Bay Area Thread

[Original Fake]

Crazy how the beer world changes. Even 5 years ago a Beatification release would have had people losing their god damn minds. Now my guess is that it's a collective Meh.

Five years ago? How about two years ago. I don't think the reaction is a collective "meh" but if you don't give people a date and a time to lineup/buy their bottles online these days, people aren't going to go nuts.

 

[stupac2]

Welp, I was planning to go next weekend anyway. Still have PTSD from the last Beatification release. If they have bottles the day we go, I'll consider it a bonus.

Did anyone here try it at FWIBF? Curious to here how it compares to the last batch, which I was not feeling. Last batch was Temptation base, tho, right?

I gave it a 3.5 on Untappd. I'll get some if I'm there (was considering going at the end of June anyway), but otherwise pass. I still have a bunch of 5 & 6.

 

[coldstorage]

I KNEW ONE DAY IF I JUST DIDNT MOVE OUT OF SANTA ROSA ALL MY PATIENCE WOULD PAY OFF GONNA BUY ONE BILLION BOTTLES YOU SUCKERS.


































































































Gonna buy like 2 or 3, non shitlords and real pals get at me .
Going to Hawaii for 10 days so no promises.

 

[coldstorage]

Also props to RyRy-GangsterG for being #1 WITH A GIF SEARCH.
Inside job?

 

[jedwards]

Wednesday, June 14 at 6 PM - 9 PM
Affligem Brewmaster will be visiting La Trappe Cafe to talk about the Affligem story and demonstrate and teach employees, industry peeps and guests how to pour the perfect Affligem Blond. All will be given the chance to pour their own Affligem behind the bar.
Must be 18 to pour and 21 to drink.

Man, it's been way too long since I've hit up La Trappe. Probably going to check this out.

 

[Arbitrator]

Crazy how the beer world changes. Even 5 years ago a Beatification release would have had people losing their god damn minds. Now my guess is that it's a collective Meh.

We're spoiled for choice. This is a great thing.

 

[quetzalcoatl]

Hey guys I'm gonna be up late next weekend to mid next week. Is there a post you could send me to w the must do things beer wise in San Francisco?

 

[falc0n26001]

Hey guys I'm gonna be up late next weekend to mid next week. Is there a post you could send me to w the must do things beer wise in San Francisco?

I can tell you:
Toronado
Cellarmaker
City Beer Shop (if you have time)

If you want to blow a lot of money:
Mikkeller Bar
Monk's Kettle

 

[CommanderofAwesome]

I can tell you:
̶t̶o̶r̶a̶n̶a̶d̶o̶
Cellarmaker
City Beer Shop (if you ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶ like old, skunked sunlight warmed IPAs)
The Crafty Fox
Or skip all of this and Head to the East Bay and go to:
Beer Revolution
The Trappist
Fieldwork
[You're welcome]


If you want to blow a lot of money:
Mikkeller Bar
Monk's Kettle

FIFY

 

[rrryanc]

FIFY

*You're.

And HAHAHAHAHA East Bay.

 

[RyanG1]

Hey guys I'm gonna be up late next weekend to mid next week. Is there a post you could send me to w the must do things beer wise in San Francisco?

Ones I've been enjoying lately are:

Old Devil Moon

Crafty Fox and Toronado. Close to one another.

Barebottle

Cellarmaker and City Beer Store. 2 minute walk between the two.

 

[CommanderofAwesome]

*You're.

And HAHAHAHAHA East Bay.

East Bay beer scene crushes SF beer scene and it's not even close. Plus better weather. Having to take Bart or drive across the Bay bridge to get a decent beer. HAHAHAHAHA

 

[RyanG1]

East Bay beer scene crushes SF beer scene and it's not even close. Plus better weather. Having to take Bart or drive across the Bay bridge to get a decent beer. HAHAHAHAHA

How's the walk bus ride from Trappist to Fieldwork or Beer Revolution? About same distance from Toronado to Crafty Fox?

Also asked for SF but Fieldwork is worth the trip. Beer Revolution was good when Fraggle was there (RIP). Faction is another good spot. Just a lot of driving or ride share between those spots.

