Another year has come and gone. Once you get past 30, time seems to go by so quickly. I feel the mortality of it all, the fleetingness of moments and the ever increasing rush of things. My gut’s a little bigger, the knees are a bit creakier and the memories aren’t as sharp as they used to be. Good thing I’m documenting things on this blog. Even better that I got my wife to take the day off with me and drive me around the East Bay to tour some brew pubs, breweries and beer bars.
I had visited The Beer Mapping Project to see try and plan out what breweries I should make an attempt to visit on my birthday. For those who have been to The Beer Mapping Project, you should definitely check it out. I find it to be a useful, yet limited tool. Here was my tentative list of brew pubs, breweries and beer bars I wanted to visit in the order I wanted to visit them in:
- Pyramid Alehouse - Berkeley
- Pacific Coast Brewing Company - Oakland
- The Trappist - Oakland
- Linden Street Brewing Company - Oakland
- Hook & Ladder Brewing Company - Oakland
- Drake’s Brewing Company - San Leandro
- The Englander - San Leandro
- Jack’s Brewing Company - Fremont
- Essential Spirits - Mountain View
Many may argue that this isn’t a beer connoisseur’s dream list of “destination breweries” and with the exception of one location, I’d have to agree. I never said i was a beer connoisseur. What I can say though is that I’ve never been to any of these places. The best thing is to keep and open mind and a flexible schedule as you never know what’s going to happen. What did happen was that I never got past location #3.
Before review the places I did go to, I feel I must “defend” my list. First of all, when looking at the San Francisco Bay Area beer map, the East Bay has a good number of breweries, brew pubs and beer bars. Too many to get to in one day so I decided to add constraints. First, the breweries had to primarily be East Bay. Second, they had to be accessible off of the 880. Simple enough. Technically, Pyramid doesn’t fit the constraints because they’re off the 580 and Essential Spirits is “Peninsula”. Still, when it’s your birthday, you can make or bend the rules as you wish. Nyah!
Pyramid Alehouse - Berkeley, CA
Pyramid Alehouse was first on my list simply because it was the furthest. For those who haven’t been to Pyramid, it’s located in a very industrialized area of Berkeley. I in a previous postthat Faultline was located in an industrialized area but commercialized would’ve been a better descriptor. The majority of the businesses around Pyramid are truly industrial jobs. Warehouse work, welders, automotive… you get the picture.
Pyramid itself isn’t so much a brew pub more than it is a restaurant attached to a production brewery. In fact, most of the square footage of Pyramid’s Berkeley location is production brewery. I think the restaurant might have been one fourth of the total square footage, if that. There’s a smallish patio area to the left of the front doors. The interior of the brewpub is very industrial in it’s decor. The numerous taps at the bar are all brass, nice and shiny with the familiar pyramid topped handles.
Here’s a list of the beer and food we ordered with some quick notes for each:
- Curve ball - Their summer ale, a kölsch, 4.9% ABV. Pale in color with a white head. Entry-level beer, good drinkability.
- Oregon Honey* - A blonde ale, 4.8% ABV. Brewed with pure clover honey. Honey notes on the nose and in the flavor that dissipated when it warmed up. Another entry-level beer, good drinkability, hoppier than Curve Ball.
- Slingshot ESB* - Pale Ale, 6.2% ABV. Brewed with Nugget and Cascade hops. Probably had the most hop bitterness of all the beers we’ve tried.
- Draught Pale Ale - On nitrogen, 5.1% ABV. Good hop aroma, creamy but not as bitter as I would’ve thought.
- Blackwatch Cream Porter* - Barley, malt, and oatmeal. 5.3% ABV. Chocolate flavors with noticeable roasty notes., smooth and creamy mouthfeel. Surprisingly clear for a porter with ruby highlights.
