Category: Beer Bar Reviews


Drake’s is open to the public- go buy some kegs!

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Reviews
Sep.25, 2011

Drake’s recently opened their tasting room doors in the East Bay-in San Leandro. They have 24 taps, many barrel-aged beers and decently priced kegs to go. My friend Zoe, Dave and I went a few months back for the first time, as well as last weekend where we picked up a keg- which we already tapped out. The location is literally behind a strip mall that can make it a bit difficult getting to, maneuvering through all the Walmart bound clientele, but as soon as you round the corner- you would never know it was there.

We tried: Sauer Brauer- Sour Cuvee aged in Chardonnay barrels. 8% abv. This pours a deep amber resin. It smells like sour oak, funk and slight berries. It tastes like sour oak, berries, slight acetote, wood and sour funk. Only a touch of acetote but pretty good considering.

Batch 3000. Black Pale Ale. 5.5%. This pours a roasted black. It smells like bitter hops, mango, pine and a touch of malt. It tastes pretty hoppy with a touch of roasted espresso. Pretty tasty.

Drew Berrimore- brandy barrel aged Imperial Stout. 8.75% abv. This pours a dark chocolate. It smells like sour funk, sweet and brandy. It tastes like malt, caramel, a touch tart, apple and some sweet brandy.

The place is quite substantial and even has a few tables so that you can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. Just remember to leave your kids and dogs at home because neither of them are allowed. Not a bad way to spend your weekend.

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My first visit to Three Floyds

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Pairings, Beer Scores
Sep.25, 2011

Dave and I flew into Chicago for our friend’s wedding and as soon as we landed, we got our rental car and drove straight to Three Floyds. It is really in the middle of industrial Indiana-45 minutes from the airport. We were absolutely starving and just could not wait to get there. We arrived to an industrial park and a cute entrance covered with beautiful flowers and a vegetable garden. Walking in, you have a decent sized 2 room place, a bit reminiscent of Toronado; punk rock blasting in the background, tattooed staff but much cleaner. Maybe more of a blend between San Diego Toronado with a touch of SF Toronado flair. And of course, they had a ton of amazing beers on draft. Not to mention better than decent pub food: octopus confit, mussels, crispy frog legs (poor Kermit), white fish brandade…. Cheers for someone thinking higher and going to the next level with their pub fare!

We ordered: Zombie Dust- 50 IBU’s 6.2% abv. This is an intensely hopped pale ale. It smells like a fist full of hops: pine, sweet mango, citrus and pine resin. It tastes of even more fresh hops but with just a very light aftertaste and lack of bitterness. That would be the only way to know it’s a pale ale. This has such an incredible nose. I want to smell it all day. Incredibly fresh hops.

Artic Panzer Wolf-9% abv. 100 IBU’s. This smells like malt, hops and a bit of twangy funk. It tastes like bitter hops, pine forest, more pine and a touch of caramel malt. It is incredibly bitter.

We ate: Smoked white fish brandade- with pickled sour cherries, parsley, garlic chips on crostini. This definately satisfied my white fish east coast craving. Although it was pureed and seemed a bit more like white fish hummus- which I enjoyed. It was not as greasy as east coast white fish.

Octopus Confit- roasted garlic tahini, cucumbers, ground cherries and mint. The flavors in this were great. The only downside was that the octopus was a little chewy but the flavors were still good together.

Mussels- mustard beurre blanc, pickled Asian pear, celery and rosemary. Amazing: creamy, sweet, slightly spicy and a touch of lemongrass. Seriously, this is THE best sauce I have EVER had with mussels (and I  have eaten a lot of mussels- even in Belgium!). The mussels themselves were a bit small but perhaps I just have not had mussels from Chicago. They tasted great but I just have never had a sauce like this for them- absolutely perfection.

Then we ordered just a few more drinks: Dreadnaught IPA- Impetial IPA. 9.5% abv. This smells a bit lighter than the previous ones with slight hops. It tastes like sweet hops, with a kiss of bitterness and some citrus notes.

Kinder Bier- Belgian style dubbel ale aged in Pinot noir barrels with tart cherries. 10% abv. This smells like slightly soured stewed cherries, red wine, malt and sour oak. It tastes like sour malt mash, deep cherry, touch of sour, banana and a cardomon mixed with oak ending.

Behemoth- 10.5% abv. 80 IBU. A generously hopped barley wine. This smells like bitter, juicy hops, grapefruit and a touch of malt. It tastes like bitter pine, sweet caramel covered citrus and a  touch of resin on the ending. A little thick but tasty.

