Just thought I would provide feedback on my trip to San Francisco. Maybe someone will use the search function and come across this and find it useful.
Stopped at Magnolia (SF - Haight Ashbury) for lunch and some beverages (got a sampler of 6 beers plus a pint of IPA).
New Speedway Bitter - an English Bitter served from a cask. They used Golden Promise instead of Maris Otter so I thought it would be a little interesting. Unfortunately, it also had a good deal of wheat in it, so I didn't think it tasted much like a bitter.
Prescription Pale Ale - a Cascade-only PA. Hop levels were moderate but balanced well between bitterness, flavor, and aroma. Unfortunately for me, wheat found its way into the grain bill again.
Cole Porter - a porter with a medium high to high hop level from Cascades and EKG. This was one of their better offerings, and surprise, once again wheat is in the grain bill, but either to a much smaller extent or it is just masked by the roastiness and hops.
Kalifornia Kolsch - OK, so you might get the feeling that I don't care much for wheat beers by now. So what on earth would make me get a Kolsch? Well, I keep telling myself that I should branch out and educate my palate more and acquire a taste for beers with wheat in them. I drank some of this, but apparently, my palate needs more schoolin'.
Stout of Circumstance - best of the seven I tried. Heavy toffee aroma, roasty, yet some sweetness. Very smooth and creamy - flaked oats in there. They use chocolate, roasted barley, black malt, and crystal in it.
Darkstar Mild - also very good. Surprisingly dark, quite malty, and a bit of warmth to it despite low alcohol level (3.6% abv).
Proving Ground IPA - strong hop flavor and some but not a lot of aroma despite dry hopping. Also some interesting spiciness from hops - turns out they use Saaz in conjunction with Cascade and Columbus. Wheat in this one too, but masked by the hops - barely could pick it up when it warmed.
General impressions: Not bad, but not great either. Every beer doesn't need to be some type of hybrid mixture of grains or hops - one or two signature beers would have sufficed. If I was a wheat beer drinker, I might have thought more highly of this place, but given that I am not and the it appeared in beers where it doesn't belong IMHO, I would give the place a 6 out of 10. Food (usual pub fare) was decent.
Rafter's Grille and Brewery (San Rafael):
Quick lunch and beer on the way to wine country. Had the IPA - quite good with plenty of C hops. Fairly deluxe menu for a place that makes beer - food more of a focus than the beer apparently, but the IPA was pretty good.
21st Amendment (SF- SOMA) - I go here every time I am in SF since I am usually staying nearby for work and it was the first place I had a beer with Simcoe hops on tap. Very disappointing this time - no 21A IPA on tap, my main reason for coming to this place. I had an unremarkable bitter with fish and chips and left.
Rogue Public House (North Beach) - Had an awesome Italian dinner around the corner and stopped in for a few afterwords. SWMBO thought the place smelled of urine - I thought it was no worse than the city buses. Figured I would grab the chance to try some of the beers I liked in bottles fresh from the tap. The Mocha Porter tasted fairly close to its bottled cousin - I must be getting a fairly fresh supply. Even though I never had the bottled vesion to compare it to, I tried the St. Rogue Red - very good. Lots of hop flavor and aroma for a red, but I guess this would qualify as an American Amber - grassy and citrusy.
Good trip to SF - beer places visited: 4, wineries: 2. Score one for the good guys.