- Amberweizen - I sampled this beer later on, after Sammy went back to the car to take a nap. As the name implies, this beer is a hybrid of styles. There is a lot of the hefeweizen character in this beer, with regards to body, mouthfeel and hazy appearance. Yet, the amber part shows up a little bit in the aroma, more in the color and more so in the flavor. It’s reminiscent of a dunkelweizen but instead of tasting the vienna/munich malt flavors you get more of sweet malt/caramel-ish flavors.
- Belgian Wheat Ale - I also sampled this beer much later on. Very pale in color, hazy with a white head. Sweet smelling, reminiscent of Hoegaarden. Pretty good, very drinkable, I’d much rather have this over the Curve Ball.
* = MacTarnahan branded beers.
Here’s the food we tried with brief descriptions for each. You can download the .pdf of their menu here:
- Beer Steamed Mussels - Never found out what beer they used but it looked like they had dijon mustard and garlic in the beer base. Ended up pairing well with Slingshot.
- Coconuts Shrimp Skewers - Made with their apricot weizen, these tasted really good with the cream porter.
- Fish Tacos - Not particularly memorable. I was expecting a white meat fish but they used salmon. Still I killed ‘em both. Take it for what it’s worth.
I found Shawn, our bartender, to be very personable and knowledgeable. What’s cool about sitting at the bar during lunch hour is that not many people sit there and you have a better opportunity to chat up the staff. You wouldn’t be able to do that at the table. Shawn recommended the shrimp skewers and let us know the dipping sauce is just a simple sweet chili sauce you can find at most Asian markets.
One of the things I found odd were the MacTarnahan taps. What I didn’t know at the time was that Pyramid bought MacTarnahan’s over in Oregon. They brew MacTarnahan’s over in the Berkeley location, while in the Oregon brewery they brew Pyramid. Shawn also brought up that Magic Hat bought them out but didn’t say much more than that.
The second thing I found odd was the huge sign over the bar advocating the addition of a lemon wedge in one’s hefeweizen. Personally, I enjoy my hefeweizen more without the lemon. The hefeweizen style will already have citrus notes without adding the lemon. Those citrusy esters are a natural by-product of the yeast used. Also, the acidity of the lemon juice just kills the head on a beer. In case you didn’t know, the foamy head of a beer is where most of the aroma is at. Having head on your beer is a good thing. Consider me “the Diss”. If I wanted a cocktail, I’d have ordered one.
Unfortunately we were too early to get a tour of the brewery but most of the important bits were viewable from the bar. The rest were the fermentation tanks and bottling line. Shawn was scheduled to give the brewery tour that afternoon and while Sammy was off napping, we just hung out and talked beer. I think I might’ve impressed him a bit because he referred me to his co-worker as “the most knowledgeable customer” he’s had.
For a few moments, the Pyramid’s head brewer and crew were behind me but I didn’t introduce myself. I feel weird interjecting myself into someone else’s conversation unsolicited so I just sat back and enjoyed the rest of my beers.
To wrap up, I found Pyramid Alehouse in Berkeley to be a decent place for beers. For the most part, most of their beers are very drinkable interpretations of the various styles they are or are based from but at the same time, none of the beers particularly “wow” me. I do appreciate what they are trying to do though, or rather, what they did. Early in the company’s history, they were considered innovators in the fruit beer style. They also used to brew just about every style of beer but now just limit themselves to about 6 beers year round with three of them wheat beers. Stuff like that tends to happen whenever you have “Boards” or “Shareholders”. To supplement their lack of diversity, they serve MacTarnahan branded beers, which we I ended up drinking more of anyway just because I never had them. If you’re a fan of GB brew pubs then you’ll probably like Pyramid Alehouse.
Pacific Coast Brewing Company - Oakland, CA
Is it a bad thing when your “guest” taps outnumber the house ales almost 2 to 1? Or if the most interesting thing about a brewery is the history of their brewing equipment and not so much their beers? I had much higher hopes for Pacific Coast Brewing Company as I’ve heard so much about it but I was a little underwhelmed.
