there are lots of good people 'round here.
- phishstix101
- Art Expert
- Posts: 6368
- Joined: Thu May 29, 2003 1:00 am
- sidewaysscott
- Art God
- Posts: 23731
- Joined: Thu May 15, 2008 11:22 am
- Location: denver
Just read that PowderKeg brewing in Boulder (Niwot) is closing next weekend. Can't say i'm surprised with their location.
pay via paypal, use credit card,file dispute at the 20 day mark if suspicious. don't deal with noobs. don't trade with noobs. request feedback ahead of time. there are lots of good people 'round here.
- phishstix101
- Art Expert
- Posts: 6368
- Joined: Thu May 29, 2003 1:00 am
Anyone around the Madison, WI area wanted to maybe trade for some older BCBS?
I have 2 2012 and maybe 4 2013 bottles....maybe a coffee or barleywine or two
Trying to clean out my basement a little bit and maybe trade for things I drink more regularly than these
I'm looking for some tasty fresh IPAs or interesting fruits/sours/meads., etc... PM me if you have some ideas
Id maybe sell them but would be looking for pretty standard pricing I suppose
Would prefer something in person.
I have 2 2012 and maybe 4 2013 bottles....maybe a coffee or barleywine or two
Trying to clean out my basement a little bit and maybe trade for things I drink more regularly than these
I'm looking for some tasty fresh IPAs or interesting fruits/sours/meads., etc... PM me if you have some ideas
Id maybe sell them but would be looking for pretty standard pricing I suppose
Would prefer something in person.
- halftonegraphics
- Art Freak
- Posts: 15372
- Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:10 pm
now available in AZ...
I broke something today, and I realized I should break something once a week.. - Warhol
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