Shot and Beer - Change off or Stay the Course

A lot of brewers are aging their beers in barrels these days, including bourbon, scotch and brandy barrels, and also wine barrels. The beers they tend to use are generally pretty strong beers like old ales and imperial stouts. Anniversary beers like barrel aged Old Rasputin, Abyss and Firestone Walker 14 are good examples. I would suggest that say a bourbon barrel aged stout or old ale would be fantastic with a good, aged bourbon. The challenge, as some have mentioned, might be to find great whiskey and great beer in the same place, which is not always the case

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Espresso Machine

I respect your choice. I happen to enjoy the process, and I am a bit of an espresso junkie. Your method is going to be consistent and a lot less hassle beginning to end, but for me, buying really fresh beans, grinding them at just the right consistency and pulling a good to excellent espresso shot is worth the effort.

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Espresso Machine

I had one of those too, and it was never anywhere near real espresso. The first thing you should notice is theres no crema on the top.

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Visitor -- Coffee? Chinatown? Good Bar for a Single Lady?

Nopa has a pretty good bar and it's not far from Pacific Heights, though I would not characterize it as divey.

chuckl in San Francisco Bay Area

Where is Goose Island Prevalent?

We can get some of them at Whole Foods in the Bay Area. Matilda is one of my favorite beers and I haven't noticed any drop off in quality. Does anyone know when they stopped making Stockyard Stout for Trader Joes?

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US Craft Beer influence on British Beer Styles.

Or $10 22 oz bombers

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Bass Ale - The Horror

some American versions of English ales taste more English than the beers that are marketed as English. Here in SF, Magnolia makes some very nice bitters and milds, and the new brewer at Social Kitchen has a deft touch with English session ales

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US Craft Beer influence on British Beer Styles.

I liken it to rock 'n' roll. British bands admired and came to emulate American rock and blues music, then American bands responded to British rock and so forth, to the point that it has become a very interesting cross-pollination. Give America credit for helping to revive some European styles, like British porters, German alt beer and scharzbier and Belgian geuze. We probably consume more of those beers here than the English, Germans or Belgians do

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One night in Haight Ashbury - Magnolia Pub?

Unless Nopa has increased their tap selection a lot since last time I was there, I would not characterize there draft selection as anywhere near "great," barely adequate would be more like it. They have only 2 drafts on today, but they are good ones: Moonlight's Lunatic Lager and Twist of Fate. Nopalito, surprisingly, usually has at least one good craft beer on, sometimes from Moonlight Brewing (note to OP: make sure to try some Moonlight while you're in town. They don't bottle and you won't find them anywhere outside the Bay Area. Toronado always has a few styles on tap). I do like Healthy Spirits for their bottle selection, especially Belgian styles, plus some really good whiskeys. If you stop there, check out the bourbon barrel aged Old and In the Way from High Water brewing, which is part of their series of partnering with local breweries to age beers in some of their hand-selected whiskey barrels. Bar Crudo has a few decent beers, and if you like pristine fresh fish is very good.

chuckl in San Francisco Bay Area

Historical beers

Speaking of Anchor, I went to a party there last week to celebrate the anniversary of Liberty Ale, which I think is one of the best American Pale Ales around. Anyway, from what I can tell, Anchor's new owners (who bought the brewery from Fritz) seem to be ready to ratchet up distribution and marketing. Head Brewer Mark Carpenter seemed genuinely excited about what's going on there these days and hinted that Anchor might be expanding production into another nearby brewing facility. So it looks like we Anchor lovers might see some interesting developments on the horizon.

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One night in Haight Ashbury - Magnolia Pub?

Just to clarify:
Magnolia is a brew pub, meaning there's a small brewery in the basement, which also serves better than average pub food. Alembic is owned by the same guy who owns Magnolia and is primarily a restaurant with several good taps. Alembic is by far the more adventurous restaurant and also has some Magnolia beers on tap. Magnolia's styles are primarily along the British session beer lines, meaning Milds, Bitters, etc., and are relatively subtle compared with American ales, but can be very nice nonetheless. They also make an outstanding kolsch and usually have a few good guest taps. Toronado is a bit "lower" in the Haight, near Steiner and is perhaps the best beer bar in the city. They don't serve food there, but you are permitted to bring in food, and there are several good options in the neighborhood. If you can, try not to go in the evening, after say 8p to Magnolia or Toronado as they tend to get crowded and the Toronado servers have a well-deserved reputation for dickishness when it gets crowded. Any time before say 7 is fine, though. Lower Haight is more interesting than Upper Haight in my opinion. Also not far away is Social Kitchen, another brewpub on 9th ave. near Irving, which just hired a new brewer, who is making some outstanding beers. And their food is better than decent also. It's in a nice area, with some pretty decent eating options, and not far from Golden Gate Park. Forget about Kezar Pub, the food there is mediocre and the beer selection minimal. As far as where to stay, I've also heard good things about getting cheap hotel reservations online, but I can't comment specifically since I never stay in a hotel in SF.

chuckl in San Francisco Bay Area

Bad beer trends.

