Meyer ESB, Thirsty Bear Brewing Company, San Francisco California

In San Francisco there lies many a great beers. During a recent trip, my friend Jason and I found our way to the Thirsty Bear, the first stop of many that night! They had a decent variety on tap and their menu looked good as well, but I went with the Nitro Conditioned (from a traditional "Firkin" keg) ESB.

It pours a deep copper with a tight head.

The aroma is very slight with some floral hop and light sweet malt.

It has big molasses right off with some sweet malt and burnt sugar developing in the body. This is rounded off by a soft floral hop bitterness at the end, but fails to completely curb the sweetness in the finish. Some may enjoy the finishing sweetness, I tend toward a cleaner finish rather than sweet and this one fell a little on the sweet side.

The aftertaste is burnt sugar with bitterness that builds. Sticky molasses dominates the palate.

If in the city, it would be worth the time to hunt the Thirsty Bear down and give it a try, since they aren't bottling...

Cheers!

Old Godfather, Speakeasy Ales and Lagers, San Francisco California

Our next Barleywine comes from a favorite brewery of mine, Speakeasy in San Francisco. I haven't been there yet, but I've got my New Year Resolutions this year!
Let's sample....

It pours copper with a thin head.

The smell is all sweet wheat.

Two tastings:
Colder: It has a medium body, the wheat and bitterness is apparent straight off. The sugar builds in the body, but doesn't go too far. It's not overly sweet by any means.
Warmer: Fuller body and more bitter. The sugars get thicker, the beer becomes more oak-y.

There is a big strong aftertaste which is fairly complex. There is a slight sourness that rounds off the sweetness. A strong alcohol taste with the wheat remains - it is definitely a warmer! It settles into the palate for awhile.

All-in-all an enjoyable beer. Maybe not as outstanding as their other offerings, but quite a contender.

I find Speakeasy beers here and there - they seem to pop up with some regularity - though mostly their IPAs. I'm not sure how widely released the Godfather is - I found mine at Belmont Station in SE Portland -

Cheers!

Proving Ground IPA, Magnolia Pub and Brewery, San Francisco California

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! This year aims to be a great year for beer - I'm going to brew my second ever beer this month, more about that later. The holiday ale sampling went great - I tried as many as I could get my lips to, but there are so many! I still have one or two, so it's not over yet! I'm trying to catch up with myself, so the next few posts will be beers I sampled last year - but didn't get the chance to publish.

We took a short trip to San Francisco and, upon arriving, promptly found the Magnolia Pub and Brewery on Haight Street. It's a great little pub and brewery - good food - good beer and great people watching. I highly recommend it!

I had two beers here - the previously blogged Winter Warmer and this one, the Proving Ground IPA, which was on cask.

It pours a glowing amber with a big foamy head.

The aroma is like 100% flowery hop goodness!

The taste is smooth, very smooth with a full body. The bitterness is balanced by the fact that it is on cask, which tends to mellow the taste, a bit. It is a great sipper - I suggest a second or third beer, as it tends to dominate the palate.

The aftertaste is mild bitterness with a lot of hop floral.

It is 7.1% with 100 IBU's - so it's not for those who don't enjoy the hop!

Winter Warmer, Magnolia Pub and Brewery, San Francisco California

We took a recent trip to San Francisco and were lucky to discover the Magnolia Pub & Brewery on Haight Street. They had their Winter Warmer on tap, so we gave it a try -

It pours opaque.

The aroma is roasty mild sweetness and malt.

The taste is roasty malt finished with vanilla. However, it is not too sweet at all. There is no spice, but a full-body malt that gets better as it warms.

The aftertaste is mild bitter with mild vanilla sweetness.

I definitely recommend it to anyone in San Francisco - I don't think they bottle at all, so you have to go to them - which isn't a bad thing at all!

It is 7.8% with 15 IBU's

Cheers!

Gingerbread Ale, Bison Brewing Company, San Francisco California

Our next beer comes from Bison Brewing Company and I raved about their Pumpkin ale this year - let's see how their Christmas seasonal holds up....The name Gingerbread Ale deterred me at first, as any idea of flavoring beer is a challenging proposition for me, which rarely proves successful, but my last experience with Bison was so good, let's do it!

It pours opaque with a big head.

The aroma is mild gingerbread, lots of malt. There is mild sweetness. Vague cinnamon is there as well.

The taste is big roasty malt. It is very mild in it's spice. The gingerbread is very very mild - I actually think the pumpkin ale was more gingerbready than this ale. It has a full body, and the malt is very biscuit. The spice is mostly cinnamon, but it's very late on the palate.

The aftertaste is mildly sweet and slightly cookie-ish.

All in all, it is a solid ale. I'm not sure it's as gingerbread-y as I imagined it would be, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a big roasty beer that is a great sipper around the fire.

21 IBU's with 2-Row, Caramel, Chocolate, Roast Barley, and Black malts. I found mine at Belmont Station. I've seen it at a few grocery stores such as Whole Foods.

Cheers!

Beer #50! Double Daddy IPA, Speakeasy Ales and Lagers, San Francisco California

BEER #50 !!!!
So we are already to beer 50. It's amazing! I had to celebrate this momentous occasion with a beer from my favorite style - the Imperial IPA. It's one my wife brought home for me, one day and I was excited to try it - it will be my first Speakeasy beer....

It pours a brilliant amber hue.

The aroma is all hop with big citrus and floral smells.

The taste slakes my need for big hop. It is both earthy and citrus. The bitterness is quite apparent.

The aftertaste is flowery hop which lingers with the bitterness. A definite for hop heads like myself. There isn't much too blog about, in that the beer lives up to it's style - There is big hop all around - I think it's delicious!

I've had good luck finding these beers, but am not sure at all how limited their distribution is - mine was from here in Portland at the Food Front in NW. I've seen their beers at several finer grocery stores.

9.5%
Hops include 4 varieties (unspecified on website) of Pacific Northwest Hops and three additionals.
Pale Malted Barley and German Munich Malts are used along with Speakeasy Ale Yeast.

Cheers!

Christmas Ale, Anchor Brewing, San Francisco California

I look forward to this particular beer each year. Last year's offering fell a little flat for me, but I still was happy when I found it at Whole Foods the other day. I cracked it open that night and am happy to file this report....

It pours opaque with a big head.

The smell is malt with pine. Slightly sweet. It took some time to nail it, but I also detect wintergreen in the aroma as well.

The taste is creamy with a pine spiciness to it. It is obviously malty, with roastiness, but it doesn't dominate the palate. The spiciness balances it out nicely.

The aftertaste has a nice roasty flavor with just a hint of the wintergreen.

This is a delicious beer with layers of flavor that unroll from under the malt. Definitely puts me in a holiday mood. I HIGHLY recommend trying the beer out - even if it's a little on the pricey side, it's more than worth it! It'd be a great beer to bring along to a holiday party or even to keep guarded for your own enjoyment. Anchor's beers are available all over, so give it a try!

Cheers!