San Francisco for a couple days

Take Uber to Cellermaker. Hit City Beer for any bottles that you may want. "Don't miss" is open to interpretation. Whatever you feel is best for your style/liking.

Jason

 

Agree with the above. I would say the "dont miss" from the current tap list would be: (1) Coffee & Cigarettes, (2) Dobis & (3) Otto's Jacket.

You are also not that far from Mikkeller Bar SF (personally, I would also Uber this despite your proximity). Looks like they have Alpine Hoppy Birthday and Freewheel Wenlock Stout (Freewheel is local and does cask condition beers quite well). Not sure either are "dont miss" but certainly beers that may not make it to Illinois much, if at all. Cheers!

 

Good source here: www.beerbybart.com

 

Don't be surprised if you're disappointed by Hoppy Birthday, as all kegs for distro are contract brewed by Green Flash, with mixed results.

Otherwise, ditto on the Cellarmaker/City Beer combo. Also, no one ever mentions Press Club, which sometimes has a surprisingly good/unusual taplist.

 

I agree with the rec, but unless the OP is physically impaired, it's a pretty easy walk from Union Square to Cellarmaker.

 

I think an uber driver would laugh at you if you took this trip. Its literally 5 blocks.

 

If you use twitter, Cellarmaker and City Beer Store post their daily taps.

 

Toronado is a great dive bar where the bartenders are surly but the beer list is excellent. Would probably need a cab/Uber from Union Sq though.
http://www.toronado.com/map.htm#map

 

Toronado is cash only

 

Why not rent a car a and drive an hour north to Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa?...is what someone is bound to say any minute now. I wonder if these people post the same responses in, say, the Great Lakes forum.

"why not book a flight to San Francisco, rent a car and drive to Russian River?"

I bet they do.

 

I suppose I could offer a helpful answer while I'm here too. City Beer and/or Public House if you want some good variety. Check Anchor & Hope if you don't want to travel that far. Wait--what am I thinking?? Mikkeller Bar, hands down closest and best.

 

Must hits, Cellarmaker and Rare Barrel. Anything else would be a bonus.

 

To be fair, that is the only helpful answer to the myriad "where can I find Pliny/RR sours in NorCal" threads.

 

Just wanted to say thanks to all for this thread; I'm flying in to SFO tomorrow night and driving to Mendocino for a wedding this weekend. Will plan to stop at Russian River either on the way there or back to SFO, and hit up Rare Barrel on Monday before flying back to Boston Tuesday afternoon. Thank you!

 

Just so you know - Rare Barrel is closed on Mondays. If there is any way to bump up the visit to Sunday, it would be well worth it.

Cheers!

 

Doh! I didn't realize they are only open on the weekends. Unfortunately, I have to leave SFO Saturday morning and can't get back any earlier than Monday due to family commitments. Do they sell bottles during the week?

 

Negative. They don't have a separate store or anything. Sorry. There are lots of cool places that are open on Monday, though. It would be a good time to hit Zeitgeist or Toronado since weekday afternoons are pretty much the only time those places are not packed.

 

Bummer. If anyone local is planning on stopping by this weekend and would be willing to pick up a couple bottles for me, I'd gladly bring some Trillium hops or anything else from Massachusetts distribution as a thank you (in addition to the cost of the bottles). Thank you!