I’ll try to be fair. I did order their Gray Whale Ale, the house Pale Ale. I found it to have a good amber color with an off white head, a grainy malt flavor with moderate bitterness. Unfortunately, I did note some sourness in both the flavor in aroma that was prominent enough to distract from the hop aroma and linger in the finish. This was the only house beer I tried that day, not because I swore off the rest of their beers but because I had the opportunity to head downstairs to speak with Steve (Straights), their head brewer.
I was surprised at how small their brewing facility was. Just like Full Circle Brewing Company in Fresno, they have a 7 BBL (American barrel ~ 31 U.S. gallons) system but the foot print of their brewery is so much smaller. I wondered where they stored their grains and hops. It turns out, they don’t have to store any grain, just the hops as they’re one of the few brewing companies that uses extract. In essence, they’re like a 7 BBL homebrewer. How very interesting.
In all fairness, Steve is a great guy to talk to. He was easy to talk to, answered all my questions and even gave me a brief history lesson. It turns out the brewing equipment at Pacific Coast used to belong to the long defunct Palo Alto Brewing Company, who was contracted by Pete Slosberg to brew Pete’s Wicked Ale for the first few years. I was staring at a bit of craft brewing history
Pacific Coast does have a very good selection of “guest” taps though. Here is a list of what I remember:
It would be incorrect of me to say that Pacific Coast is a bad place to get a beer. While I did find one of their beers to be suspect, they do have a good selection of guest taps so that even if you don’t like one of the house beers, you can at least find something you like from someone else. I cannot call my experience at Pacific Coast Brewing Company truly indicative of how good (or how bad) the establishment is. I didn’t order the food and I only tried one of their beers. At best, my review of Pacific Coast is incomplete.
At the very least, and assuming you can get in, Trappist is just right around the corner…
The Trappist - Oakland, CA
The Trappist was originally tops on my list of places to go to during my birthday but when I realized that they only opened at 4pm, I was crushed. I had originally planned on being back, or close to, the South Bay by then. Be it by unconscious design or just laggin’, I managed to kill enough time at Pacific Coast and Pyramid to stay in the area long enough for the Trappist to open its doors to Sammy and I.
The first thing I noticed about The Trappist was how small it is. It. Is. Tiny. The main bar area, using the corporate measurement system, is approximately 2 cubicles wide by 3 cubicles deep, maybe 3.5 cubicles. Still, don’t let the lack of space fool you, good things do come in small packages.
At the time, Nicole was our bartender. Most bars that have female bartenders do so because they are eye candy. If it wasn’t true, I wouldn’t have written it. But The Trappist isn’t like most bars and Nicole wasn’t like most female bartenders. Yes, she’s an attractive woman but it was her knowledge that set her apart. Most of the time, I can walk into a bar, or even a brew pub, and be confident that I know more than the bartenders and wait staff about beer than they do but at The Trappist I found myself staying quiet and enjoying my beer as Nicole constantly schooled me. It’s great to be schooled. It’s even better to be able to sit and enjoy my beer.
If I remember correctly, The Trappist had about 15 taps, not all of which are Belgian (imported) Ales. I do remember seeing some Russian River beers on tap, not necessarily their sour ales either. The vast majority of their Belgian ales were accessible via their beer book. I saw a number of beers that I’ve already tried that I thought about ordering again but I decided to order some beers that I’ve never tried before. Here they with my notes:
Petrus Aged Pale - Light Amber color, white head, clear. Lactic acid in both the aroma and flavor. Refreshingly tart but not mouth-puckeringly so. Dry, slightly astringent. I’ve seen some of the Petrus beers over in various BevMo and up until this beer, I’ve had only their Oud Bruin. I am going to have to pick up more of their beers.- Manneken Pis Wit (Blanche de Bruxelles) - As Nicole points to a miniature water fountain in a high shelf, she explains the name “Manneken Pis Wit” roughly translates to “Piss of some statue called Manneken”, this is a witbier. Actually, the name is Blanche de Bruxelles, but it is more affectionately referred to by it’s nickname. This is a very pale, hazy beer with a white head. There are distinct apple notes in the aroma and flavor along with some honey in the finish. Nothing overpowering, all subtle, yet flavorful. If my water fountain pissed this out, I’d be a very happy man.
