And so my Bay Area trip came to a close with a visit to Cellarmaker Brewing, and I have to say it was an excellent finish. They’d opened about two months previous, and I didn’t know much about them. One of their beers was on tap at the new Mikkeller Bar in the Tenderloin, which was a good sign. They weren’t too many people in the taproom when I showed up on a Tuesday afternoon. I parked my carry-on under one of the tables, ordered a taster flight, and was promptly blown away. Loved everything they had on tap. They’re making some of the best beer in SF.

Update! October 6, 2015: Went back for a second visit on my January 2015 Bay Area trip and got eight more tastes. Visited in the evening this time, and it was quite crowded. Good vibe, but I’ll have to remember to go in the afternoon next time. As I type this update, they’re celebrating their second anniversary. It’s a week-long event, and once again I’m wondering why I’m not down there. Will have to put the date on my calendar for next year, I guess.

Seven tasters of awesomeness at Cellarmaker Brewing — San Francisco, CA

Rob’s Picks
• Many Blessings – 4.7% – Saison. Lemony, dry, kinda grainy, a touch tart, with tropical fruit notes. Bit of a tannic finish.
• Hop Making Sense! – 6.4% – Fun mix of citrus, guava, herbal, melon hop flavors. Light malt base. Some bitterness on the finish.
• Admiration IPA – 6.3% – Big grapefruit and tropical fruit aroma and flavors. Light malt, bitter finish, a touch dry.
• Cellarmaker Porter – 4% – Dry, with coffee, chocolate, and roasty maltiness. Light citrus edge.
• Blammo! – 14.5% – Imperial stout with coconut. Big. Intense coffee, chocolate, alcohol, molasses. Light coconut on the finish. Appropriate name.
• Bourbon Barrel Vastness of Space – 11% – Barrel aged for 13 months. Bourbon and chocolate aroma and flavors. Smooth and rich, with molasses sweetness and fairly big oaky vanilla aspect.
• Coquette – 4.2% – Grisette, a wheat saison. Bready, a little funky, with some lemon and light spiciness. Light and refreshing.
• Taco Hands IPA – 7.2% – 57 ITU’s (International Taco Units). Collaboration with Tired Hands Brewing of Pennsylvania. Made with light cumin, coriander, cilantro, pepper, pasilla chile, lime zest and juice. Mashed with corn and corn tortilla shells. “This beer should suck, but is actually super drinkable.” Yup. Lots of cool spiciness and citrus and fruit. Unique and awesome.
• Questionable Origins #2 – 6.1% – Big tropical fruit hop blast, with light citrus and spicy hops, as well. Guess there’s some malt, too. Good lingering bitterness.
• Cage Free IPA – 6.4% – Big citrus, tropical fruit, and light piney hop flavors. Underlying rye spice. Zingy lingering bitterness.
• Are You Afraid of the Dank? – 8.5% – Even bigger tropical fruit hop flavor party. Some spicy and piney hops, too. Lovely lingering flavors.
• Jezebel – 7.5% – Cloudy, fruity, lightly funky saison. Really smooth, with bits of sweetness to dry and lightly bitter finish.
• Peach Nightmare – 4.7% – Light, lingering wheat sour with just enough peach flavor. Could drink this all day.

The Rest
• Saison des Flandres – 5.9% – Collaboration with Brasserie Thiriez. Good saison base with herbal hops to bitter finish.
• Tim’s Brown – 6.4% – Coffee and chocolate with some roastiness. Bit of floral and piney hops at the end. Interesting.

As I’m finishing up this post, Cellarmaker is celebrating their first anniversary. It was tempting to fly down and help them celebrate by drinking more of their beer. Yeah, why am I not down there? Will have to head back to the Bay Area again soon.

For the second stop on the Bay Area brewery weekend, Marcus took us on the scenic route from the Mission District to Hunters Point via Bernal Heights, zig zagging around hilly streets I’d never been on before and would probably never see again. With some assistance from Google Maps, we eventually made it to Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, where we left behind the sunny December afternoon for the dark, cozy Speakeasy Tap Room. It was fairly crowded, but a couple spots opened up at the bar. We snagged those seats, and I soon had a line of tasters in front of me. The note-taking this time was a bit less awkward — the folks sitting next to Marcus took an interest, and soon they were all joking about my beer geekiness. I got my scribbling done, so I’ll consider it a win.

