Aroma Coma/Aroma Prieta

Fremont's beer scene is improving but it would still be a downgrade from Palo Alto, except that the train will be actually useful for getting to beer places. I've been enjoying living in Oakland for the couple weeks since I moved.

 

Aside from the Rose, I don't think there's anything too impressive in Palo Alto. I'm more excited about being a BART ride away from Beer Revolution, Bistro, Hopyard, and whatever that place was in Walnut Creek (Ol?). Maybe then I can finally stop trading.

 

Yeah but you're close to GHS. Fremont has, like, Mission Liquors, and that new place I've never been to.

 

You've been spoiled by having BART access these past couple of years and don't realize just how awesome it is, even though the ride from Fremont is pretty long (which is why Arbitrator should move to Oakland instead...)

 

But if you stop trading, how will you reload on White Birch??

 

I just wish they would have more accurately communicated how many kegs they were going to have. They said on a Facebook update the day before the event that kegs would be "VERY limited." If I knew that meant they would only have 9 kegs, I wound't have bothered driving up there.

 

As for the kegs, it seemed like they were already "set aside" for regulars and buddies of the brewery way before they opened the doors. That's fine as I have no problem with rewarding your regulars. It just would have been nice to know there was no chance in hell of getting a keg in advance of driving down there. Nonetheless, I am quite satisfied with the growlers and bottles I was able to purchase.

 

There was a chance in hell, you just had to be ~1 hour early...

 

Oh, yeah, if he was talking about that then those people (including me) were just the dudes who showed up early. I got there at ~9:15, and the first guy in line had been there since like 7 or something silly.

I do think it's sort of strange to have 9 kegs on release day, then roll out 20+ more later. I definitely wish they'd had all of them on release day, but I assume that wasn't feasible for some reason.

 

I was able to get a keg and I don't know anyone at the brewery. Living in San Jose I definitely don't make it up to Drake's as often as I'd like (maybe 1/month). I just got lucky I suppose as I arrived there super early (around 10am).

 

*FACEPALM*

Man, I wish I'd picked one up then!

 

I'm actually in Mountain View, not PA, and I've been to GHS maybe 2 or 3 times in the past year. It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I'm REALLY lazy. A once-hourly train simply doesn't work for me.

I've opened 3 or 4 of the recent White Birch box in the past month. You know what pisses me off? The beers aren't abysmal. They're not good; they're just forgettable. I'll gladly spend $50 on hilariously trainwreck-y beer, but this level of inoffensive mediocrity is unforgivable.

 

Eh, to me all of the stuff outside of Stanford is Palo Alto. You know, those places I never bothered to go to.

Anyway, yeah, I can see Fremont being a big upgrade because of BART, then. Although Oakland would be even better!

 

What's the best way to get to Drake's from Union Square (Powell and Geary)? I would love to make it out there while I'm here, and it would be ideal to avoid having to pay for a taxi or try and squeeze it into a rental car day.

As an aside, should I expect bottle limits on PtE at places like CBS or Beer Revolution, assuming it's in stock? I'd love to grab several for my east coast buddies.

 

I don't think there are limits at CBS. That would really surprise me.

Also: http://beerbybart.com is your friend. Get on bart at Powell station and do what it says.

 

FWIW the last 6 times I've been to CBS they haven't had any Pliny. There are plenty of other nearby places that stock it, but at CBS it just disappears.

 

Thanks. Great site. Any suggestions on what other places might have it, then?