I am visiting San Francisco next month, and I am staying downtown. Are there any must have beers besides Pliny the elder, or any real good beer gardens that I must check out?
you will be only a mere hour from Russian River imagine what deliciousness their taps could hold in store while you are there
Dude, prepare for a flood of responses. I had to go up there for six weeks once and it was spectacular. Here are my recommendations right off the bat. 1) 21st Amendment Brewery http://21st-amendment.com/ 2) Thirsty Bear for tapas! http://www.thirstybear.com/ 3) Suppenkuche for that authentic German biergarten http://www.suppenkuche.com/go.html 4) Monk's Kettle take the Metro and chill with some friends http://monkskettle.com/ 5) And head on to Oakland for Beer Revolution http://beer-revolution.com/ I probably enjoyed suppenkuche the best as I'm a sucker for authentic food.
Also, if you do find yourself going up to Santa Clara for Russian River, I suggest you take a moment and stop by the Napa Smith Brewery on the way to Napa. They don't get enough love, but I found them to be pretty solid. http://www.napasmithbrewery.com/home/ Edit: Santa Rosa, not Santa Clara (thanks for the catch, litheum!)
Haven't been there yet, but the NorCal Craft Beer Guide gave high marks to Biergarten on Octavia St. I would try any Drake's you can find. Magnolia is one of my fav SF breweries. Hit up City Beer and Healthy Spirits for bottles. There's a lot of great beer in the city (and surrounding areas). You won't be disappointed.
City Beer was the one place I regret having missed. From what I understand, it's a lot like Beer Revolution (which I loved,) so it should definitely live up to the hype.
City beer is quaint and the staff are friendly. The place is very clean with decent lighting compared to beer rev. Btw...whats with the dark lighting and heavy clorox smell at beer rev?
I figured the reason for the darkened coolers was two-fold (and I'm only speculating.) 1) To cater to the "no harsh light on my beer" crowd and 2) They have seating right in front of the coolers, so maybe to not bother the customers? As far as a clorox smell? Can't help you there. Cleaning day?
In addition to what people have said, try any Moonlight beers you see, Toronado is your best bet or Flavor Bistro in Santa Rosa if you go to Russian River.
Most likely, but even the store/bar itself was dark. Personally, I'm not into dark places, especially during the day. As for the smell, looking back to it, I'm thinking they may have had a spill or breakage prior to my arrival. I dropped by on my way to the airport and didn't buy anything. I thought of getting a t shirt but they didnt have any. The only one I saw was on the bartender and she was a girl. I only buy tees if they are the guy style with the image on the back.
