SF Beer Week 2017

Ahem. "Palate."

But yeah, Rare Barrel berrs are too fucken sour. Seems to be more and more common these days. #NewMoney, I guess....

 

My friend observed that Mocha and Cigarettes smelled like an 80's 7-11 when you used to be able to smoke in them. But it tasted great. Everything else Cellarmaker brought was fantastic.

Hermitage's Blood Orange Sour may have been my favorite of the night.

Pliny the Younger was very good, of course. The 2015 version (the only other version I've had) was better balanced. Still really good though.

The gala was pretty crowded but not insane. Did it even sell out?

 

ODM is hoping right now with their sour Sat. Line up

 

What's ODM?

 

Old Devil Moon.

 

I'm with you kbenson, the Hermitage blood orange is fantastic.


I'm a big fan of every sour I've tasted from them so far. Have you tried any others yet?

 

Had the Rocinante and it was great too.

 

Oh yeah, I should have posted this earlier but the Cellarmaker presents A Night of Metal and Beer last night had a great lineup:



It was nice that they had Tangerang and Smashin' Fruits, 2 of The Rare Barrel / Cellarmaker collabs on tap, since I didn't make it out to the release in Berkeley yesterday. Also nice was a preview of their upcoming Blammo. Add some Citra Showers and a bunch of their current beers and you've got quite the board.

Had a great time!

 

Diverging from the SF Beer Week topic fairly heavily at this point, but c'est la vie - my main complaint with them, even more than the fact that their beers are generally overly acidic, is a lack of anything to really explore or sink your teeth into as you drink the beer. Aside from the different malt bills of their few base beers, you're generally getting their lactic acid profile + a dose of whatever adjunct is in the beer, and it tastes pretty much how you'd expect from reading the label.

One of the things I originally found appealing about lambic, gueuze, and Flanders reds/brown - and still do find appealing - is that over the course of a full glass, the beer will reveal a good deal more than you might expect on first blush. I've tried a number of Rare Barrel beers, largely through people opening bottles at shares, and while some of them are pleasant for a few ounces, they've always been incredibly linear. Not a fault unto itself, but I have to wonder if there's sustainable longterm appeal if people tire of that flavor profile.

Edit: And to keep it on topic, flying up on Wednesday and looking forward to enjoying a healthy dose of Fieldwork, Cellarmaker, and Alvarado St.

 

Word. This is the reason I dropped Ambassadors after a couple-few years in the gang. I'm over it. There's just not much depth to these berrs. It's unfortunate, really, because I'm sure there's potential there, and probably lots of interesting stuff lurking in those barrels. Not enough to go around, apparently....

 

Can you bring up some burritos because the ones up here are filled with rice and beans with very little meat.

 

"Can you bring up some burritos because the ones up here are filled with rice and beans with very little meat."

Crazy talk...

 

I agree on a majority, though No Salt, Arrows of Neon & Gifted Branch were last years standouts. That being said I'm glad they're delving into saison base, and I believe after last years member survey, they agreed that the pH had crept up over time, and it will be addressed. I'm looking forward to seeing what's on tap when I go up this weekend, and hoping that all the collaborations they've done with some great breweries will rub off on future releases.

 

I have to admit, as much as I think San Diego style burritos are vastly superior to Mission style - one of the few places San Diego excels ahead of SF in the culinary world - I had a pretty damn good burrito at Taqueria Cancun on the Sunday after Rate Beer Best. Good amount of flavorful meat and the rice and beans weren't piled in there like they were going out of style.

 

I'll have to pay them a visit because I've largely been unimpressed with the mission style burrito. One place folks champion, El Farolito, was particularly miserable. My burrito was majority rice and beans and the taste of manteca overpowered everything.

 

Next time you are in Santa Cruz, visit Taqueria Santa Cruz for the best Al Pastor around (made the right way, on a spit like gyros) and Tacos Moreno for amazing chile verde (there's is beef) and salsa that is crack. Also California Burritos at La Cabaña if that's your thing.

 

Burrito Blasphemy. Best burrito in the land is Pancho Villa at 16th and Mission. Cancun is decent.

 

SFBW = San Francisco Burrito Week?

 

BurritoReaper approves of this.