SF Beer Week ’14: Missing the Cheese, Taking the Bus, and Hitting the Lottery

Well, another San Francisco Beer Week is in the books.

The last time anyone was sober enough to count, there were more than 600 events strewn about the Bay Area over 10 days.  This year, instead of living like a hermit in my suburban home, I actually ventured out to a few.

Brass Knuckle Triple IPA Release, Marin Brewing Company, Larkspur

Actually, this wasn’t an official Beer-Week-sponsored event.  It just coincided with the first day, and I was off work early that day and stopped in for lunch.  This wouldn’t be my last lucky Triple IPA break of the week.  More on that later.

The beer is nice.  The ample piney-citrusy-resiny hops are very well balanced, and the 10.5% ABV is deceptively smooth.  Grab it while it’s out there.

Lost Coast Tap Takeover & Cheese Pairing, Powder Keg Restaurant, Hercules

I couldn’t even use that hermit thing as an excuse to miss this one, as it’s literally minutes from my home.  Believe me, I was thrilled when I saw it on the calendar.

This was Powder Keg’s first attempt at hosting a Beer Week shindig, and for the most part it went well.  This is a fairly small place that fills quickly; fortunately we arrived fairly early and were able to snag a table.  Service was very cheery and for the most part efficient, although the bar seemed a bit overwhelmed and the drinks took a while.

Lost Coast offered two flights of three beers each, and each brew was paired with a different cheese.  The first flight consisted of Great White paired with Brie, Downtown Brown with Gouda, and Double Trouble DIPA with Pecorino Romano.  Double Trouble was Best of Show (really?), very well balanced with spicy, white-pepper hoppiness.  Best pairing, though, was the Brown/Gouda.  The nutty beer and sharp cheese worked very well.

One minor beef (or minor cheese, I guess) — the cheese samples were tiny, just one bite-sized piece each.  With the pours being fairly generous, a few more bite-fulls of cheese would have been appreciated.

I wasn’t feeling all the samples in the second flight (Tangerine Wheat, Ginger Root Harvest Ale, & Bock), so I just ordered a pint of the Harvest.  Very unique, kind of a cross between a Pale Ale and a Wheat, with a decent taste of ginger, although I could have gone for a bit more to add some spiciness and a little snap to the finish.  Still, a very nice beer and a good palate cleanser to finish the evening.

Line 51/Iron Springs Brewing Collaboration, Rosamunde Sausage Grill, Oakland

This was my first visit to Rosamunde, directly across the street from Pacific Coast Brewing in Old Oakland.  They have three other locations — two in the City, and their original restaurant in Brooklyn.

I loved the vibe here, very casual, with large wooden tables and benches.  Plenty of outside seating available, too.  Yes, this is strictly a sausage joint, with the usual sides.  But don’t be fooled, these guys are serious about supporting local breweries.

My mission here was to try Bridge & Tunnel IPA, a collaboration between Line 51, a newer brewery named after a bus line that hits a lot of Oakland beer joints, and Iron Springs, a more veteran institution out of Fairfax, in Marin County.  While enjoyable, I found the balance to be a little off.  The pronounced black pepper notes were a bit too drying.

However, I did sample two other Line 51 brews — the Red Death Double Red Ale, and Panther Baltic Porter.  Both were outstanding.  Red Death has a lot of everything, but balanced well.  Very satisfying.  And I loved the roasted coffee notes of the porter.

Here’s more info on Line 51.  Hope to see their brews in more fine Bay Area beer joints.

Meet the Brewery with 101 North Brewing, Beer Revolution, Oakland

Beer Revolution is pure heaven for us East Bay beer geeks who don’t find it convenient to make the trek across the bay to Toronado.  48 taps of high-quality stuff, with no pesky food menus to get in the way.  This is serious beer business here.

While studying the massive beer boards, one entry caught my eye.

See it in the upper left?  Russian River “Beer”.  Could it be?  I guess word got around, and as I saw the line get longer and longer, and the staff filling lines of glasses before they were even ordered, I knew.

It was Pliny the Younger.

There was no way I was ever going to venture up to the madness in Santa Rosa that is Pliny the Younger days.  I always knew the only way I’d ever try it was if I just happened to be at one of the few places that had a keg and tapped it unannounced.  If there’s ever advance notice of it being poured anywhere, don’t even think about it.

So how was it?

Well, it is an amazing beer.  The hop profile is pretty familiar to those who appreciate Triple IPAs.  But what sets the Younger apart is its incredible smoothness.  It has a finish that goes on for miles, and all the components are perfectly seamless.  Pretty incredible.

And how did I follow it up?  101 North’s Naughty Aud Imperial Stout did the job just fine.  This is a rich, thick, luscious behemoth of a stout, and it more than cleared away any hop residue that may have remained.  This is a perfect beer to find a comfy chair and dive into a book with.  Just excellent.

101 North is part of the exploding beer scene in Petaluma.  I could spend some serious time up there.

Yeah, yeah, but is the Younger really worth all the hype?

And the waiting hours in line, or the camping out overnight?

For me, no.  No beer is.  And if I hadn’t lucked out and been at the right place at the right time, it wouldn’t have bugged me that much to miss it.  As great as it is, and as fortunate as I feel to try it, it is just a beer.  And there are tons of great beers, a lot easier to get, within minutes of just about everyone in the Bay Area.

That’s what SF Beer Week is all about, Charlie Brown.