I'll be going to the Outsidelands Music festival in San Francisco August 5-8. It'll be my first time there. Is their Beerlands worth checking out? I know Sierra Nevada makes a saison specifically for the festival. I've had beers from the bigger breweries: 21st, Almanac, Anchor, Anderson Valley, Bear Republic, Drakes, Napa Smith, Sierra Nevada and Speakeasy. Are any of the smaller ones worth checking out? They'll have the following breweries there: 21ST AMENDMENT BREWERY ACE CIDER ALMANAC BEER CO. ANCHOR BREWING COMPANY ANDERSON VALLEY BREWING BARE BOTTLE BREWING BEAR REPUBLIC BREWING CALICRAFT BREWING CO. DRAKE'S BREWING COMPANY FACTION BREWING FORT POINT BEER CO. HALF MOON BAY BREWING CO. HARMONIC BREWING HEADLANDS BREWING HENHOUSE HIGH WATER BREWING IRON SPRINGS PUB & BREWERY LINDEN STREET BREWERY LOCAL BREWING CO. LOST COAST BREWERY MAD RIVER BREWING CO. MAGNOLIA BREWING CO. MENDOCINO BREWING COMPANY NAPA SMITH BREWERY NORTH COAST BREWING CO. PINE STREET SIERRA NEVADA BREWING CO. SOCIAL KITCHEN & BREWERY SPEAKEASY ALES & LAGERS
Faction makes some great pales. Fort Point isn't bad... their KSA (Kolsch Style Ale) is great for the summer. I haven't tried new brewery Barebottle, but apparently they started out as homebrewers who won a number of awards.
Thanks! I'm hoping to make my way out to Cellarmaker and City Beer Store while I'm out there. Any other places worth checking out in the city? I'm not sure how much time I'll have outside of the festival but any recommendations would be welcome!
If you're just staying in SF and don't have much time, then yeah, just cover Cellarmaker and City Beer Store. Otherwise if you're up for heading to the East Bay, The Rare Barrel is a great go-to destination.
You'd be remiss if you didn't visit Toronado, which isn't exactly a walk from GG Park, but certainly an easy Uber ride. Fresh Pliny and Moonlight beers, plus an outstanding bottle list. As far as the festival goes, Faction is definitely the best of the listed vendors.
The thing to remember is that there will be a lot of flagship beers, so don't expect a lot of weird shit. Year after year, I see a lot of the same pours. I wrote this review of their beer garden a few years back. Page 16, I think? https://issuu.com/499261/docs/h2t_june_july_final Make sure you get to the Sierra Nevada Camp every day, they pour different stuff every day and bring a bunch of beers they only pour at fests. Some serious heavy hitters from the company show up and hang out there, so if you're particularly beer geeky and interested, you might get a free one. I could drink their FOAM Pilsner all day long (they brewed it for Phish) and ditto on their Hips Helles (for Mother Hips) but their OL Saison is too much for me. Magnolia and High Water rock. High Water will probably have one of their sours, one of the few who brings them. Half Moon Bay is killer, probably the least known brewery there. I'm a huge Iron Springs fan. Bare Bottle is hit and miss and they are constantly making new beers, so who knows? But it might not be worth taking a shot at an unknown quantity for $9 when there's so many sure fire winners there. Social Kitchen is probably pouring Rapscallion, they bring that every year. Damn good beer and pairs great with a ton of food there. Social Kitchen is also very close to GGP, so you might want to check them out sometime over the weekend. If you like Belgians, they are doing them well, and usually have a few barrel aged versions, too. Ft Point will likely have Westfalia, which is also a good middle of the road beer.