Gangster-style tasters at Speakeasy Ales & Lagers — San Francisco, CA

Rob’s Picks
• Untouchable IPA – 6.2% – Big tropical fruit and light floral hop flavors with plenty of caramel malt.
• SF Lager Batch #4 – 5.2% – Light floral hops, crisp, with honey sweetness and a bitter finish.
• Scarlett Red Rye – 5.5% – Pretty smooth. Some caramel and biscuit malt and light floral hops. Rye is pretty subtle.
• Double Daddy – 8.5% – Imperial IPA. Floral hops and big caramel maltiness, but still pretty crisp.
• Payback Porter – 7.5% – Coffee and subtle alcohol flavors. Fairly light on the tongue, and a touch a dryness. Very drinkable.
• Scarface Imperial Stout – 9.5% – Big alcohol/bourbon flavor that eventually mellows to some chocolate. Not too thick, and fairly dry.
• Butchertown India Black Ale – 8% – Citrus, piney,  and light roasty aroma. Citrus and piney hop flavors at the start, then moves to roasty caramel maltiness for the finish, with a touch of bitterness. Light on the tongue.
• Big Daddy IPA Wet Hopped – 6.5% – Big citrus aroma and flavor. Grapefruit and orange peel hop flavors with light maltiness and a fairly bitter finish. Bit of airy, frothy mouthfeel. Subtle hint of grassiness.
• Blind Tiger – 9.8% – Imperial IPA. Citrus and piney aroma and flavor. Sharp, fairly boozy malty backbone. Good flavor mix on finish with complementary bitterness.

The Rest
• The Witness Belgian Wheat – 5.2% – Light banana/clove flavors, fairly bready, with a hint of lemon. Some bitterness on the finish.
• Prohibition Ale – 6.1% – Very floral start to mellow caramel malt finish. Pretty cool but too floral for me.
• Big Daddy IPA – 6.5% – Some floral and spicy hop flavors. Light caramel maltiness.
• Betrayal IRA – 7.5% – Floral biscuity start to strong caramel finish. Very smooth. Like floral candy.

Got a few extra tasting notes here because, a couple months before my trip, Speakeasy had an event at one of my favorite Seattle bars, The Pine Box. I was pretty sure I’d be visiting the brewery, so I surreptitiously tapped notes into my phone while chatting briefly with the head brewer, Kushal. Seemed like a nice guy.

It had been too long since my last trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, and so when an airfare sale came up I decided to rectify that situation. It would be four days of seeing cousins, hanging out with old friends, and visiting as many breweries as feasible. If I’d been ambitious I might’ve hit twelve or more, but I felt that a more relaxed trip was in order and so instead only went to nine. Yeah, I know, I’m getting soft in my old age. And at more than half of the breweries I was with friends who were not used to my obsessive tasting and scribbling, so those notes are more rushed than usual. Leave it to me to make drinking beer with friends awkward and annoying. Sigh. Anyway, Marcus picked me up Saturday from SFO, and we immediately went to Southern Pacific Brewing in the Mission for lunch and the first taster tray of the weekend. It looked like a cool spot from their web site, and indeed the huge old warehouse was pretty slick. Good crowd for a Saturday afternoon, too. We had to go upstairs to find empty tables.

All aboard the Southern Pacific Brewing taster tray! — San Francisco, CA

Rob’s Picks
• Pale Ale – Light floral hops and light biscuity malt. Light on the tongue but pretty nice.
• Extra IPA – Herbal and spicy hops. Some biscuit and caramel malt. Bit of lingering bitterness.
• Amber – Caramel malt. Herbal and floral hops and some lingering bitterness. Not bad for an amber.
• American Strong – Smooth. Caramel malt, lightly boozy, bit of bitterness. Good balance.

The Rest
• Helles Lager – Slightly watery. Hint of lemon to breadiness.
• Hefeweizen – Lemony and slightly bready.
• California Blonde – Light and lemony. Light biscuit malt. Bit of herbal hops and light bitterness.
• IPA – Herbal hops with a touch of floral. Light malts and some bitterness.
• Porter – Kind of watery but nice chocolate/coffee flavors, with dark chocolate bitterness. A little too light for me, though.

So, yeah. Most of the beers here were pretty light. If I lived in SF, I could see myself coming here occasionally with a big group of friends more interested in socializing than in analyzing the beer they’re drinking. On a short, beer-focused trip, though, Southern Pacific may not be the best choice. Oh well. At least I was able to catch up with Marcus, after I finished my accelerated note-taking.