 

[rrryanc]

East Bay beer scene crushes SF beer scene and it's not even close. Plus better weather. Having to take Bart or drive across the Bay bridge to get a decent beer. HAHAHAHAHA

There's literally no establishment in the East Bay, outside of Faction for the view, that I would go to over the equivalent version in SF. And I don't live in either, though admittedly the city is more convenient to get to. Toronado > Beer Rev, if only because of Cable Car. Cellarmaker > Fieldwork unless I want to bring my baby and/or dog (though it's been too crowded recently to be worth even that). Mikkeller and Monks Kettle > Trappist if I'm paying those prices. I haven't even checked out Old Devil Moon or Crafty Fox yet, though they've been getting a lot of hype on the boards.

 

[RyanG1]

There's literally no establishment in the East Bay, outside of Faction for the view, that I would go to over the equivalent version in SF. And I don't live in either, though admittedly the city is more convenient to get to. Toronado > Beer Rev, if only because of Cable Car. Cellarmaker > Fieldwork unless I want to bring my baby and/or dog (though it's been too crowded recently to be worth even that). Mikkeller and Monks Kettle > Trappist if I'm paying those prices. I haven't even checked out Old Devil Moon or Crafty Fox yet, though they've been getting a lot of hype on the boards.

Old Devil Moon likes babies and amazing Ramen nearby at CoCo

 

[falc0n26001]

People like to **** on Toronado. But if you've never gone, it's worth a visit. I can't promise you'll love it. Bring cash and figure out what you want to order before you order it, don't stand there going "Ummmm" and asking for tasters. They don't like that. But go and try some Moonlight.

 

[coldstorage]

Yeah i'd rather go to Toronado than anywhere in the East Bay.

 

[CommanderofAwesome]

Yeah i'd rather go to Toronado than anywhere in the East Bay.

Yeah I'd rather go anywhere than Toronado. Only the old craft beer guys who went there back when it was the only game in town like it.

 

[buzzword]

East Bay beer scene crushes SF beer scene and it's not even close. Plus better weather. Having to take Bart or drive across the Bay bridge to get a decent beer. HAHAHAHAHA

you said "beer scene" and i didn't read the rest.



































seriously?







"beer scene?"

 

[CommanderofAwesome]

you said "beer scene" and i didn't read the rest.



































seriously?







"beer scene?"

You'd prefer beer landscape? How would you prefer to me to sum up beer bars, breweries, beer stores, etc...?

 

[buzzword]

You'd prefer beer landscape? How would you prefer to me to sum up beer bars, breweries, beer stores, etc...?

yawn

 

[rrryanc]

Yeah I'd rather go anywhere than Toronado. Only the old craft beer guys who went there back when it was the only game in town like it.

Look I totally get hating on the T. But how can you turn around and praise Beer Rev? It's basically Toronado East.

 

[tosh1]

I wish Beer Rev was still Fraggle days.

 

[coldstorage]

Yeah I'd rather go anywhere than Toronado. Only the old craft beer guys who went there back when it was the only game in town like it.

I'm just more comfortable around drunks and ******** than I am in some fancy driftwood taproom that's all. Yeah service is salty, but the board is always bountiful. Not that it needs to be...I'll coast on Moonlight alone and maybe smash a cable car if I'm rolling with strippers.

Yeah, old toronado was better than new toronado. What CAN'T you say that about? Making allowances for a reasonable decline in quality it's a nice taste of old SF in a city almost entirely turned over...

Agree that fraggle era beer rev was something special. Joint is a total no-go now.

 

[falc0n26001]

I'm just more comfortable around drunks and ******** than I am in some fancy driftwood taproom that's all. Yeah service is salty, but the board is always bountiful. Not that it needs to be...I'll coast on Moonlight alone and maybe smash a cable car if I'm rolling with strippers.

Yeah, old toronado was better than new toronado. What CAN'T you say that about? Making allowances for a reasonable decline in quality it's a nice taste of old SF in a city almost entirely turned over...

Agree that fraggle era beer rev was something special. Joint is a total no-go now.