And in true David+Tiila style, of course we had to bring some back with us on the plane-a few fresh Zombie Dusts will have to do!

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A visit to Stockholm: Jarnet Matsal & Bar and Akkurat

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Scores, Our trip to Belgium, women would enjoy this beer
Mar.14, 2011

I stumbled upon Jarnet Matsal & Bar in Stockholm. The bar here is pretty small with only 4 tables and 10 bar stools. They have about 8 beers on tap, one on cask and a cooler full of beer from all over the world. Including: Oskar Blues 10Fidy, Anderson Valley, Flying Dog and tons of Mikkeller and Nogno. They also have a lot of local breweries and even one made from a woman called: Angel’s Share. BTW, they also serve their beers in wine glasses. The bartender was really nice and explained a lot of the beers that I haven’t seen before. And he also wrote down a few bars for us to go to.

Jamtlands IPA- 5.5% abv. This pours a beautiful deep tangerine teak. It smells like sweet, juicy apricots and light pine. It tastes a bit more fruity than hoppy. It tastes a bit bitter with grapefruit skin and dried apricot. It is a great starter beer.

Angel’s Share # 10 Jamtipa. Made by Jessica Heidrich. 5.5% abv. This pours a light caramel. It smells like sweet caramel. It tastes a tiny bit bitter and a touch sweet. It tastes like a light barleywine, like a hoppy barleywine.

Mikkeller 10- 6.9%. made with all ten hops of the world: Amarillo, Cascade, Warrior, Simcoe, Chinook, Centennial, Nelson, Nugget, Tomahawk and  East Kent Golding. It pours an orange golden hue. It smells like sweet juicy hops, marijuana, grapefruit skin, bitter pine and tropical fruit. It tastes not as pungent as you would think. It has flavors of pine, but it is not too bitter, with mango, passionfruit and a touch of sweetness it leaves your tongue dry and tingling.

Akkurat was a great way to end a 3 week long trip. It was pretty crowded on a Friday night and we felt a bit overwelmed by the men there starring at us, so we left and came back on Saturday. We made a reservation to sit in the main dining room, but it felt a bit stuffy and the bar wasn’t crowded, so we opted to sit there instead. The menu, I was told, was the same in the bar. Our waiter was very helpful and even gave us some free tatses of beer. He did not know much about Cantillon or sour beers, so I went and talked to one of the bartenders, who was extremely helpful. We even got a free chocolate truffle for dessert!

We opted for a bottle of: Cantillon Gueuze Velomoteur. 1995-2010. 245 Kroner. This is brewed solely for Akkurat’s 15 year anniversary. Trust me, I tried to buy a bottle to take home, but alas, Sweden’s ABC laws are very strict and this was not allowed.. This pours a golden yellow. It smells like sour funk, lemon tartness and horseblanket. It tastes like sour lemons, slight peaches, funk and more funk. Nice.

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The new Moeder Lambic and Poechenellekelder Cafe

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Reviews, Beer Scores, Our trip to Belgium
Mar.08, 2011

We were able to make it to the new Moeder Lambic at 8 Fontainas place. It was a bit larger than the other location, a bit more contemporary in design and had great large tables to sit at. The service was great, friendly and knowledgeable. It was a great place to seek out!

We ordered: Drie Fonteinen Kriek on cask. This pours a midnight cherry red. The only difference between the way this one looks and red wine is the pink foamy head. It smells like light cherries and oak. It tastes not as sour as the Cantillon Kriek, but not sweet either. It is more cherry tang, than tart.

Dave ordered: Drie Fonteinen Lambic on cask This pours a golden sunny field color. It smells like oak, a ton of funk and a slight apple cider spiciness. It tastes like sour oak , a touch of apple cider and a more funky sour finish.

Last but not least: Cantillon Gueze on cask. This pours a dark golden hay. It smells like sour lemons, oak and funk. It tastes like tart fruits, funky Belgian goodness, more grapefruit/lemon tartness ending on a tart wooden oak finnish. Mmm!

Our last place that we were able to make it to was: Poechenellekelder Cafe- The cafe that is right besides the peeing statue, really crowded but totally worth it. A place the locals really flock to. There weren’t any seats left but we got a table within a few minutes.

We ordered the Cantillon 2008 Vigneronne for 19 Euros. It poured a semi-cloudy orange hay. It smells like sour funk with a hint of grapes. It tastes very tart, hints of dry muscat grapes but overall extremely tart sour and funky. Very nice.

