On The DL is a weekly series of reflective journal entries inspired by beer journeys past. Be it state, city, brewery or locale, the Drink Local crew loves to share a look back at the big things, the little things and the people that make the beer community so special.
Drink Local is from SoCal and while everybody knows that we like to think that we’re all that, especially in Cali, we know, and you know that there’s way more to The Golden State than that. That’s why we want to talk about a place that’s near and dear to our hearts. The Yay Area! Particularly, Oakland and San Francisco. A little underrated but forever appreciated, the Bay is brewing some good ass beer!
At Drink Local, when we describe scenes as underrated, we just mean that based on our experience, they should be much higher on people’s beer tourism lists. Personally, we were caught off-guard by the tremendous diversity and quality of beers that we had the chance to try when we last visited The Bay. It feels as if, for many beer enthusiasts, a lot of the places that you go, not necessarily for beer tourism, but beer tourism just kind of always tends to happen. That’s how it’s kind of been for us when it comes to our continuing discovery of the beer locales of The Bay.
We love the homies and we happen to have some in both San Francisco and Oakland, so as a result, we try to get up there one or two times a year. Every time we go, we try to follow the evolving trends and taste the local flavors. So with that out of the way, let’s dig in. First we’ll talk about San Fransisco and then we’ll get into Oakland.
So, this is not something I’m very proud of, but I used to be a fan of the Oakland Raiders. When I was a kid, living in LA, the Raiders were there too and they got their hooks in me early. Then they went back to Oakland, and as I was coming into adulthood, they acquired my longtime favorite player, San Francisco 49ers legend, Jerry Rice. We had Rich Gannon, Charles and Rod Woodson, Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Sebastian Janikowski, and on and on, legend after legend. And then the ‘Tuck Rule’ happened and it was over for us. On top of that, it was the beginning of a seemingly endless dynasty for Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. I stayed loyal though, and I suffered for almost 20 more years under Mark Davis, with that… hairstyle. But recent events, which I won’t labor on, involving a combination of me, sitting in The Black Hole, curiously surrounded by un-murdered Cowboys fans and witnessing Derek Carr fumbling a football in the end zone to lose a game, and then, the Raiders abandoning Oakland for Las Vegas, have led me to re-think my position on this whole ‘Raiders Fan’ thing. Today I am proud to say that I am a fan of no teams, and simply a fan of head trauma.
But how does this all relate to beer?! Well, because despite that miserable experience, it was only a footnote in what was the most memorable of one of many memorable experiences that either I, or Misato and I have had enjoying the craft beer culture, the art, and of course, the super dope people somehow managing to make rent in Oakland and San Francisco.
The first place in The City that I want to talk about is Cellarmaker. They have two spots. One of them is a pizzeria and brewery. The other is a tasting room. I have yet to go to the pizzeria, and I intend to on my next visit, but I’ve gone to their tasting room twice. One thing that keeps us going to Cellarmaker is that every time we do, we are guaranteed to try something new. While a lot of breweries may have a specialty of sorts, Cellarmaker specializes in being intriguing. They love small batch brew and they’re always brewing new beers and experimenting with all styles. Every time I go I get a couple of flights. The tasting room lets you bring outside food, there is plenty of seating, it’s well lit, and it really encourages that communal atmosphere that we in the Drink Local crew have come to love so much about the craft beer community. If you are in San Francisco and you love tasting, it is a must. If you are new to craft beer, it is a great place to edify yourself by trying a variety of of different craft beer styles.
Grammy award winning artist Otis Redding once famously opened our eyes to the cultural imperative of ‘just chillin’ n shit’ when he blessed us with the hit song ‘Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay’. It’s something we try to do every time we go to San Francisco, and we feel like a great place to do that is at the Fort Point Ferry Building. It’s a nice cozy little cubby hole right by the water that provides the perfect ambience for just cooling out and taking in so much of what San Francisco has to offer. Fort Point Beer seems to have pretty good distribution in California. You can always find their cans in a liquor store or beer-forward establishment. They brew quite a few essential styles that, while you won’t necessarily find any surprises, are infectious and perfect to keep coming back to when you need something nice, consistent and delicious. Our favorite thing about the Fort Point Ferry Building is that it provides a beautiful and unique sense of tranquility that’s simply impossible to recreate.
