Beers #78-81: San Francisco Day #3

We decided to have breakfast at The Grove again, since it was both enjoyable and convenient. Today we decided that we would take a ferry over to Tiburon, have lunch, and then grab a bus up to Muir Woods to see some Redwoods.

We grabbed a streetcar near the hotel in order to get to Pier 39.  As luck would have it, it took over 30 minutes to get there. We arrived at 11:45 to take the 11:40 ferry (last one until afternoon) ... and found that they had some issues and were still docked!  Waited about 15 minutes and took off for a boat ride over to Sausalido, passing Alcatraz Island.  From there, we rode to Tiburon.  Quaint little town with shops and restaurants, not as touristy as Sausalido.  However, we found out too late that the buses that run up to Muir don't start until May ... no way to get there from here, as it were.

Since we couldn't get a boat back to town for a couple of hours, we had a lazy lunch at Sam's Anchor Cafe, sitting on the dock and enjoying the sunshine (while also keeping an eye out for greedy gulls). They boasted about their New England clam chowder. It was OK but nothing special.

78/365: Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin:
Light chocolate, coffee, licorice, and burnt-roasted malts. Mild hop character and a little tang. Dark brown-black with thin tan head. Medium body with medium carbonation. Starts dry with roasted malt and light burnt character. Carbonic and sugar tang with mealy-meaty soy finish. Nutty mild sweet after.  Stout  64/100

After lunch, we walked around town, then sat by the docks and waited for the ferry.  The ferry ride back first went to Angel Island, then Sausalido, then finally back to the city.  By this time it was pretty cloudy, so I caught a nap inside the boat.

Since the redwoods didn't pan out, we decided to take a GPS-guided tour through the city on a little go-cart ... you look really cheesy driving around with the helmet, etc., but it was really a lot of fun. Found in San Diego, Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon, the GoCar allows you to putter along the streets while a GPS-tour guide gives you the low down about the sites you're passing.  We took a two-hour tour and drove up to the Golden Gate Bridge, through the Presidio and various neighborhoods, and down Lombard Street before returning to the shop. It was a little chilly and a few of the hills were almost too much for the little thing, but we had a great time - I'd highly recommend it!

Not wanting to wait for the bus again, we splurged on a cab back to the hotel to get changed.

For our last dinner in town, we went to the Abbot's Cellar in the Mission. Same folks who run the Monk's Kettle have this place, though the Cellar is a bit more upscale. It was a Monday night, so even though we'd made reservations, we didn't really need them.  Small but quality food menu, including a four-course tasting menu paired with beers. Beer menu was eclectic, not huge, but of very high quality.  It was nice that they allowed bottle pours from 750 mL bottles, but a lot of them were overpriced considering the sample size.  Over dinner, I enjoyed:

79/365: Firestone Walker Pivo Pils:
Really aromatic nose, malt and grains, jasmine, soap, and tea. Fruity-herbal hoppy notes. Golden clear with roomy lacing white head. Medium body with medium-high carbonation. Starts with terrific herbal hops and beany mash. Pilsner malt sweetness, but finishes dry with great grassy hop bitterness. Tasty beer. Very drinkable with lasting bitter after.  Pilsener  84/100

80/365: Heretic Shallow Grave Porter:
Roasted toasted coffee, licorice, chocolate, and lactose. Really nice sweet and salty porter aromas. Dark black-brown opaque with lacing tan head. Medium-heavy body with medium carbonation and some warmness. Starts sweet and rich with chocolate, coffee, lactose, and molasses. Chocolate malted milk, sweet finish with nutty sweet bitter after. Nice porter.  Porter  84/100

81/365: Freigeist Abraxxxas:
Nice smoky nose, a bit of tart with a hint of lactic. Airy, fruity, oranges. Cloudy pale amber with thin white lacing head. Medium watery body with medium carbonation. Starts with a little orange sweetness. Nice smoky flavor throughout - more like a lichtenheiner than traditional Berliner, could be tarter, but nice.  Berliner Weisse  76/100

We grabbed a taxi back to the hotel, packed, and got ready to get up at 3:30 for our 6:00 flight home. All in all, a great trip - not really that relaxing compared to sitting on a beach but enjoyable.

