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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Friday, October 9th, 2009

I had recently heard about a new place called amsterdam cafe in the tenderloin, so last night CB and I rolled by to check it out.
- I like the layout of this place – there is a covered outdoor patio area up front and a bar immediately behind it, with a few tables opposite the bar.
- the owners and bartenders were very friendly, as was everyone else in the bar. the place has an honest, neighborhood feel to it. prices are a little steep though.
- there were 14 or so beers on tap and quite a few bottles available – mostly the usual suspects, but there was a solid dogfish head showing and they carried quite a few belgians.
- I started the night off with stone’s oaked arrogant bastard on draft. this beer had a great creamy mouthfeel and seemed to be much more drinkable than other oaked bastards I have had in the past.
- I them moved on to ommegang’s three philosophers. the mouthfeel/body seemed a little light for a quad (probably due to the kriek addition), but it hides its alcohol very well, clocking in at close to 10% abv.
- I closed the night out with a bruegel amber ale from brouwerij van steenberge. it was very drinkable, and I definitely liked the yeast profile, but it has to be the lightest amber I have ever seen and at 7 or 8 bucks a bottle here, there are plenty of other options available.
- CB picked up an oaked bastard as well as a gulden draak, again from brouwerij van steenberge. gulden draak is a belgian strong that seemed a little too sweet to me – take away some sweetness (and toss in a little brett) and I would order this up in a heartbeat.
- note: I had grabbed a burger from pearl’s to take over there, but when I arrived I discovered that they had started cooking up sausages themselves, so keep that in mind if you want to grab a bite as well.
- overall, amsterdam cafe is a breath of fresh air in the area. swapping out a couple of the usual taps and bottles for some more niche brews (e.g., a geuze, lambic, some russian river, or better yet, dutch beers to run with the namesake, etc.) would make this place exceptional.







Tags:amsterdam cafe, brouwerij van steenberge, bruegel amber, dogfish head, gulden draak, oaked arrogant bastard, ommegang, stone, tenderloin, three philosophers
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