A great place. We should have stayed longer!

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SF Beer Week: Day 5 + 6: Toronado

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Reviews, Beer Scores, SF Beer Week 2011
Feb.20, 2011

Sf Beer Week: Day 5: Russian River tion night at Toronado…’nough said.

20th anniversary: Sour wine fruit currants vanilla. More malt forward. This beer sold out within 30 minutes.

Compuction: Sour tart citrus, citrus fruit very orange-y. Tart. Nice. They wrote that this beer is made with kumquats but I think it is actually made with pluots.

Beatification: Super sour, lemon citrus, incredibly sour. The most sour of the night.

Damnation 23 2008- Sour plums! Roasted plums, roasted apricots, not so tart. More Belgiany.

Damnation 23 (46) 2009-Less fruit, more belgiany. I like the 23 2008 better.  This one has a touch of ginger.

AND it didn’t take truly that long to get a beer, considering it was 6 people deep at the bar when I first arrived…the bartenders will take care of you if they know you.

Sf Beer Week: Day 6: Lost Abbey and Lagunatas Night at Toronado.

Lost Abbey 2010 Cable Car sold out in 20 minutes.

Lagunitas SF Fusion Hop High: Sweet resin! Super sticky, fruity  sweet. Not bitter at all until a light bitter aftertaste.

Drake’s Hop Salad on cask: Incredibly bitter warm. Super piney,  bitter grapefruit skin pilth bitterness.

Lagunitas Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout: Sweet candied sugar, roasted malt, vanilla, bourbon. Not as bourbony as expected, it is a bit more subtle but lovely.

I didn’t actually try any Lost Abbey beers: I was told by a male bartender (who I shall not name) there that all Lost Abbey beers were sold out. Although, I saw others at the bar order and receive  2 Lost Abbey  beers after myself and my friend asked him point blank. I was even following twitter feeds after I got home that they were drinking and currently ordering Lost Abbey beers- 2 hours after I was told they were all tapped out. Hmmmm….were the beers actually gone?

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Beer Revolution’s 1 Year Anniversary

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Reviews, Beer Scores
Feb.12, 2011

73 degrees and sunny in San Francisco on a Saturday? What to do? What else would we do but go over to Oakland and drink beer on a nice and sunny patio? Especially since it was Beer revolution’s 1 Year Anniversary party and they just expanded to have 43 taps- just in time! Congratulations to Rebecca and Fraggle for making through the year! And congratulations to us lucky patrons who got to go to their amazing lineup last Saturday.

Marin brewing- Conrad Kriek. You definitely missed out if you didn’t get to try this beer. This pours a beautiful deep raspberry. It smells like cranberry, sour lemons and a touch of spice. It tastes like sweet raspberries, cranberries, slightly tart, slightly sweet and a touch  of spice. Raspberry lemonade- but in a good day.

Lavender APA- This pours a golden light amber. It smells like lavender flowers and hops. It tastes more like hops, bitter pine and floral lavender. It is not a lavender overkill which one would expect, it is actually really nice.

We also tried:

Noble Double IPA

Drake’s Who’s Daddy

Moylan’s Baryleywine aged in port barrels with dates

Moylan’s Heaven Hill Imperial Stout 2009 (but they also

had 2010 and 2011)

Moylan’s Raspberry Imperial Stout

Kilt Lifter aged in Apple brandy

..and  a free glass of Parabola.

We even got to try some of Fraggle and Rebecca’s: St. Fuiellen Triple 9l….

all in all not a bad way to spend on a sunny Saturday afternoon!

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A visit to Beer Mania in Brussels

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Reviews, Our trip to Belgium
Feb.09, 2011

After an awesome visit to Cantillon, we made our way to Beer Mania. They have 2 rows of bottled beer ranging from Westvleteren 12′s to Avery beers with lots of lambics and even 30 year old Chimays inbetween. It also has a tasting bar in the back with about 10 tables.

You can basically get any beer they have in a bottle to enjoy here plus little snacks like cheeses. It’s about double the size of City Beer and a bit more relaxed due to the fact that there is more room to move around.

I tried a bottle of: Oudbeitje- strawberry lambic. This pours a golden strawberry. It smells like sour strawberry pie with the crust. Delish. It tastes like sour strawberries mixed with oak and more sour funk. Pretty nice.