Sometimes, when you want to drink local, you need a spot where you can try a bit of everything to really get a taste of the town you’re in. That’s exactly why we love Toronado. Toronado is a place that our Bay Area buddy Stephan put us onto, and we are glad he did. In terms of appearance it’s your classic, rustic wood grain watering hole. Located along one of San Francisco’s famous hills, surrounded by all sorts of good food and culture, it is high key the best spot in town to really get a taste of all the flavors and breweries in the area. They don’t play at Toronado. There are a multitude of styles, the taps are always rotating and you’ll never feel like, ‘Damn! There’s just nothing for me here!’ It’s literally impossible. Every time I go to San Fransisco I go to Toronado and every time I do I make great memories with my boy and then I spend the next few days struggling to remember them in detail. If you’re curious about local beer but don’t have time to meticulously scour every location in The Bay, make sure and stop by Toronado.
There are a lot of great places in The City and I’m sure we’ll come back to many of them another time, but now I want to move on to The Town.
Just across the bridge and rich with the type of history and culture that just seems impossible to ignore, Oakland has been a bastion of resistance, art, music and history. Though the demographics are changing rapidly, that blood still flows through The Town’s veins and that really shines so much in the way that so many of the locals express themselves. You can also taste it in the beer. Oakland beer is decidedly small batch. It almost feels as if it’s brewed for Oakland.
When I think of a brewery that really aesthetically lines up with Oakland’s tough-as-nails, dogmatically independent nature, I think Federation Brewing. Located on 420 (of course) Third St., they brew a small, but fundamental variety of beers ranging from dank to crushable. They regularly contribute to the performing arts by providing their own stage for locals to express themselves over a beer and they’re a great jump off point for a beer crawl as they’re walking distance from a whole slew of other spots. Federation has a fantastic feel to it, a really cool theme and it’s even a great place to kick back and play some board games with the buds.
About a block away from Federation, you’ll find one of our favorites, Original Pattern Brewing. Located in a restored and repurposed historic warehouse, Original Pattern offers intriguing ambience along with some of the best on-profile beers that we’ve had in Oakland. They’re always brewing something new and the common thread among their beers is that while you can find a number of styles, they all offer big, bold flavors that really entrench themselves in the tastebuds. One thing that really stood out to us was that we felt that the staff on site during our visit were some of the most enthusiastic about beer that we’ve come across. When we really love a place, we try our best to make it a point to go again. We’ll definitely be making it a habit of stopping by Original Pattern when we visit Oakland in the future.
Now the last time the Drink Local crew was in Oakland, we were there to visit our friend David. David does not drink, local or otherwise. However, David is a great person to go to bars with because he loves a good debate. I’ll never forget the argument we had last time, about whether or not Neon Genesis Evangelion was popular right out the gate, or if it was something that slowly seeped into the zeitgeist, like Bladerunner. Now I’m just a huge nerd that loves anime and manga, but David actually works in the industry. I’m not going to say what conclusion we came to, but I will say that this argument lasted all the way from Roses’ Taproom to Temescal Brewing.
Located on the well-renowned Telegraph Ave., Roses’ Taproom is just plain classy. A lot of people tend to think that craft beer enthusiasts are just a single type of person, but Rose’s taproom, with its beautiful decor and diverse set of beers ranging from barrel-aged to funky to piney to tart & sour and even full-bodied, really demonstrates some of the more high minded elements of beer enthusiasm.
Also on Telegraph Ave. is another spot that’s obsessively brewing ridiculously good beer; Temescal Brewing. It’s another beautiful location that blends elegance and minimalism with the type of lightheartedness that we think makes the world a lot more fun. It’s always important to avoid taking oneself too seriously and since I was already buzzed and arguing about anime when I had arrived, their chill demeanor seemed like it made for the perfect spot to vibe out. Minimalism is one of our favorite design philosophies and Temescal’s bad ass cans provide that inviting feeling that just speaks to us, saying, “Here’s a good beer, bud. Why don’t you try it?” Their aesthetic also kind of remind us of Saved By The Bell.
We’re getting close to the end of this volume of On the DL and there are a lot of great spots that we’ll have to save for next time, but you know we can’t leave you without mentioning a great spot where you can find loads of full fridges with all sorts of Bay Area brews, and we can’t think of a better spot for that than The Good Hop. Not only is it a great place to kick it, but The Good Hop is also the type of paradise where you could go every day of the year and get a different local brew to take home and enjoy. If I could ever do an extended stay in Oakland, I would love to just hang out there and really do some homework. Just really sink my palate into some local beers and get a feel for the culture from all over Alameda County. It is definitely a place to visit if you’re a local and just want to stock up or if you’re a visitor and simply want to enjoy their robust tap list and take some drinks back home with you so you can reminisce.
If you want to see more of San Francisco & Oakland, CA through the eyes of the Drink Local crew, we’re always populating our Instagram and will be spending this next week dropping images directly related to this week’s volume of On The DL! And we’d love for you to follow us on Twitter so that you never miss an update!
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