We're planning a trip to San Francisco over Memorial Weekend and hitting breweries is a must. I'm sure the area has been covered well in the Pacific forum, but I spend most of my time in the Southwest group (Texas). I've done some reading and I would say I'm most excited about Black Sands, Almanac, Seven Stills and Barebottle, but I'd like to hear from people on the ground. The group I'm with tends to gravitate towards porters and stouts, however they're also pretty open minded, so all recommendations welcome! We're going to be in San Francisco for three days, but we're also doing some traveling in the Monterey Bay/Big Sur area and we fly into San Jose, so any bonus recs in those regions would be greatly appreciated!
Cellarmaker should be far ahead of the others on your list in SF. Lots of threads in here on what else to hit in the city if you search by thread title. In Monterey, hit Fieldwork and Alvarado St. Depending on which way you are driving, there are two Sante Adairius spots that might work as well
Ditto on Cellarmaker. Then walk to City Beer Store. Or have they moved? Crafty Fox & Monks Kettle for extensive taps & grub. Both great. Toronado because you should. Cash only. We did a Lyft to Berkeley for Fieldwork & Rare Barrel. Worth it.
I’m going to piggyback on this thread if that’s ok. I’ll be in SF Memorial Day weekend as well, staying in the soma area. We get in Thursday so will have that afternoon and night, then drive to sutter creek Friday for a wedding, back to SF Sunday, leaving on Monday. So definitely short on time. I just stumbled on cellar maker and see it’s mentioned here, is this the one I should definitely check out? Huge fan of hazy IPAs if that makes any difference. Do they usually have cans to go? Are there any beer bars in the soma area worth checking out? Also, anything in the sutter creek area I shouldn’t miss? Appreciate any and all info, cheers!
agree Cellarmaker should be #1 on list If you’re heading down towards Monterey, you have to hit http://rusticales.com/# I’m also a sucker for Anchor Steam and their history
Of you can make it Faction/st. George's, its worth it! Especially near sunset. Then hit beer rev after. That's my East bay pick over fieldwork.
You won't find cans at Cellarmaker, but you should absolutely go . . . the best brewery in SF. Occasional hazy, but more WC/hybrid styles. If they have BA Vastness of Space, it will be worth the trip alone. If you're in Sutter Creek, and can drive an 1.5 hour north, you should definitely hit Moonraker in Auburn--you'll get your hazy fix, and since upping production, you'll likely find cans.
Ditto on Cellarmaker, City Beer Store & Toronado. You’ll find fresh and cheap Pliny and Blind Pig at Toronado. I would add Zeitgeist in the mix. Not far from Monks Kettle. Fieldworks for sure.
Well if @Barstools happens to be here on the one Tuesday a month they release cans, it's definitely possible... But yes. If you come to SF without visiting Cellarmaker, the trip is a waste. Also @ryan_sprayberry Cellarmaker's dark beers (and really, any style they make) are pretty underrated. I'd take their Browns/Porters/Stouts over anyone else in the country. The only exception might be the BBA stuff, but some batches of Bourbon Barrel Vastness are definitely on par, if not better than the big boys (Parabola, KBS, etc.)
Hit up Cellarmaker last night, wow, throughly impressed. Really wish I could of grabbed some cans to bring back.
As someone who is also in the Bay Area for the holiday weekend, the Beer By Bart site is truly a great resource. But any of y'all have food recs in addition to the beers? I know to hit up Golden Boy and Cheeseboard across the way, but beyond that I don't know. I wasn't really all that adventurous in my eating when I went to school in the area.
Sante Adairius in Capitola (also a tap room in Santa Cruz) is celebrating their 6th anniversary on Saturday, so if you can stop at either location, there's sure to be a killer taplist. Fieldwork in Berkeley/San Mateo/Monterey is also releasing a ton of stuff this weekend as well. And as mentioned already, Cellarmaker in San Francisco is just a block away from City Beer Store.