Josh, I'm not sure where you are, but the local angle is pretty powerful in the Bay Area. I'm also noticing a trend of people around here beginning at the home brew level, graduating to a bit of a larger production capacity as a nano brew, and then either contract brewing at a larger production facility or opening a small brewery or brew pub. Some of the results have been spectacular.

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Historical beers

Anchor Steam is a reproduction of one of the few real American beers, California Common

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Bad beer trends.

Josh,
Sadly the Anchor Bock is near the end of its seasonal release. I was at the brewery last week helping to celebrate the anniversary of Liberty Ale and Mark Carpenter was surprised they still had it on. There might still be some around on shelves, I suppose, and I'd highly recommend it. it's a very tasty brew indeed.

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Belgian beer for Carbonnade à la Flamande

that's good to know. To me, Rodenbach Grand Cru is a little sweet on its own, though certainly delicious. How do the flavors develop in the carbonnade flamande?

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Bad beer trends.

point no. 1: it depends on the pub and the clientele. I agree that old beer is bad beer, and I might add that dirty lines are pretty bad also. But if the pub has consistent turnover and the beer doesn't sit there too long, old beer is not a problem. I know local pubs that have a lot more than 3-4 taps that flip them regularly.

point no. 2: IPA is a good style if done properly and balanced. Some, especially DIPAs can be unbalanced, but not all. Pliny the Elder is absolutely sublime and it's a double IPA. Blind Pig is a very good regular IPA. Racer 5, Green Flash, Drakes IPA, Stone IPA, and many many others are good beers. not for all occasions, but good beers nonetheless

point no. 3: there is no point to Guinness. It's just not a very good interpretation of the style and tends to be consumed by people who haven't ever tasted a good stout

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Oysters, Seafood, Groovy Lounges

Anchor and Hope is close to where you'll be staying, has a cool vibe and some pretty tasty seafood, not to mention some good beers

chuckl in San Francisco Bay Area

Session Beer Day

One of the major differences is that English hop varieties like Golding, Fuggle and Northern Brewer tend to be more subtle than American varieties such as Amarillo, Chinook, Centenial, Magnum and Simcoe. Compare, say, an English IPA like Samuel Smith India Ale to Sierra Nevada Torpedo.
I like them both, but at different times. I particularly like a Bitter in cask, where the carbonation is relatively tame. Magnolia in San Francisco makes some good ones, and they have one out called New Speedway Bitter that I like quite a bit and it's under 4 abv.

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Sam Admas Noble Pils

I'd snag some if I saw it, I think it's one of their best beers

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Yebisu-Japan's Finest IMO

I'm with Josh on Hitachino Nest White, I think it's an excellent belgian style wit beer and great with Asian food in particular. I get a little ginger in the flavor, I'm not sure if that's an ingredient though. With Belgian styles you never know. Allagash White is a nice one, and I typically recommend it for novice beer drinkers who might be put off by bitter hops. But Hitachino Nest White, with the owl on the bottle, is definitely up there among my favorites in a style I enjoy quite a bit.

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Terrior and beer

so much for the neighborhood "local."

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Ruthless from Sierra Nevada

speaking of Bear Republic, if you see Racer X around, grab it. I like it a lot, and on cask, it's amazing. Bear is doing some great stuff. I agree about Rocket Rye as well. It's got much better rye characteristics than the SN version. It's hard to fault Sierra, I like that they experiment so much, but they don't always get it right. On the other hand, Hoptimum and Hopsichord are very good indeed.

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Terrior and beer

my understanding is that the pub trade in England declined quite a bit when lagers became so popular there. I believe Carslberg was the first big lager there some time ago but now there are lots of others as well, especially inBev products. Pub culture historically was quite important in England compared with the U.S. Not sure if it's coming back at all. I know CAMRA has been making a lot of noise, I'm not sure how much of an actual impact they've had.

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Terrior and beer

thanks for the info. Are any British ales currently using adjuncts that you know of?

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Wine Bar/Wine Stores?

Also, Whole Foods Potrero Hill just opened a beer/wine bar. In addition to the wines and beers they pour, you can buy a bottle upstairs in the store and have them open and serve it for you for a $2 corkage fee. The selection is actually pretty nice, and you can have food as well.

chuckl in San Francisco Bay Area

Terrior and beer

No. British beer doesn't have adjuncts like rice added to it and British brewers often use English hop varieties like Fuggle, Golding, etc. instead of some variation of American hops. Also, English beers are typically ales, whereas Budweiser technically speaking is a lager. A better analogy might be an American lager brewed in Germany, but it would still be an American beer that happens to be brewed and bottled somewhere else. It's what's inside the beer that counts, not where it's made, in my opinion

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Beer for a bad day

you made the right call for a warm day. give celebrator a try some time, you won't be disappointed. cheers

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Beer for a bad day

Ayinger Celebrator dopplebock, that way he can forget his bad day and celebrate his thoughtful girlfriend.

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Coors Banquet Beer: Any fans of it out there??

I imagine if one were susceptible to marketing hype about the pristine water flowing golden from high in the Rocky Mountains produced in copious quantities by a company co-owned by Molson you might drink it. Somebody must be buying it because they sell quite a bit of it. But if you care about how beer tastes, I doubt it. There's a lot of good beer in Colorado. Coors isn't one of them.

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