In the early days, Crasstalk was a backwater with few visits but so many great things to share. To help bring some of those early posts to light we present Crasstalk Classic. Our latest classic post goes all the way back to December 2010 when cacahuate showed us where to drink great beer in a city that really loves its beer.
21st Amendment Brewery – Brewery/ Full Bar/Restaurant – South of Market – An awesome place to have lunch or dinner, in a big rustic old warehouse. They brew their own but also have a few guest handles that change seasonally. I think they have moved most of the brewing off-site at this point, but occasionally they still do small batches on-site. No tour, unfortunately. Beers of note: Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer, Monk’s Blood Belgian Dark Ale.
City Beer Store – Retail/Beer only – South of Market – A small and friendly place to sit down and enjoy some weirdbeers, buy bottled beers to go, or both. A huge selection to choose from. Really, if you can’t find it anywhere, they probably have it here.
Anchor Brewing – Brewery/Tours – Potrero Hill – A stalwart institution in SF. Fritz Maytag recently sold the brewery (however, Fritz is still making his own wine, and distilling some damn good gin, whiskey, and other spirits). The best thing about Anchor is they have a free tour (you need to call and make reservations up to 6 months in advance, but it is so worth it). It’s about a 45 minute tour, extremely informative if you are not familiar with the brewing process, and the brewery itself is beautiful. AND you get to sample most of their beers at the end of the tour. Did I mention it’s free? If you can only go to one place on this list, this would be the one. Beers of note: Christmas Ale (different every year, they really have fun with this one), Summer Beer, the original Anchor Steam, Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale.
Speakeasy – Brewery/Tours – Bayview/Hunter’s Point – Another local brewery. Firkin Friday Open House (4-9pm, tour at 4pm sharp). On tap in many places locally. Best hoodies and t-shirts (if you go for schwag), their logo is awesome. Beers of note: Big Daddy IPA. Also, just FYI, for some reason lots of hotties (burly, tattooed, bearded, Carhart and workboot wearing dudes) work there. We got a Christmas card one year from them, and I can’t even tell you how many friends of mine made a beeline right for it once they spotted the group photo on the front of the card.
Toronado/Rosamunde – Bar/Sausage Grill – Lower Haight– Toronado is the place for a beer geek. About 50 beers on draft, and many, many more available in bottles. Lots of Belgian beers here. Also the site of the once a year Barleywine festival, which is always a total zoo (next year’s dates are 2/19/11-2/21/11). I love this place because it is next door to Rosamunde Sausage Grill, so you can get a snack and take it next door into the Toronado to enjoy with your beer.
Magnolia Brewery – Brewery/Food – Upper Haight – Great food, great beers. In the heart of the Haight, on a street corner with wraparound windows for excellent people watching. Draft and cask conditioned ales available. Beers of note: too many to list, I have never had a beer here that I didn’t like.
Zeitgeist – Bar/Food – Mission – Friday happy hour here is one of the best in the City. Kind of a dive, but in nice weather take it out back in their huge beer garden littered with picnic tables. They have a full kitchen and barbecue (the burgers are off the hook). Not for the meek or faint of heart. Lots of bike messengers, bikers, and assorted characters. Best Bloody Mary’s anywhere.
Lucky 13 [no website of their own] – Bar – Castro/Upper Market – Very good selection of beers on tap. Strong drinks, loud music, badass rocker chick bartenders. Outdoor patio in back. A similar vibe to Zeitgeist.
Rogue – Bar/Restaurant – North Beach – An outdoor beer garden out back, perfect for relaxing in on nice days. Food can be uneven, but delicious Rogue beers on draft and guest handles too. A comfortable neighborhood joint with friendly bartenders and staff, in the heart of North Beach.
La Trappe – Bar/Restaurant – North Beach – A very cool Belgian bistro and restaurant. The food is great, the beer selection is mind-boggling. Has a very awesome grotto-like “cave” downstairs in the basement, great for hanging out with lots of people. Michael (the co-owner) is a true beer nerd and very friendly.
Beach Chalet – Brewery/Restaurant – Outer Richmond/Golden Gate Park – on the Great Highway and across from Ocean Beach. Very scenic. A nice place to take the parental units or entertain out of towners. Good brunch on the weekends.
Trips Out Of The City (And Not Necessarily Breweries)
St. George Distillery – Spirits/Tour – Alameda – Take the ferry across the bay and it’s a pleasant half-mile walk from the dock. They have an amazing operation here, and there is a tasting room, so have a designated driver if you decide to drive. They make several iterations of Hangar One Vodka (the Kaffir Lime is to die for), St. George Single Malt, Absinthe, and tequila (but they can’t call it that). This distillery was featured on Tony Bourdain’s No Reservations show, the one where they tasted Fois Gras vodka (“fois-dka”), which is not available at the distillery, or anywhere, and probably for good reason.
Lagunitas Brewery – Brewery/Tours/Food – Petaluma (Marin County) – These guys like the hops (heh), and they even have a censored beer (The Kronik Censored Rich Copper Ale). Tours available if you call. “TapRoom and Beer Sanctuary” on site. Worth the trip out of the city. Beers of note: Lagunitas IPA, Hop Stoopid (22 oz), IPA Maximus, Lagunitas Brown Shugga’.
Top photo Flickr.
No matter how good our intentions, New Year’s Eve is an invitation to taunt the liquor gods, and that means paying the price the next day. In the spirit of kindness, I am posting my time honored method of easing the hangover pain so that the first day of your new year won’t be utterly painful.
girls and it is a long time until the MLK weekend, so fuck it. I can also tell you to stick to one type of liquor, but you inevitably will mix bourbon with champagne and will end up doing a shot of absinthe that someone brought back from a holiday in Europe. Again, fuck it. You should drink some water before you go to bed, but if given the chance to get some nasty from whomever you wind up with, skip the water and go for the sweet loving. Rest easy knowing that you will survive the consequences of your foolish behavior. Again …