Val-Dieu Grand Cru - Dark, dark brown with beige head. Belgian yeasty flavors, “tiger balm-ish” notes in the nose. Roasty caramel flavors, almost no hop flavor. Alcohol notes are present but not harsh. Moderate to moderately high level of carbonation lends a slightly creamy mouthfeel. Sammy is the one who noticed “tiger balm” in the aroma. Here I am, trying to find the correct descriptors for the spicy, yeasty, alcohol notes I was getting when Tiger Balm hits the nail right on the head. Despite the less than flattering name, this is a very good tasting beer. It is complex in its flavors and strong in body with a 10.5% ABV. I wish I could’ve had more time to enjoy this beer but we needed to get back to the South Bay.
As I was taking notes, I feared that I would forget the names of the beers I was trying. By the time I got to the Val Dieu, I realized that the time Nicole spent looking for glasses to pour our beers into had a purpose: each beer was served in their own glassware. If you don’t believe me, click on the pics to see. This is a very Belgian thing to do. From what I’ve been told, some bars in Belgium will stop serving a particular type of beer because they are all out of glasses for that beer. It’s great to see how The Trappist has tried to bring an authentic Belgian experience to the United States.
As I’ve probably said a countless number of times before, the people we meet while traveling and tasting different beers is just as important as the beer themselves. Beer is a social drink, it is meant to be shared with others, strangers and loved ones. At The Trappist, we were able to meet bartendress Nicole as well as John and Lisa. Both work in the area and if I remember correctly, Lisa works at the Starbucks next door. I envy them greatly to be able to work next to such a wonderful beer bar although Lisa told me that there is often a line to get in. It would seem that The Trappist is the place to be in Oakland. What I appreciate about both John and Lisa is their willingness to try new things. Belgian ales, while complex and flavorful, are pretty much the epitome of adventurous beers. They have flavors that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The range in examples from the Belgian brewing tradition is so wide ranging that it’s hard to point to one style and say, “That is quintessential Belgian” as things differ almost from brewery to brewery.
The Trappist is a destination beer bar, it cannot be put any simpler. Their collection of Belgian ales is impressive to say the least and their 15 rotating taps always will have something to appeal to most people. Best of all, their staff is knowledgeable. I will definitely have to visit this place again.
Gordon Biersch – San Jose
I’ve written about GB frequently enough that I don’t need to go into further detail. I decided to end my birthday brewery tour back home because, well, it is home. GB was having their 80s-themed party this night in celebration of their 20th Anniversary. Most of the wait staff was decked out in 80s gear and I’ve never seen a more brightly colored group of people.
I had sent out an email earlier in the week detailing my beer escapades but no one had replied. I had no idea how many people were, or weren’t, going to show up at GB to help me celebrate. Because of that, I was only able to hold down two table in the auxiliary room accessible through the patio. We could comfortably sit about 8 people, maybe 10 elbow to elbow. In the end, there were over 25 people helping me to celebrate. There were chairs and chairs of people.
In a strange way, it ended up being a good thing. How many times have you been invited to a birthday dinner only to find yourself stuck talking to the people in your immediate area? At most, 4 people? With the lack of seating, people were able to move and mingle. People who didn’t really know each other were talking, while old friends were reconnecting. I’d like to say that I did this, that I was responsible for bringing people together but I know better than that. It was the beer.
There’s more that happened that night, most of it revolved around Sammy’s friends buying me nothing but hard alcohol to try and get me drunk. They’re learning that I’m not a cheap date. In any event, if you want to view how the rest of the night went, click on the gallery image below.
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Petrus Aged Pale
Val-Dieu
