The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [34]
SCENE & STORY
A sly little space in North Beach with exposed brick, understated décor (retro wallpaper inside; no sign outside except the symbol of an old key), and a quiet loft upstairs, the Church Key draws a cool crowd, and its beer menu is one of the smartest in San Francisco. Beer hunters will find rarities they’re after, such as Firestone Walker’s Oaktoberfest, a barrel-aged märzen-style beer (a clean, coppery German style of lager), and an unusual black India Pale Ale from Stone Brewery in San Diego. The bartenders are knowledgeable, but not obnoxiously so, and the music (by DJ, on vinyl) hits the right notes. Should hunger arrive, as it always does, there’s a great pizzeria down the block (Golden Boy Pizza; 542 Green St.; 415-982-9738) and the Church Key owners don’t mind if you bring it in and eat right there.
PHILOSOPHY
Call it the David Bowie of beer bars. This is the place to find genre-benders that push the envelope in terms of stylistic interpretation, defying easy categorization. And it’s stylishly understated, an elusive quality in beer bars.
KEY BEER
Two dollars gets you a “mystery beer,” but this is usually a can of bland American lager. Better with your pizza would be the ultra-rare hybrid-style Belgian IPA called XX Bitter from Brasserie De Ranke (6.2% ABV), which has a melony roundness but finishes dry and bitter, with an herbal afterglow.
TORONADO
547 Haight St. • San Francisco, CA 94117 (415) 863-2276 • toronado.com • Established: 1986
SCENE & STORY
Further down the Haight into the Fillmore, Toronado abides. It’s been open for over twenty years, and has the dust and clutter to show for it, but what’s more important is behind the bar. Or behind the antlers, tap handles, and other ephemera . . . somewhere. Despite its tiny size, you’re not likely to find many better, more well thought-out beer lists (including rarities and aged beers) anywhere in California. It’s one of those bars that emit a tractor beam for serious beer lovers, and, one day, they find it. Some never seem to leave, growing long beards and huddling over their barley wine with contented grins. True, certain bartenders seem to ignore you if you ask for the wrong beer, or one they don’t have. And the crowds, during special cask nights and tastings, resemble a rugby scrum. But in the end it’s worth it. Beer lovers the world over know Toronado, and to visit it is to enter into a kind of covenant with them.
PHILOSOPHY
Drink big or go home. All the great Northern, Central, and Southern Californian beer makers are represented here, with special focus on barley wines and other high-alcohol styles. Order with authority.
KEY BEER
Publication, brewed by Vinnie Cilurzo at Russian River in Sonoma County (with input from Toronado founder David “Big Daddy” Keene, among other noted publicans), is a 8% ABV golden ale finished with brettanomyces, resulting in an earthy, funkified hybrid of traditional Belgian saison and strong golden ale.
ANCHOR BREWING CO.
1705 Mariposa St. • San Francisco, CA 94107 (415) 863-8350 • anchorbrewing.com • Established: 1896
SCENE & STORY
Founded as Anchor in 1896, this is a shrine for any self-respecting beer pilgrim for one reason: the brew house. It’s a thing of exquisite beauty, all gleaming copper kettles and creamy tile work; to tour the facility and see the brewers working in their white work suits (in the un-hippified fashion of traditional German brewers) is to see a true classic in action. Facing closure after a string of half-interested owners from the end of Prohibition to 1965, this brewery found new life in the hands of a young Stanford graduate named Fritz Maytag (great-great grandson of the man who founded Maytag appliance company), who bought it in 1965 and helped kick-start the American craft beer revolution. Anchor is famous, of course, for Anchor Steam Beer, a kind of ale-lager hybrid also known as California Common. There’s no steam used in the brewing process; the word refers to the hissing sound old wooden