24 Hours In San Francisco

What do you do when you’re in a city with great culture, great sight seeing, great shopping and great beer but you only have 24 hours to spend before you need to do real work?

That was the question I faced a few weeks ago when I went to San Francisco without a real plan. I was there on a work trip but I booked myself in a day early so I could see a bit of a city I hadn’t seen in probably 20 years or more. Last time I was there I was with my mom and we did the Alcatraz thing and some shopping but I don’t really remember it at all (I think that might’ve been a 24 hour trip as well). Now I’m all grown up and I like beer, coffee, taking photos & record shopping so it would be a little bit of a different adventure.

Hey Google, Beer Me!

The only places I really had on my list were Cellarmaker, The Rare Barrel and Amoeba Records. But here’s a tip that I always use when driving around in uncharted territory; while using Google Maps to get from one destination to another (in this case it was the airport to my hotel) you can search for things along your route. I shouted at my travel companion, “Hey Google! Show me craft breweries along my route”. Bam! Next thing I know I’m taking the next exit to Seven Stills Brewery & Distillery.

Their tasting room was really cool. Nice open concept with lots of light coming in. They have an indoor swing as well (which I’m sure has injured it’s fair share of patrons). It has a whiskey bar so if you’re feeling adventurous you can switch between beer and whiskey. Just remember what they say; “Beer before liquor, never been sicker. Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear”.

I actually got there on a release day as well. They just dropped Beer Money and Zour Grapes. To be honest those were okay but my favorite beer I had from them was their “8 Lbs Per BBL” Hazy IPA

There’s actually another brewery right next door but considering I still had to drive I figured I’d save Laughing Monk for another trip (sorry guys). This Bayview area of San Francisco is really cool too. This street in particular has all the buildings painted by local artists.

 Noodles For Lunch, Pastry Stout For Dessert

 After I checked in to my hotel it was time to venture around downtown San Francisco. First up was lunch. I saw on Google Maps that there was an Ippudo Ramen near me and based on my visit in NYC, I had to go check it out. After lunch it was time to take a walk to Mikkeller Bar SF.

It’s a cool little spot but I’ve been to the one in LA and I liked that a lot better. This one was very dark inside and pretty empty for a Sunday. Kinda made me feel a little lonely (insert sad face). I had 1 beer (Berry Me Blackberry IPA) and then made my way over to Cellarmaker. 

This was almost the complete opposite from what I had just left at Mikkeller Bar. Cellarmaker is bright, loud, full of life and full of people. I got to talking with some new friends (one from SF and one from Seattle) and they said that this is the best brewery in San Francisco. To this point, I definitely couldn’t disagree with them. It had a really cool atmosphere and the two beer I tried were soooooo good.

My main course was “Dank Williams” IPA which was sweet, hoppy and, you guessed it, dank. I followed it with their “Pastry Program” dessert stout. So sweet, creamy and delicious. Cellarmaker is a definite must-visit for anyone travelling to San Francisco that loves great beer.

Now, I’ll fast forward a bit because I don’t want to bore you with my shopping and site-seeing but I will say that if you’re a fan of record shopping and you’re ever in San Francisco or Los Angeles, you definitely need to go to Amoeba Records. I remember the first time I went (years ago) I was like a kid in a candy store. A giant, warehouse sized, candy store. Sure, you can find the same things for the same price on Amazon but digging through records it so interesting and relaxing and you never know what treasures you might stumble upon while fingering through vinyl.

Sunsets, Rare Barrels & Famous Bridges

On the way back to my hotel I stopped at Marin Headlands Park to catch the sunset and enjoy a Dominion City beer I brought with me. The views up there were spectacular but hazed over from the California wildfires. It definitely reminded me of home (British Columbia) the last two summers with all the wildfires we had. From the top of Marin Headlands and Hawk Hill you can see (on a non-hazy day) the whole city, the Golden Gate bridge and the Point Bonita Lighthouse (which I wish I had more time to drive to).

After resting my feet at my hotel for an hour it was time to hit my last stop for the night, The Rare Barrel. I ended up meeting a new beer buddy at Cellarmaker earlier in the day so I met up with him at Rare Barrel. He was actually on a solo beer road trip from LA to Seattle and Rare Barrel was his last stop before heading to Eugene in the morning.

The Rare Barrel is such a rad spot. Big, open concept inside their massive barrel room. High ceilings, dim lighting at night but I’m sure the big windows bring in a lot of light during the day. They’ve got an old leather couch to chill on. Kinda reminds me of someone’s private library with lots of leather bound books and bottles of expensive cognac. And the beer, well, I was blown away. Definitely a different theme and menu than Cellarmaker but I’d put both these breweries at the top of the list for places to visit in San Fran.

I ended up trying their “Blenders Choice” oak barrel aged flight which included 3 beer; “Prism Of Time” tart saison, “Shadows Of Their Eyes” dark sour & “Seditious Ways” dark sour with cherries. All of them were insanely good and I ended up picking up a bottle of Shadows Of Their Eyes to bring home. 

The Rare Barrel closed down at 10 so me and my new friend said our farewells and I made one more stop before going back to the hotel…..

Impromptu Hikes, Donuts and….More Beer

The next morning I woke up bright and early and headed back to Marin Headlands to venture around and do a short hike.

I ended up hiking up Slacker Hill and a little bit off the trail to an old, rundown lookout tower that had an amazing view of the Golden Gate bridge. I’d love to come back here without all the haze because you can see from my photo below that it was super thick, especially when combined with that San Francisco morning fog.

After the hike I headed in to town to hit up Wrecking Ball coffee, as it came highly recommended, followed by a little stroll up Union street.

Next up was brunch at Bob’s Donuts. This place has been around since the 60’s and is an institution in San Francisco. As a first timer I asked the server what I should order so I got an Apple Fritter and a Crumble Donut (yea, I got 2 donuts to myself. So what?). I can see why this place gets lineups for their donuts.

My final beer stop for the personal side of my trip was at City Beer, a bottle shop that also serves beer on tap (oh, how I wish we had this concept in BC). My main reason for this stop? Pliny on tap. I’ve had the elusive Pliny The Elder in bottles a few times due to good timing at Whole Foods Markets but I’ve never had it fresh from the keg. It did not disappoint. City Beer had a great selection of other beer on tap as well and their take home selection was vast.

Call Me Jack Bauer

I’d say for a 24 hour trip to San Francisco I managed to get quite a bit accomplished. I definitely need to go back. I need a good 3-4 days here to really take it all in. Plus that’d give me more time to take the drive up to Russian River Brewing, that’s on the beer bucket list for sure.

Til next time San Francisco!!

I leave you with a few more photos from my adventure….