Where to visit San Francisco

My wife will be traveling on business towards the end of May and I will be going as a companion and I was wondering what breweries offer good tours in the area and what should be my top beers/bars that I should be looking out for in the area. I am assuming we will be staying in the downtown district of San Fran and I will have to use BART to get around.


Thanks!

Dan

21st Amendment is a must. Great beers and good food.

I've never done Anchor Steams Brewery, but I bet it would be worth it.

I think you can visit the Speakeasy Brewery in South San Francisco (You'll need to catch a cab for this one). I've never been down there but I 've certainly enjoyed their beer.

Also definitely worth it:
Thirsty Bear
Magnolia Pub

That's my quick 2 cents.

If it were me I'd want to visit Anchor, 21st Amendment, and Drakes. However, If I was going all the way up to SF I'd definitely head up north a little and hit up Lagunitas and Bear Republic. Maybe even Moylans and a few wineries in Sonoma while I was at it.

Anchor is a good tour but you should call today and try to book it, you may already be too late.

I'd rent a car and go to Russian River one day.

I think during the week I will be without a car but we are discussing heading up to Sonoma for the weekend. How far is Lagunitas and and Bear Republic?

Sonoma is a must. Not far at all and Lagunitas is on the way. Bear is a little further up in Heraldsburg. I also recommend taking the back way back to SF and going thru Bodega Bay. Absolutely beautiful ride.

and if you take that ride back, you can head to hop monk which is a nice pub opened by dean beirsch a year or two ago. great beer selection and awesome food.

Lagunitas is 45 minutes from Downtown SF in Petaluma. Bear Repub is about another 45 past that. Lagunitas is cool, their outdoor environment is a cool lounge and they have beer on tap that they dont bottle, I recently had a habeniero beer. It was wierd, cool up front then the back of my throat caught the slight pepper. Not at all HOT, but you knew there was pepper. Their hours are a bit wierd too, check that before you visit is what I tell people. Russian River Brew co is only about 20 minutes from Lagunitas towards Bear Repub, you heard of their Pliney the Elder, its a must for HOP addicts. I think its like over 200 IBU's, the hop character that I have heard people refer to is pinnapple to piney, but a great beer. Just not for me.

remilard said:

I'd rent a car and go to Russian River one day.

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+1, just did this last year and hit up bear republic along the way

toronado is a great bar to check out: http://www.toronado.com/

monks kettle has a pretty substantial selection too: http://www.monkskettle.com/

La Trappe in North Beach is a must if you're a Belgian beer fan, I'll second the Toronado which has amazing BBQ across the street.

Gotta go to Toronado. You'll see many many beers you won't see anywhere else. It's also really cheap until 6pm (i think), when happy hour ends. It's scuzzy and the bartenders will definitely not kiss your ass, but they know their sh*t.

Monks Kettle also has a good selection. (you can walk there from Toronado.)

I like Magnolia in upper Haight - it's a very good brewpub. They have a bunch of cask-conditioned beers, and the food is good, too. (You can walk there from Toronado, too).

Agree with La Trappe if you like Belgians.

Speakeasy brewery tour/happy hour is supposed to be really fun, but I've never been. Anchor tour is great, too, but you have to book pretty far in advance.

There are a bunch of other threads on this, topic, too - search and there'll probably be more info available.

Have fun!

Magnolia is a must. They've got the bitters and milds DIALED. Good selection at Hop Monk in Sebastopol, but I have to disagree with the previous post about their food being good. I ate there last week. Food was GROSS! I've never had fries that chewy. Tasted like they were swept up off the floor from the last night. Medium burger was blackened to a crisp. Too tired and hungry to complain and send it back.

Monks Kettle is very good, as is the food there. Toronado is a must. La Trappe has an extensive Belgian selection - food hit and miss.

Again, you must try Magnolia if you like Brit beers.

Damn I live here and now I feel like I need to take a vacation and go beer tasting. It's so easy to forget about how lucky we are in the Bay Area.

Back on track: Get a car or a limo for a day and heard north to Marin and Sonoma. You can get breweries and wineries in one long day trip.

Hop on the ferry to Marin/Larkspur Landing and go to the Marin Brewery, it's right across the street form the ferry landing in Larkspur.

Wow....So much beer and so little time...I almost feel like I am in Belgium trying to get in all the abbey's! haha! The wife may get a car during the week if work approves so I can do some outside San Fran sight...oops beer seeing! Thanks for all the info!

Definitely head an hour north to Healdsburg.

Stop at Moylan's in Novato, then at Lagunitas in Petaluma, then Russian River in Santa Rosa, and finally the Bear Republic in Healdsburg.

I live in Healdsburg and The Bear and Russian River make some of the best beer I have ever had. Pliny on tap = best IPA I have ever had (just read some reviews on Beer Advocate).