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stupac2 said:
Ahhh, yeah, I've heard that Almanac actually DOESN'T do anything out of there, but my source on that may have been mistaken.
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It's no secret that Almanac Beer Company brews their beers out of Hermitage Brewing in San Jose. The cost to open up a brewery is staggering, hovering near the 1 million dollar mark (or significantly more depending on what you want to do), and few people have access to that kind of capital. So it's not unusual for a brewing company to start its life out by having its beer brewed by someone else. It's a more economical way to get going and many beer companies will just roll over their profits into capital and equipment for their own facilities. Friedman tells me that the end game is to eventually have their own brewing facilities but until then, it's very nice to be able to make a phone call and say we need to up the production and be done with it.
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Source:http://www.betterbeerblog.com/index.php/2012/01/18/an-afternoon-with-almanac-brewing-company/
 
looks like Harrys hofbrau just opened a new place in San Leandro

If anyone is in the East Bay Harry's just opened our 3rd 28 tap beer bar right down the street from Drake's in San Leandro. This location has a large biergarten and will be doing events every Thursday like the other two locations. Should make for an exciting SF beer week
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https://www.facebook.com/sanleandrohh?ref=hl
 
For the Peninsula I suggest adding Ale Arsenal in San Carlos and for a bottle shop, Willows in Menlo Park.
 
Not sure if this should be in this thread, but does anyone have any thoughts on SF Beer Week? Thinking about heading out there for that/
 
Possibly worth considering, or I am at least curious how people feel about the idea: For bars that have regulars that are also active on these forums, considering associating your TB name with the place. That way if someone from out of town is going to hit up the place they could send a PM to that person. I know that if I was out and about at night and someone from out of town was going to be in the area and was thinking about checking out say Harry's or Gourmet Haus, I would be happy to share a beer with them and talk all things beer. It sure beats having to hang out with Largadeer or Arbitrator ;)
 
pokgye said:
For the Peninsula I suggest adding Ale Arsenal in San Carlos and for a bottle shop, Willows in Menlo Park.
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Give me a writeup! I've spent a very limited amount of time in beer places on the peninsula. My one time at Ale Arsenal was a lot of fun but pretty atypical of most visits. At least I hope so...
 
stupac2 said:
Give me a writeup! I've spent a very limited amount of time in beer places on the peninsula. My one time at Ale Arsenal was a lot of fun but pretty atypical of most visits. At least I hope so...
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Ale Arsenal: (San Carlos) Good selection of craft beer on tap (24 taps, 1 cask, 100 bottles to go). Good prices. No food served but you can bring food in. Next door is Refuge, which makes an incredible (and expensive) pastrami sandwich.

Willows Market: (Menlo Park) Large inventory of bottles. Bit pricey. Good place to grab a sandwich and browse bottles. Monday nights is food truck night.

For GHS I suggest adding that they also have 6 (soon to be 8) American guest taps.
 
stupac2 said:
Give me a writeup! I've spent a very limited amount of time in beer places on the peninsula. My one time at Ale Arsenal was a lot of fun but pretty atypical of most visits. At least I hope so...
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The beginning was definitely atypical. The end of the night was pretty typical though. Though I don't remember when you left.
 
Harry's Hofbrau in Redwood City is a slepper. From the outside and inside, it might as well be a bingo hall that serves artery clogging food, but the beer selection is tops for the entire Peninsula and South Bay. I haven't gone to OG in San Jose yet.
 
Sorry if I missed these somewhere:

Øl Beercafe (Walnut Creek): Quality tap list and a large selection of bottles. Reminds me of a smaller version of The Trappist in Oakland....

Churchkey (North Beach - SF): A smaller, kind of hidden bar near the corner of Grant and Green. Always seems to have an impressive selection of beers on tap.
 
barnold said:
Sorry if I missed these somewhere:

Øl Beercafe (Walnut Creek): Quality tap list and a large selection of bottles. Reminds me of a smaller version of The Trappist in Oakland....
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Owned by the same people (along with The Trappist Provisions).
 
barnold said:
Guess I never put that together..... makes sense though....
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Trappist, Trappist Provisions, OL and Mikkellerbar are all managed by the same people, though I think Mikkeller is a bit of an outlier there, in that I'm not certain it's the exact same guys. For some reason I have it in my head that it's just Chuck.
 
stupac2 said:
Trappist, Trappist Provisions, OL and Mikkellerbar are all managed by the same people, though I think Mikkeller is a bit of an outlier there, in that I'm not certain it's the exact same guys. For some reason I have it in my head that it's just Chuck.
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That was my understanding as well - just chuck involved at Mikkeller.
 
In the Northbay, in Novato, there's Hopmonk tavern. There's also a location in Sebastapol and somewhere else. They have about 20 taps and 100 bottles, which is nice, but higher prices.

I think I'm going to check out Woodfour Brewing in Sebastapol on Monday afternoon.
I'll also get to Baeltane brewing in the next weeks or so. I'll report back what I experience.

CommanderofAwesome said:
Not worth visiting IMO. Put them on the same tier as pyramid, drakes, and 21st. Kings of mediocre.
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What's wrong with Drake's?
 
