The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [37]
PHILOSOPHY
Freedom to brew. Named for the constitutional amendment that abolished Prohibition, 21st Amendment embodies good-natured fun, and the cans (their only packaging) have inspired names and label art.
KEY BEER
21st Amendment Back in Black IPA combines the evergreen pine of ample hops with the dark cocoa and coffee flavors (and onyx hue) of darkly roasted barley. Also known as Cascadian Dark Ale and Black IPA, this style—India Black Ale—is the latest brewing to be recognized by the Association of Brewers, and in 2010, 21st Amendment released the first year-round version available in cans, their chosen packaging. It’s got all the vintage attitude of AC/DC’s Bon Scott in his prime, but not so much bite you can’t have more than one.
THE ALEMBIC BAR
1725 Haight St. • San Francisco, CA 94117 (415) 666-0822 • alembicbar.com • Established: 2007
SCENE & STORY
The Alembic isn’t a beer bar per se, but it is the brainchild of Magnolia’s David McLean, so it has a considered list and the décor—a warm, dark, enveloping interior and exposed-bulb lighting—to go with it. San Franciscans have come to expect nothing less from the hirsute Deadhead-turned-craft-beer-lover, who has been working on a brewery project in the Dogpatch neighborhood as well (to alleviate shortages of beer and lighten crowds, which may have the opposite effect). The Alembic has ten taps and thirty bottled selections, many hard-to-find-Belgians, and high-end gastropub fare like sweetbreads, duck kebabs, and foie gras.
PHILOSOPHY
Neo-nineteenth-century urban chic meets locavore food and drink.
KEY BEER
Beer cocktails have been around for a long time now, but recently have been getting more attention. Most interesting for beer lovers here is a pair of cocktails using beer: the Vice Grip, a mixture of coffee-flavored rum liqueur and red wine topped with foam made from Marin Brewing Company’s Point Reyes Porter, a smooth, rich sipper; or the tart-sweet Pale Horse, made with cachaça, lemon, and caramelized pale ale syrup.
THE MONK’S KETTLE
3141 16th St. • San Francisco, CA 94103 • (415) 865-9523 monkskettle.com • Established: 2007
SCENE & STORY
Monk’s has something of the classic beer bar feel—dark woods, low light, sparkling clean glassware—but the menu is tuned in to the “delights and prejudices” of ambitious farm-to-table cooking more than most (to borrow a phrase from the title of one of James Beard’s classic books). Expect house-cured ham and hand-ground sausage, braised pork belly and beef cheek, and suggested menu pairings from the 24 tap, 180 bottle list, with a special stash of vintage beers stored in a temperature-controlled cellar ($25 to $60 and up, depending on size and year).
PHILOSOPHY
Seasonality is everything: the small, producer-driven beer list morphs with the calendar, just like the heirloom fruits and vegetables.
KEY BEER
Burning Oak Lager, a German-style black lager of 5.2% ABV from Linden Street Brewery in Oakland, is nearly opaque, with notes of char and smoke mingled with a faint sweetness and light spicy hops.
THE TRAPPIST
460 8th St. • Oakland, CA 94607 • (510) 238-8900 thetrappist.com • Established: 2007
SCENE & STORY
Sometimes the best bars are in the most unlikely places. Just a short hop east across the bay on the BART train delivers you right down the block from The Trappist. Despite the somewhat forlorn downtown Oakland location, it’s the kind of bar you’d plan a vacation around. You’ll feel it when you walk through the “front bar” door and enter a narrow space with exposed brick, gorgeous dark wood trim, white and black tile floors, and vintage lighting. Then you consider the 28 rotating taps, with another 100 to 130 bottled selections. Once you have a beer in hand, it’s time to wander back past barrels on end (ersatz tables), the stained glass doors leading to the bathrooms, and into the warmly lit “back bar,” with deep green trim, wainscoted ceiling, and a lovely old bar of its own.
Back in front there’s a line of smiling faces at the bar, and perhaps a great California band