Beerymoon Part Four

Still one or two more posts to go on the Beerymoon, and it's not so much the places and beers I want to talk about this time but the service and attitude of American Pubs and Bars and and their staff.
We popped into Magnolia for the second time on the way back from our Golden Gate trip because we were both starving and didn't get the chance to eat there the first time. Just as we were preparing to order we spotted a friend, Dave who got the beers in on his way to pick up his girlfriend at the airport, Dave is probably the number one source for knowledge about where to go in San Francisco, it would take me and Mrs RBF about three trips to get through everywhere that he suggested for us!
On this trip we learnt one thing above all others, never go for American portions, you just can't finish them so we ordered sandwiches with salad even though we were both starving and a tad grumpy from the lack of food. I had a fried fish sandwich(cod) which was just what I needed, it was like fish fingers only a lot better. From what I remember I had the Drakes 1500 Pale Ale and the Firestone Walker Union Jack both of which were drinkable but the Drakes had a bit too much malt in it and made it too chocolatey for my taste, The Firestone was almost instantly forgettable which considering all the blurb on their website was very disappointing it's one I'm going to have to try another time, it could well have been my cold playing up on my taste buds(I've forgotten to mention that I was ill for the whole of my honeymoon, pants!).
A bit about the service in Magnolia, all I have to say is that it's friendly, professional and well worth the tip you have to give over in the states.
Having said that from Magnolia we went back to Toronado where the service, whilst being knowledgeable is grumpy, some of these bartenders have been at the bar for more than 20 years! The range at Toronado is still formidable and the guys behind the bar know their stuff and don't get flustered when it's busy. Out of the three times we went to Toronado I saw no more than two people behind the bar at any one time. I like to sit at the bar to get the whole experience of what's on, what's selling and have a bit of banter with the bar staff.
You don't get much banter from the Toronado guys, it's just about serving the beer to the customers, mind you it's kind of like The Rake was when I took over, it was doing so well that there was a air of not having to try anymore.
This visit I was drinking Moonlight beer in there this time because it was baking hot outside, Reality Czech Pils was the first, second and third choice with Pliny the Elder to finish off again(what a surprise!).
Russian River, Alembic and 21st Amendment still to come folks!

Beerymoon Part Two

So part two begins on day two of the trip and we were heading for The Haight. Anyone who knows anything about the San Francisco beer scene knows that you have to get there during your trip if at all possible and we were no different.
After Lucille's great idea of walking up the very steep Buena Vista Park and nearly killing her new husband in the process I decided that we should now head for Magnolia. We walked through the door of this famous brew pub and you could smell the wort straight away, a more welcoming smell you couldn't wish to have. Now this place apparently used to be a pharmacy amongst other things and you could kind of see it in the decor of tiled floor and bare walls and so when we looked at the big blackboard I plumped for Magnolia's own Prescription Pale Ale on handpull, at 4.7% abv and 55 IBU's or BU's as Magnolia call them it was just what I needed after a boiling hot, asthma attack inducing walk up the park! It was light brown in colour, nicely hoppy and very drinkable. Lucille went for Wit Rabbit a 4% wheat beer on keg(or draught as it's know over there) and she really enjoyed it.
Because it was still early we got a seat at the end of a big table by the window and I preceded to give my jelly-legs a break(I'm so fucking unfit!).
I got talking to one of the Brewers, Ben , who was also sat at the table having his lunch and couldn't resist complementing him on the brews whilst we were chatting the owner of 21st Amendment walked in with another one of the 21a guys and all of a sudden a quiet drink turned into a nice sociable lunch time drink with beery people!
Next I went for the Prescription Pale Ale on 'draught' to compare with the cask version and in my humble opinion I preferred the draught, on a hot sunny day it was a lot more thirst quenching than the cask, it's very much like the Sierra Nevada Pale but I have to say I liked it better. I had a Cypress Brown last, another of Magnolia's own brews, not remembering too much about it though as I was chatting rather than taking notes.
It was then time to go, we said our goodbyes promising to come back to Magnolia and to visit 21st Amendment and headed for Toronado.
It's another one of those bars that absolutely has to be visited when your on Haight, Toronado looks from the outside like a bit of a dingy dive of a bar, but inside it's great, yes it's a bit grubby around the edges but the range is superb with 30-odd draught products and 3 or 4 cask handpulls at one end of the bar.
So what did I have to drink there? Started off with Bear Republic's Racer 5 to start with and it went down far too quickly so I found myself drinking Blind Pig, an IPA from Russian River at 6% abv and 72 IBU's it was, again, going down far too quickly so Lucille went to get us some lunch from Rosamunde, the sausage place next door to the bar, she came back with one beer sausage that we shared between us and that REALLY hit the spot, a beer food to beat all others!
Lastly, I couldn't leave without having a Pliny the Elder on draught, this beer is fast becoming one of my all time favourites and it was a real treat to drink it on draught for the first time, if you ever visit San Francisco be sure to get some!
Anyhow that was part two, part three to follow later.