Dave ordered a bottle of: Boone- Geuze Mariahe Parfait 2005-8% abv. This pours a foggy sienna amber. It smells like sour funk, with a touch of sweet fruits and oak. It tastes a touch sweet with notes of oak and sour funkiness. Nice. It’s a bit more lactic than the Oudbeitje.

Fantome- Hamoir la Gillmoir 8% abv. This pours a slightly orange  wheat. It smells like Belgian candy sugar, orange, spice, and Belgian yeast. It tastes like orange citrus, Belgian yeast, more overload of citrus and a bitter orange peel ending. Worst of our whole Brussels trip. Barely drinkable. I guess we know why this beer is retired- it tastes like cleaning fluid. Dave says it tastes like orange asshole.

Fantome- Fleur de Bomal- 8% abv.This pours a beautiful, bright tangerine. It smells like sweet malt, tart, and slightly citrus. It tastes a touch sour with citrus, Belgian sugar and a lit of funk. I am not in love but it is interesting. But anything would tastes better than the previous beer.

Brassierie de la Senne- Tarascan Boulba extra hoppy ale. 4.5% abv. We bought this at Beer Mania for 2.20 Euros at had it when we went home. It pours a cloudy yellow amber. It smells like Belgian yeast, slight apricot and hops. It tastes like Belgian yeast, bitter but not piney, just pretty much bitter Belgian yeast with a slight mineral/herbalness quality to it.

Overall, we didn’t buy anything too crazy here, but we did enjoy the atmosphere in the back..

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Delirium Taphouse, Au Bon Vieux Temps and Spinnekopke

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Reviews, Our trip to Belgium
Feb.03, 2011

We stumbled upon Delirium Taphouse place right when they opened at 4pm. They are open everyday but apparently it turns into a crowded college bar at night so it’s best to come during the day.

Rodenbach Vintage 2007-7% abv for 3.50 Euros. It pours a red mahogony. It smells like super sour funk, dark fruit and oak. It tastes like sour prunes, tart raisins, balsamic vinegar and sour oak. Nice.

Dupont- Monk’s Stout 5.2% abv for 3 Euros. This pours a pitch black with a thick oatmeal head. It smells like sweet vanilla, funk and slight oak. Not much roastedness going on in the nose at all. It tastes like funky oak, barnyard and malt. Interesting. Not much like a typical stout but I really like it. It’s way more funky and barnyard than a stout.

After these two beers, we left because it started to get extremely crowded and smokey (you can smoke inside)…

We walked around the same area in Central Brussels until we stumbled upon: Au Bon Vieux Temps. This was a small place that had a tiny sign in the busy bussling central area. You had to walk down an old alley to find  it’s door.

Inside, the place is small and smokey, with only about 10  tables and 8 seats at the bar. It seems like an older clinetele, with 1 woman working the bar and 1 woman working the tables. There are no descriptions on who the breweries are; just beers listed solely as “gueze” and “kriek”. I do opt for the Westvleteren 12, which was poured into a beautiful chalis cup. It pours a dark chocolate with an oatmeal head. It smells like sweet raisins, figs, dark fruits and barnyard funk. It tastes like sweet raisins, caramel and figs. Although the smoke really hinders my ability to smell each beer. I have not been inside a smoking bar in a very long time…

Dave ordered the “Gueze”. This “Gueze” pours a nice yellow amber. It smells like sweet funk. It tastes like sweet grapes, a touch of honey and a hint of tart funk. It is nice to get some sweetness in compared to the other guezes we have been trying. The glass says Mort Subite, so perhaps it is that beer, although my Westvleteren 12 was poured into a St Bernardus glasses, so who knows?

Next, we got another wind in us and decided to take the train outside of Brussels to Beersel to Drie Fonteinen, since Monday was the only day that they would be open while we were there. Much to our disappointment and 2 missed trains later, after we  walked up that hill in the snow and ice…Drie Fontenien was closed.

So we trekked back to Brussels to the restaurant in’t Spinnekopke. According to Dave, you can say we were on a wild gueze chase….It does look closed from the outside, but don’t let that fool you. Dave and I were brought upstairs where we were given English menus.

We ordered: escargot, mussels in Maredesous and chicken with lambic in a creamy mushroom sauce. We ordered the Faro and Lambic, both on cask and from Drie Fontenienen. It’s the only place in Brussels you can get these 2 beers on draft.

The Lambic pours a golden hay. It smells like sour barnyard funk. It tastes incredibly tart; with oak and more barnyard funk meets sour. You wouldn’t want to drink this with a cold sore in your mouth…

All in all, not a bad Monday!

