My wife and I area headed to San Francisco so she can attend a conference and are staying at the Marriott Marquis. Just looking online it looks like there are plenty of breweries, bars and shops to explore (City Beer Store, Cellermaker, Mikkeler, etc) within walking distance, but I'm wondering if there is anywhere else in town that people would consider worth the visit. We are there for two days, then heading up to Portland to visit family and then will be back down in the Bay Area around San Mateo for two days. We are going to rent a car so I can see redwoods and we can make the pilgrimage to Russian River, but are pretty wide open otherwise. I went 3 pages deep looking for a similar thread but didn't see one. If one exists, please let me know and I'll delete this. Thanks Jeff
Fieldworks in San Mateo and Alpha Acid are good places in San Mateo. If you venture to Berkeley, I'd go to Rare Barrel and Fieldworks is also down the street.
For SF Breweries, only Cellarmaker is a must. Harmonic and Laughing Monk would be next on my list but they are a little out of the way; depending on your schedule some of the mentioned bars such as Tornado and Mikkeller may be a better bet.
Haven't been, but the beers I've had from Temescal would warrant a visit. Faction also does some tasty APAs, and I'm told (second hand) it has a great view as well.
I would say the must-visit is to make your way up to Fieldwork and if you like sours to Rare Barrel. Faction is great too if you prefer more classic West Coast style IPAs. I haven't visited many of the other SF breweries outside of Cellarmaker because I just end up going back to the ones I mentioned every visit. You can take a bart from Cellarmaker that gets you most of the way to Fieldwork area and either walk the rest of the way or uber. Though you could probably get your fill of Fieldwork and Rare Barrel at local SF bars if you don't care about bringing home bottles or cans.
Honestly if you only have two days, use one to enjoy all of the stuff in SF, Cellarmaker, Toronado, City Beer Store to pick up some local stuff. Mikkeller is cool but skippable. If you have time, get to Fieldwork. On the other day have fun at Russian River, and check out Henhouse while you're up there.
