Category: hop crisis

21st amendment brewery

finally, post #2 about my afternoon at 21st amendment brewery in san francisco
i mean, it was only two weeks ago now…

let’s talk about the beers!
they have a couple of different menus within the restaurant,
one for the beer garden (all cans and kegs served into plastic cups)
the main bar, and one for the loft bar

main bar menu

loft menu

beer garden menu

i began with a wee taster of the hell or high watermelon wheat ale (4.9%, 17 ibus) as i am not a big wheat fan
in fact i think like most of us i am somewhat wheat intolerant
crisp, watermelon notes are right on… not too much but definitely enough there to make you feel like summer
i can see why this one is such a huge seller for them

i also had a taster of my server’s favourite, the old glory red ale (7.3%, 70 ibus)
made me want a pint of it though, it is a total pleaser
hoppy, just dark enough to keep it interesting
my plan of attack though was to work my way through the ipas
so i decided that if my friend was late meeting me, i would have a pint of the old glory after the over hopulation and hop crisis, since the back in black wasn’t on tap…

they also have guest bottles you can try

i thought i had ordered the endeavour pale ale (5.6%, 29 ibus) and had a whole review written up about how i couldn’t believe it was only 29 ibus because it tasted like 80… i found it very pleasing
then when i went up to order my next beer, the over hopulation, my lovely server whitney checked my tab and told me that she’d given me the over hopulation first, accidently
so… it was 80 ibus and 7.1%, which made me feel a whole lot better about my palate, and my alcohol tolerance!
deep goldon colour, good lacing
crisp, hoppy and delicious
and whitney bought it for me
it just doesn’t get better than that!

and whitney let me try the endeavour
which tasted like a pale ale with 29 ibus
oooh, love that endeavour is spelled with a “u” – so canadian of them!
kinda glad i started with the over hopulation accidently though
it was way more fun than the pale ale

moved right on to the hop crisis – the beer i had been most itching to try
imperial ipa, 9.7%, 94 ibus
served in a tulip glass, deep golden colour
strong lacing on glass, not much of a nose, but hello hops on the first sip
still some malt balance
not too fruity/citrusy, not too bitter
definitely an imperial and mega-hopped, but i wasn’t overwhelmed by alcohol or bitterness
heck, i found it rather smooth in a crisp way

my friend stacey arrived and ordered a south park blonde
5.1%, 17 ibus
my taste buds may have been fried when she let me try it, but i got nice malt flavours on that blonde!
stacey said “it tastes good, I like it”
me, i say not bad at all!

and i ordered a pint of the old glory
i think it was my favourite of the day
citrus hops, oak aged
(frankly it reminded me of a red racer esb…)
a thing of beauty and a joy to imbibe

by this time i was really quite delighted by the world around me
and wanted to never ever leave 21st amendment
i also wanted to try the oyster stout
and have a back in black from a can…

but fortunately for me i had other places to go and other beers to try!
my life is fun!

regular pints are $6
specials like the hop crisis are $7
cans are $4

563 2nd St
San Francisco, California 94107, United States
(415) 369-0900

san francisco

while i was in s.f. i didn’t have time to get to all the lovely beer places i had dreamed of
but i did get some lovely beers to go
which i enjoyed at various events i went to
i mean if there’s a budweiser beer garden
why wouldn’t i bring my own alternative beer to it???

on friday i imbibed the stone double bastard
which may have been a little too much for me after the excesses of thursday
i shall have to revisit this one another time
overwhelmingly hoppy, quite boozey
it kicked my ass and my taste buds!

then on satuday i enjoyed my four-pack of hop crisis from 21st amendment
hoppy, surprisingly refreshing
and so conveniently sized in a four pack
as six would have knocked me on my ass again!

sunday we actually had to purchase a budweiser in the beer garden in order to get a cup
good thing it was hot and anything beerish was refreshing!

once i had choked down the budweiser, i poured me a dogfish head midas touch
i had been wanting to try this one for a while
i am not obsessed with history, but i do like ancient mysteries enough to make me geeky on yet another front
so this was a marriage of my geekinesses, history with beer
and i found it interesting
i’m very glad i tried it
not sure i’ll do so again
there was nothing wrong with it, not at all
i’m just not sure i’m down with honey and grapes in my beer
saffron sure
but too much sweet just isn’t me
did i mention how happy i was to try it though?!?

and then i pulled a russian river pliny the elder out of my bag
which was appreciated not just by me
but by my s.f. friend stacy who just emailed me to say that she went out and bought herself a bottle and has fallen in love with it
and she didn’t like the hoppy beers before last weekend!
and by jeshua, the guy in the back ground who happened to be sitting next to us when i cracked it
i offered him some beer and he accepted
when i showed him what he would be drinking he got all excited because he loves the pliny
serendipity!
and oh, what a brew!

it was a really great weekend!

san francisco

ooooh, this sounds like the beer store i need to visit in san francisco this coming weekend
city beer store on folsom street
check out that beer list!

and it looks like i might get a brewery tour at 21st amendment
i’ll be at the pub/brewery on thursday afternoon!
(thought i’d kill the bit of time i have been arriving and my friend getting off work imbibing the back in black, hop crisis and over hopulation, all of which are on tap today… hopefully still on thursday!)

“Hi Rebecca,

Thanks for your note. Because we are a full service restaurant, there is always a brewer or a manger available that can potentially give small groups brewery tours. We often do impromptu tours provided we are not too busy–mid-afternoon is a good time for this.
I recommend you call ahead to the pub to set up a time for a guaranteed tour.
Their phone number is (415) 369-0900
Thanks for thinking of us and Cheers!

Craft Beer in a can.
Better for the beer.
Better for the environment.”

doh!  my hopes went up, my hopes crash down…

“Hi Rebecca,

We show the brewery off before Beer School, a tasting event we run, but you just missed it. You can get a pretty good view of the brewery from a special window we have, but we do not open it up to the public when the Giants are in town. Just to warn you, Thursday is actually an early game day so it will be slammed that day.
Cheers!
-Zambo
Head Brewer
21st-Amendment Brewery”
oh well, hopefully i’ll still get to try the taps…

21st amendment

just in time for my san francisco trip
21st amendment releases hop crisis imperial ipa
aged in oak barrels!
gonna find me some and bring it home to canadia, yes i am!

please, please, please have some on draft in a drinking establishment i frequent
and please, please, please let me find some at the store!
21st amendment…
DBI Beverage

2225 Jerrold Ave.
San Francisco CA 94124
(415) 643-9900
i hope i can find this place…
gah – its in south san francisco
dagnabbit, that doesn’t work

bah – and california isn’t getting any dogfish head 120 minute ipa either
this is not going as well as i had hoped…

hopefully my hop in dark has made it to canadia and i will be tasting that delicious nectar friday evening…