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.

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.