Monday, October 26th, 2009

last week DH, AF and I rolled by church key in north beach for a round.
- DH had three philosophers from ommegang, which was on draft (see review of this quad here).
- AF and I each had one of stone’s sublimely self-righteous ales, which is a remake of their 11th anniversary beer.
- sublimely self-righteous is classified as an american strong on beeradvocate, but stone calls it a “black double IPA.“
- despite my previous ranting about the terminology of black IPAs, I definitely enjoy this brew – the strong hop aroma matched the roasted malts, and some residual sweetness tied it all together.
- this beer won’t necessarily be a go-to beer for me, but it was well-balanced and is a good representative of this new style. now if only stone will remake their 13th anniversary brew next year…
- as for church key, the bartender was friendly and they had a pretty decent selection of beers on tap.
- although their bottle list did contain some winners, the selection seemed a little slimmed down from the last time I was there.
- my only gripe was the pricing – $8 for a pour of a stone brew? that’s a little steep, especially with so many options available in the area. their bottle list was pricey too, which dissuaded me from any experimenting.


Tags:11th anniversary, 13th anniversary, black double IPA, church key, north beach, ommegang, stone, sublimely self-righteous, three philosophers
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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

I’ll never turn down a request for happy hour at columbus cafe in north beach.
- they have 26 beers on tap, mostly usual suspects, but they have a great west coast IPA selection.
- last friday I met up here with AP, AP, and TM. I started off with a lagunitas IPA, then finished off with a bear republic racer 5 IPA – 2 of my favorite “session IPAs.”
- all seats were taken when I got there about 6:30, but it wasn’t crowded. however, I have been here after 9 or 10pm and the place was shoulder-to-shoulder, so proceed with caution.
- columbus cafe’s happy hour runs from 4-8 (although I thought it stopped at 7 last friday – better double-check).
- the happy hour is 2-for-1 beers, which they give you a token to redeem. this is a great idea since you don’t have to use the token that day, and can redeem it another time.
- another great element here is golden boy pizza down the street, which turns out awesome slices. columbus and golden boy are the north beach equivalent of rosamunde and toronado – they were meant to be.
- also, FYI, rogue, la trappe, and church key are also within walking distance of this place.


Tags:bear republic, church key, columbus cafe, golden boy, happy hour, ipa, la trappe, lagunitas, north beach, pizza, rogue, rosamunde, toronado
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