Beers #68-72: San Francisco Day #1

On Saturday, March 16, my wife and I caught a 6am flight from Pittsburgh to San Francisco for a three-day vacation.  The flight out is direct, but coming back you have to fly through Chicago (O'Hare) ... no idea why ... guess not enough people want to fly from San Fran to Pittsburgh?

Anyway, we enjoyed three days of sightseeing, walking, and enjoying a lot of great food and beer.  If you've never been, San Francisco is a GREAT beer city.  Tons of local breweries/brewpubs, and of course, access to a lot of West Coast products that never seem to quite make it back to Pennsylvania.

We arrived around 8:30 and caught the BART train to downtown.  After dropping of our luggage, we grabbed breakfast at The Grove.  Had a terrific steak & eggs dish similar to huevos rancheros with copious amounts of coffee.  From there, we walked up Market Street and watched the crowds gather for the St. Patrick's Day parade.  I bought some three-day travel passes while Dana held a place in line to catch the cable car over to Fisherman's Wharf.

We walked around some of the piers (not 39, however) and just sat by the ocean for a bit and enjoyed a sunny, albeit windy, late morning.  Great views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and downtown.  From there, we walked over to Chinatown and had lunch at House of Nanking, home to award-winning chef Peter Fang.  He waited on us, and suggested a tasting menu.  Kinda pricy for lunch, but a cool experience. And like many of the places we seemed to end up in SF, it was cash only.

We walked through the city, back to our hotel on Market and 4th, checked in and took a break.  Dana decided to have a nap, so I walked on over to City Beer, a superb beer bar and bottle shop on Folsom St.  In addition to a Russian River Salvation, I tried:

68/365: Local Option Dampf Loc - Neue Welt Hefe Gerste:
Mild grain and mash sweet notes, dusty and mealy. Very light hop character in the nose. Dark golden amber clear with medium haze, topped with thin off-white creamy lacing head. Medium watery body with medium carbonation. Starts nutty and sweet, with light mash flavors, alcohol, and some mild astringent woody parts. Easy drinking, fairly well balanced with smooth nutty-sweet finish and after.  Traditional Ale  70/100

69/365: Ölvisholt Lava:
(My first beer from Iceland) Nice rich smoky nose, with coffee, chocolate, juniper smoke and molasses. Alcohol sweetness. Dark black opaque with thin tan creamy head. Medium-heavy body with high carbonation. Light warming. Carbonic tang and fizzy. Starts medium sweet. Rich with licorice, juniper smoke, chocolate and molasses. Carbonic acidity, alcohol sweetness and good bitter finish. Smooth sweet finish with light smoky after.  Smoked  80/100 

After getting back to the hotel and hanging out for a bit, we decided to catch a bus and head out past Chinatown for dinner at La Trappe Cafe, a nice Belgian-themed gastropub with a nice beer selection.  Over curried mussels and frites, I tried:

70/365: Engelszell Gregorius Trappistenbier:
Very mild nose, plum and roasted malt. Sweet with a subtle richness. A hint of fruity red wine. Dark coppery amber clear with thin off-white lacing head. Medium-heavy body with medium carbonation. Light warming. Starts sweet, alcoholic. Plum, rich malt, sugary - leans towards a Chimay Bleu but not overly complex compared to other quads. Sweet after with light alcohol warming and fruity after.  Abt/Quadrupel  76/100

71/365: New Belgium Lips of Faith - Heavenly Feijoa Tripel:
Big fruity nose, kinda funky and tart, cheesy. Not bad. Dark golden clear with thin foamy-rocky white head. Medium body and carbonation. Starts fruity and tart with some apples and sour peach. A little funky and cheesy, with crisp fruity-tart finish and after. Not bad.  Abbey Tripel  72/100 

72/365: Baladin Wayan Sour Edition:
Sour nose with chardonnay and oak. Light acetic acid, fruity, light, and enjoyable. Golden dark clear with no head. Medium-light watery body with light carbonation. Starts mild, kinda sour with oak and chardonnay. A bit of sweetness in the finish and mild acetic character. Overall, a bit watery and not worth the price.  Sour Ale/Wild Ale  66/100

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and called it a night.

Next ... San Francisco Day 2