Visiting the San Francisco Bay Area

[litheum94]

I guess I took your post to mean that they drive to go buy beer out of distribution, and then resell it in their own shop, which is illegal everywhere except D.C.

I get what you're saying now. They do get out of our area beers, but they buy them from California based distributors, so technically I don't think it's illegal. They also go directly to CA brewers and buy from them. They do seem mindful of the laws, as I asked if they were planning on goin to places like Portland and pick up some beer. They said they couldn't do that because they couldn't bring beer across state lines and resell them

 

[obiwan_k3n00bi]

I get what you're saying now. They do get out of our area beers, but they buy them from California based distributors, so technically I don't think it's illegal. They also go directly to CA brewers and buy from them. They do seem mindful of the laws, as I asked if they were planning on goin to places like Portland and pick up some beer. They said they couldn't do that because they couldn't bring beer across state lines and resell them

It's not illegal. I've asked JT about this on numerous occasions. It's something about if beer isn't distributed in the region and you get it whole sale from the brewery.

In Marin, there is Baeltane. Tiny spot in Novato, doing some pretty good stuff. Also, I don't know if it's close enough, but there is Sante Adairius in the South Bay (Santa Cruz area), I live in Marin and it's more than worth the drive every week or two.

 

[ABSTRACTlegend]

No love for the South Bay, I know there isn't much but the stuff they do have is excellent

 

[stupac2]

No love for the South Bay, I know there isn't much but the stuff they do have is excellent

No love mostly because I'm not familiar with it. I don't think I've been to any of those places. Give me stuff to add!

 

[obiwan_k3n00bi]

No love mostly because I'm not familiar with it. I don't think I've been to any of those places. Give me stuff to add!

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales

 

[stupac2]

Sante Adairius Rustic Ales

Oh, I wasn't counting Santa Cruz as south bay, SARA is still an hour drive from San Jose. You can get to SF or Oakland faster from SJ. Santa Cruz probably deserves its own section.

 

[ABSTRACTlegend]

Liquid Bread Gastro Pub (campbell) taps rotate daily, occasionally has some rare beers.
Spread (campbell) Nice little deli with a great selection of bottles
Harry's Hofbrau (Saratoga) same as above
Good Karma (San Jose) Vegan spot with good bottle selection. and the food is not that bad
Orginal Gravity Pub House (San Jose) place is really small but they taps rotate daily and they have a lot of tap takeovers
Hermitage Brewing Tasting Room (San Jose) haven't been there yet but I have heard nothing but great things from this place.

I know there is more but this is all i know of as of yet, will update when i visit more places

 

[stupac2]

Liquid Bread Gastro Pub (campbell) taps rotate daily, occasionally has some rare beers.
Spread (campbell) Nice little deli with a great selection of bottles
Harry's Hofbrau (Saratoga) same as above
Good Karma (San Jose) Vegan spot with good bottle selection. and the food is not that bad
Orginal Gravity Pub House (San Jose) place is really small but they taps rotate daily and they have a lot of tap takeovers
Hermitage Brewing Tasting Room (San Jose) haven't been there yet but I have heard nothing but great things from this place.

I know there is more but this is all i know of as of yet, will update when i visit more places

I'll add all of those except Hermitage to the list. The beer that I've had by them has been universally terrible so I'm loathe to add them to the list without someone who has actually been there recommending it.

 

[ABSTRACTlegend]

I'll add all of those except Hermitage to the list. The beer that I've had by them has been universally terrible so I'm loathe to add them to the list without someone who has actually been there recommending it.

I know that Almanac (farm to barrell) brews out of there and has tastings for them. that's the only reason why i put them lol

 

[stupac2]

I know that Almanac (farm to barrell) brews out of there and has tastings for them. that's the only reason why i put them lol

Ahhh, yeah, I've heard that Almanac actually DOESN'T do anything out of there, but my source on that may have been mistaken.

 

[ABSTRACTlegend]

Ahhh, yeah, I've heard that Almanac actually DOESN'T do anything out of there, but my source on that may have been mistaken.

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.

Source:http://www.betterbeerblog.com/index.php/2012/01/18/an-afternoon-with-almanac-brewing-company/

 

[drgarage1]

Ahhh, yeah, I've heard that Almanac actually DOESN'T do anything out of there, but my source on that may have been mistaken.

They brew there. The barrels for their sours and other barrel-aged beers are housed elsewhere.

 

[ABSTRACTlegend]

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

https://www.facebook.com/sanleandrohh?ref=hl

 

[matedog]

Can we get this thread stickied (sticky'd?)?

 

[stupac2]

Can we get this thread stickied (sticky'd?)?

It's linked in the thread that is stickied.

 

[matedog]

It's linked in the thread that is stickied.

Ah, I see. Excellent.

 

[pokgye]

For the Peninsula I suggest adding Ale Arsenal in San Carlos and for a bottle shop, Willows in Menlo Park.

 

[HevvyMetalHippie]

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/

 

[pokgye]

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

 

[Arbitrator]

It sure beats having to hang out with Largadeer or Arbitrator

Say what you will about Arbitrator, but largadeer gives the best head.

 

[stupac2]

For the Peninsula I suggest adding Ale Arsenal in San Carlos and for a bottle shop, Willows in Menlo Park.

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...

 

[pokgye]

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...

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.

 

[rrryanc]

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...

The beginning was definitely atypical. The end of the night was pretty typical though. Though I don't remember when you left.

 

[RyanG1]

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.

 

[barnold]

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.

 

[tosh1]

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....

Owned by the same people (along with The Trappist Provisions).

 

[barnold]

Owned by the same people (along with The Trappist Provisions).

Guess I never put that together..... makes sense though....

 

[stupac2]

Guess I never put that together..... makes sense though....

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.

 

[tosh1]

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.

That was my understanding as well - just chuck involved at Mikkeller.

 

[evilc]

Why isn't Speakeasy mentioned in here? Are they not worth a visit? I like their Big and Double Daddy bottles....