I don't want to come off as mr negative/drakes hater (the people in the tap room are very nice/helpful and has a cool vibe), but I'm just not a fig ban of their beers. Don't think any beer they make is above average. Their bigger beers/barrel program beers are all thin as can be, their IPAs are solid but nothing special. I'd rather have a knee deep ipa to theirs. Eh I dont know, just mediocre IMO. If you like drakes though, that's cool. Just don't do anything for me.
 
I was just saying my problem with Drake's, of course bottle dating has almost nothing to do with actually visiting the place. I will visit the place once I can go with my brother who also wants to go.
Looks like I'm going to Jupiter brewpub by Cal today.

CommanderofAwesome said:
I don't want to come off as mr negative/drakes hater (the people in the tap room are very nice/helpful and has a cool vibe), but I'm just not a fig ban of their beers. Don't think any beer they make is above average. Their bigger beers/barrel program beers are all thin as can be, their IPAs are solid but nothing special. I'd rather have a knee deep ipa to theirs. Eh I dont know, just mediocre IMO. If you like drakes though, that's cool. Just don't do anything for me.
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Thanks for clarifying. Placing them as mediocre was surprising, and you yourself say the IPAs are solid.
I've only had their IPA and it was average, but I much prefer DIPAs to IPAs.
 
CommanderofAwesome said:
I don't want to come off as mr negative/drakes hater (the people in the tap room are very nice/helpful and has a cool vibe), but I'm just not a fig ban of their beers. Don't think any beer they make is above average. Their bigger beers/barrel program beers are all thin as can be, their IPAs are solid but nothing special. I'd rather have a knee deep ipa to theirs. Eh I dont know, just mediocre IMO. If you like drakes though, that's cool. Just don't do anything for me.
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I live 10 minutes from there and agree with you on all counts. It's a nice place to visit if you are nearby, but it is not a destination.

Their barrel program has improved considerably in the last 5 years. They were hilariously bad back in the day. I think they realized that the "intentionally soured" imperial stouts and barleywines weren't fooling anyone.
 
Just got back from Jupiter on Shattuck next to Cal. Their IPA and DIPA were really good. Their honey wheat was also quite good. Food menu was slim but my party liked everything we got. I'd recommend it.
 
Arbitrator said:
I live 10 minutes from there and agree with you on all counts. It's a nice place to visit if you are nearby, but it is not a destination.

Their barrel program has improved considerably in the last 5 years. They were hilariously bad back in the day. I think they realized that the "intentionally soured" imperial stouts and barleywines weren't fooling anyone.
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From what I understand they have a hard time keeping head brewers, their last 2 head brewers were only there a yr or less before they bounced to other breweries. Difficult to gain traction/consistency that way I'm sure.
 
shelf_turd_ferguson said:
Just got back from Jupiter on Shattuck next to Cal. Their IPA and DIPA were really good. Their honey wheat was also quite good. Food menu was slim but my party liked everything we got. I'd recommend it.
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Triple Rock down the street does some good beers too. Also, I think they're affiliated somehow?
 
stupac2 said:
SF City:
Churchkey (North Beach): A smaller, kind of hidden bar near the corner of Grant and Green. Always seems to have an impressive selection of beers on tap.
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Kind of hidden?

I was standing at the intersection for a good 5 minutes wondering if the place had moved or went out of business or something.
 
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shelf_turd_ferguson said:
In the Northbay, in Novato, there's Hopmonk tavern. There's also a location in Sebastapol and somewhere else. They have about 20 taps and 100 bottles, which is nice, but higher prices.

I think I'm going to check out Woodfour Brewing in Sebastapol on Monday afternoon.
I'll also get to Baeltane brewing in the next weeks or so. I'll report back what I experience.


What's wrong with Drake's?
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Not really sure if there's a place to do short write-ups here, so I'll just keep blabbering in this thread.

Hopmonks Novato is a bit pricey and doesn't quite have the proper pub feel. Their dunkel is good, their pale and IPA are average. They have a pretty good draught/bottle selection though. It's not near a hotel or anything other than shops in Vintage Oaks, so probably not a great destination for visitors.

Went to 21st Amendment by AT&T, their on-premise draughts (e.g. 900, Red Dwarf or w/e) were very good. Their Oak quad was so flavorful and thick, I'm glad I only tried it. It was pretty cold in the place though. I really liked the Jerk Chicken I got.

I never made it to Woodfour or Baeltane. Went to RR, apparently they are now limiting flights to two per table. To be fair it makes sense, as it's a great $ deal and takes work to fill all those little glasses. Still, it's one of the great things I've told people to go there and get; try all the beers you can!

Also, I've started seeing Drake's bottles with yellowish ink bottled on dates. I don't get why some companies use black ink on amber; everyone should use yellow. Must be a $ thing?
 
shelf_turd_ferguson said:
Fcuk you, we hate you.
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Heads up for travelers: Russian River will be closed starting tomorrow, until the 10th, for renovations.
 
I'm heading up there next week and looking forward to visiting some of the newer places... Staying Mon-Tue in the city and Wed-Fri in Marin. I will be wearing a Seahawks shirt...all week.o_O
 

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