San Francisco Brewing Company Offers a Truly Authentic Local Experience

Brian York

Brewery Name: San Francisco Brewing Company
Type of Brewery: Retail Taproom

Location: San Francisco, CA

Website: http://www.sfbrewingco.com
Facebook: San Francisco Brewing Co.
Twitter: @SFbrewingCo
Instagram: @sfbrewingco

​Background: Sometimes, a single beer can be intriguing enough to start paying attention to a brewery. For those that don't know, San Francisco is famous for its sourdough bread--something about the fog being good for the yeast or something. Capitalizing on this is SF Brewing Co. with their Miner's Sourdough Sour Ale. Talk about craft beer at the next level of local flair, right? The hometown city is right in the brewery name and a sourdough ale is something I haven't seen from a single other brewer.  

SF Brewing is also a staple at a lot of city restaurants and bars as the "local option." Their Amber Ale seems to be the most prevalent, and I've taken advantage by having many of these at dinners, the airport, and, of course, at their taproom.

Growlers: To be honest, I kind of missed this. I don't believe they fill growlers at the taproom but I can’t be sure without visiting again. Guess I'll have to go back!

The Beers:

• Miner’s Sourdough Ale - Sour - (Personal Favorite!) Pale Ale backbone kettle soured with sourdough yeast makes for one of the most unique beers I’ve ever had. Absolute must try when in San Francisco!

• Alcatraz Amber - Amber Ale - One of the flagships for SF Brewing. Crisp, malty brew with a nice refreshing hop profile.

• Splash Family - IPA - Brew dedicated to the Splash Brothers with the Warriors. Huge grapefruit notes make this ultra refreshing.

• La Mission - Mexican Lager - For a style I normally think of as very forgettable, this beer surprised me. Very drinkable, but still has a flavor of its own. Neat anomaly for the classification.

Vibe: San Francisco Brewing Company has their taproom in The Myriad, which is an indoor food hall of sorts with a whole mess of really great local food, drink, and desserts. It makes the vibe a bit different from any other craft brewery I've been to, as you can walk a few feet away and grab some local Korean barbecue or maybe some sushi and bring it back to have with your beer. There's cookies, crepes, local bread, and more. ​

The space is open between each of the shops, with lots of industrial components like beams, pipes, etc with an colorful component that makes it a bit like an adult playground. The SF Brewing space has a small bar, but has eight taps plus bottles. They've got a television mounted to keep you stationary during the game, and offer a couple different sized pours so you can try a bunch or settle in with your favorite.

One interesting thing about SF Brewing's vibe to me is that they haven't (entirely) bought into the IPA-centric brewing style of the West Coast. Sure, they make several, and those are all good, but a lot of the highlights of their brews come in different styles. Finding a local brewery with a decent sour, lager, amber, and stout is incredibly rare.

Dogs: Yep, dogs are allowed in the space. It's a little tight, but the area is super dog-friendly and it's almost an oddity to not have one in tow!

Price ($ to $$$$$): $$. Pretty good prices for San Francisco proper. They offer a few different tasting deals, which come with pretty solid pours. A pint will run you around six bucks.

Food: Not from SF Brewing, but there is certainly plenty of eats around.

Final Thoughts: Really neat place. I couldn't think of a better stop if you're touring the city or need to park somewhere between bars. The availability of so much in one venue is a huge plus, and the beers are good on top of it. A truly local feel with SF Brewing only adds to the experience, and if you try one thing, go for that sourdough ale!

​-- York

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