Ok, so my wife will be in SF next week on a business related trip and offered to pick me up some items to bring back. Her time will be limited so I don't want her wasting time chasing whales. I am looking for some advice on what I should ask her to bring back. Suggestions on good beer that is readily available that I can ask her to bring back to MN? Using Seekabrew, there are too many breweries to list that have distro to Cali but not MN. A couple of the biggies are: Crooked Stave Dogfish Head Evil Twin FiftyFifty [Limited] Firestone Walker Prairie Artisan Ales Russian River The Bruery What are some solid "shelf" beers that I can ask her to grab? Stuff she should be able to find in the two or three stores she will visit. Thanks in advance to all my fellow BA'ers out on the West Coast!
The 50/50 Eclipse beers are still on shelves in some spots, mostly due to the $30 price tag. Difficulty: knowing which wax means which barrel. Oddly, I just went to their site to see if they have info on that and hitting "Eclipse" on their home page is sending me to an endless loop of the age checker thing and their homepage. Very useful! I would second anything from Almanac that comes in a 375ml bottle. Also not sure if y'all get Cascade in MN, but there was a recent shipment of some of their sours including Apricot and The Vine, which are some personal faves. RR is hit and miss, but she might find some sours or at least Damnation. All the Crooked Staves are good, but if I was paying that price the only one I'd get the St. Bretta (I think that's the one). She might find some FW17, but I couldn't tell ya who would still have it in the city right now.
It's called the Eclipse Style Guide and it is no the Eclipse page. Here is the link: http://fiftyfiftybrewing.com/style-guide/
The Bruery Reuze, Oude Tart, Saison Rue Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin, Limited Sucaba just came out. She would have a good chance finding the good stuff at Toranado SF
Ridder, are you Twin Cities? If so, and if you're interested in a Bruery Oude Tart, hit me up and save your wife one spot in the suitcase for something else. In other news, it's SF Beer Week beginning tonight, so if your wife likes beer herself, there should be lots for her to do. I'll throw a shout out to a buddy of mine I met here on BA, Connor at Cellarmaker Brewing. Tell her to tell him Douggo sent her. He'll probably call the cops. Or maybe he'll pour her a beer on me. In other news, I'm sending my own wife out there on Monday, so if yours gets anything good early in the week, I'd love a head's up! Good luck!
Given her business schedule while there, she won't have much time. She has promised to at least make an effort to hit a few shops and see if anything on the list I send with her is available. Given that she does not drink much beer herself, I am very pleased she is willing to do this. Over the past year I have been slowly introducing her to some sweeter stouts and sours, both of which she is starting to enjoy. Given enough time I may make her a true beer lover. Oude Tart is good, I just had one last week. Thank you for the offer. I am in the Twin Cities, (SW corner, Chanhassen). Always looking to enjoy a good beer with a fellow BA'er.
Dude, if she's gonna be in SF, send her over to Cellarmaker to pick you up a growler of whatever. You won't be disappointed. Also, City Beer Store is right there, so she can grab whatever bottles you are looking for right then too.
Update - spoke with her last night and she did find some great beer. Lots of Crooked Stave, some RR, FW, and some Almanac. I am pumped.