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De Heeren van Lidekerke

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Scores, Our trip to Belgium
Jan.29, 2011

The first full day we had in Brussels, we got up extra early..to venture outside of the city to the gastroclub that had many rare beers from Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen made especially for them: De Heeren van Lidekerke. We took a metro to the Midi station and then a train out of town to Lidekerke. We walked through town, in the snow, just past the main large parking lot and we were very happy to find De Heeren, a fantastic craft beer and high end restaurant open. They even had an English menu!

First things first: 1 bottle of Cantillon Crianza Helena 2008 made especially for this restaurant and only 17.50 Euros for a 750ml bottle. It pours a crisp yellow amber. It smells like sour funk with a touch of oak and slightly sweet. It tastes like pucker sour, then barnyard funk, and a crisp tart punch in your face at the back of your tongue and throat finish. I even met the 3 year old girl in which this beer was named after.

We ordered shrimp croquettes and a salad with a gueze sauce (10 Euro) to start and I got a homemade Jeruselum artichoke soup with gueze and scallops ( I skipped the ham croutons). Dave had the monthly special: wild boar, venison, apples with marzipan and foie gras toast for 21 Euros.

They even gave us each a free appetizer of fish with rice and fennel!

Next we ordered: 3 Fonteinen Hommage 2007 6% abv 750ml for 16 Euros. This pours a cloudy red sienna. It smells like funky sour, slightly sweet berries and oak. It tastes way more sour than sweet. It is not really sweet at all. It tastes like sour crushed raspberries, tart oak and stingy wood. Nice. Not fake raspberry tasting…

After our meal, we ventured back to Brussels to see where our next adventure might take us….

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38 Degrees Ale House and Grill

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews
Dec.04, 2010

When one takes a road trip down to the beautiful land of Orange County for a beercation, one must find a decent beer bar with (hopefully) better than beer bar food. Dave is excellent at doing his research and found 38 Degrees Ale house and Grill in Alhambra, Ca.

When you walk in, the place has an immediate grown-up college sports bar vibe, but don’t let that throw you off. They have an amazing tap list with 38 beers on tap (hence the name). Including Stone’s Double Dry Hopped Sublimely Self Righteous 8.7% abv for $7 (and I thought their regular Self Righteous was amazing- holy crap- this is even more freaking hoppy with aromas that sing to your nose while you take a sip) and De Proef & Terrapin Monstre Rouge 8.5% abv for $8. (really interesting btw, with a HUGE oak flavor with caramel and sour notes).

It doesn’t stop there- they also have flights of beer: American Hoppy Ales which includes a side by side tasting of Russian River Blind Pig, Russian River IPA, Marin Ibdian Summer and Hanger 24 IPA all for $8. They also have an Imperial Hoppy Ales flight which includes: Hanger 24 Pro-Am, Avery Dungana, Stone’s Dry Double Hopped Sublimely Self Righteous and Stone’s Double Bastard 2010 for $9. They have Old Rasputin XII on draft, Maui Coconut Porter on draft (which I have never seen), and Russian River IPA(which I have also never seen on draft outside the brewery).

The food is a combination of fried bar/typical beer food with nontypical fried beer food and some semi up-to-par decent food for dinner. I ordered the Hawaiian Oni with a pomegranate reduction that was served over braised turnips and wilted greens for $18. Dave ordered the pulled BBQ beef shortrib sandwich for $11 and a side of sweet potato fries for $5. We also split an order of crisp Thai calamari which was served with a semi sweet sort of duck sauce with plum for $7. There seems to be a slight oriental influence on some of the food.

The food was a little too not so perfect for what it is trying to be; the fish was way too dry and overcooked but the turnips and greens were  pretty tasty. I just think it is trying to be a step above a beer bar, but the food isn’t quite there yet- for the price. The service was excellent; our waiter was very eager and attentive. But the overall atmosphere just kills it for me. There are tv’s everywhere you look , god awful Z-100 style bad mainstream music, and really, REALLY bad coffee house artwork, it just does not fit with the atmsophere of their amazing beer offerings and trying-to-be-better-than-pub-food cuisine … It seems like this place is trying, and there is something to be said for that and it is packed, so it is doing something right. I think it is just catering to it’s local clientele.

So overall, don’t do for the atmosphere, the food is not quite there but it’s trying, BUT go for a fantastic beer tap and bottle list- not to be missed.

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