What's the difference between old and new Toronado? I've gone since I turned 21 (2010) and that was when SF started to really turn towards its current, more soulless state. I also tend to go on weekdays mid-day when it's pretty empty. I've heard it gets bad when it's packed.

 

[rrryanc]

What's the difference between old and new Toronado? I've gone since I turned 21 (2010) and that was when SF started to really turn towards its current, more soulless state. I also tend to go on weekdays mid-day when it's pretty empty. I've heard it gets bad when it's packed.

The bottle list mostly. A couple of years ago they got wise about what they had - used to be, if you got lucky, you could get early batch RR or others for current pricing.

Also, even 5 years ago, there were only a few games in town and so the T got a lot more special stuff. Now, their list seems a lot more pedestrian compared to the competition.

 

[stupac2]

The bottle list mostly. A couple of years ago they got wise about what they had - used to be, if you got lucky, you could get early batch RR or others for current pricing.

Also, even 5 years ago, there were only a few games in town and so the T got a lot more special stuff. Now, their list seems a lot more pedestrian compared to the competition.

Right, it's a combo of things. First, Dave took back over as inventory manager or whatever, and stopped hoarding/trickling out the rare stuff, instead they kind of dumped it all and now when you see stuff (except JW Lees! hurray!) it's priced closer to what you'd expect elsewhere. And, as you mentioned, the general proliferation of places means there's less limited stuff to go around, and I think the bar for what we count as "special" has increased too. But at least they're virtually guaranteed to have something great on tap (even if it's only Death and Taxes or Blind Pig).

As for the general city vs. east bay thing, I dunno, man. The city has the advantage of being more compact and transit-friendly, that's for sure, but other than Cellarmaker are there any breweries worth a damn? I'd put Cleophus Quealy at the 2nd best brewery in the city, that's bleak. Even if you include the peninsula, you have, what, Alpha Acid? Anything else? I haven't checked out those new bars, and the food is going to be better just about anywhere, but unless things have changed a lot I find that hard to defend.

 

[tosh1]

I'd put Cleophus Quealy at the 2nd best brewery in the city

Assume this was a typo.

 

[rrryanc]

Right, it's a combo of things. First, Dave took back over as inventory manager or whatever, and stopped hoarding/trickling out the rare stuff, instead they kind of dumped it all and now when you see stuff (except JW Lees! hurray!) it's priced closer to what you'd expect elsewhere. And, as you mentioned, the general proliferation of places means there's less limited stuff to go around, and I think the bar for what we count as "special" has increased too. But at least they're virtually guaranteed to have something great on tap (even if it's only Death and Taxes or Blind Pig).

As for the general city vs. east bay thing, I dunno, man. The city has the advantage of being more compact and transit-friendly, that's for sure, but other than Cellarmaker are there any breweries worth a damn? I'd put Cleophus Quealy at the 2nd best brewery in the city, that's bleak. Even if you include the peninsula, you have, what, Alpha Acid? Anything else? I haven't checked out those new bars, and the food is going to be better just about anywhere, but unless things have changed a lot I find that hard to defend.

No, you're right about breweries, though outside of Fieldwork (which will have a location in San Mateo soon) I don't find anything in the East Bay compelling enough beer-wise to travel to.

If I lived in the East Bay, I'd likely say the same about SF, though I do think the bars are better in SF. But location bias doesn't make the scene objectively better, which is what CommanderofAwesome is claiming.

 

[matedog]

One thing I'll say about Toronado is that in the now ten years that I've been going there, the taplist now is better than it has ever been. I don't know of a bar that as thoroughly covers the best of northern California: RR, Moonlight, Cellarmaker, Sante, Almanac, Fieldwork, Rare Barrel are all usually on tap. I'm sure that's largely due to the greater selection of good beer being available, but it has changed the approach for the bar. That being said, I never really ventured onto the bottle list much, so I don't have any insight on the downturn on that.

Also, this "East Bay vs. SF" debate is pretty dumb. There are a lot of pluses and a lot of minuses with both and I wouldn't fault anyone for preferring either, though having a strong preference seems pretty nonsensical.