Sip your way into fall!
Heads up, craft beer aficionados! Your favorite local spots have been brewing up a storm, and it’s the perfect time to try some awesome new draughts straight from the barrel. California is a mecca of craft beer, and we’re lucky to live right around the corner from where some of the best IPAs, lagers, ciders, and more are created.
This was a pretty ambitious task, to say the least, but we’ve done our best to round up our 10 favorite breweries in the City. All breweries are following Covid-safe precautions. Don’t forget to check the map at the end to see where you can find your next pint!
What would you add to the list?
1. Laughing Monk Brewing
Laughing Monk creates a wide spectrum of IPAs, sours, pilsners, German-style lagers, and more. They also feature rotating food vendors including street tacos, Korean cuisine, and barbecue! They recently expanded outdoor dining hours to Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, so be sure to stop by ASAP.
Location: 1439 Egbert Avenue
2. Anchor Brewing Company
Not only does Anchor Brewing create some of our favorite beer in the City, they also have a spectacular patio space to enjoy it. This legendary spot has been around since 1896. That’s 125 years of perfecting their technique!
Location: 1705 Mariposa St
3. Woods Beer & Wine Company
Woods is a small brewing company with an enormous presence in the City. Their creative beer options are exceedingly unique, with flavors like MateVeza IPA (brewed with yerba mate) and Freeze Pop (a tropical pale ale). And be sure to take your wine-loving friends along, because their wine selection is just as impressive!
Locations:
- Woods Cervecería – 3801 18th Street
- Woods Polk Station – 2255 Polk Street
- Woods Island Club (to go only) – 422 Clipper Cove Way
- Woods Outbound – 4045 Judah Street
- Woods Lower Haight – 530 Haight Street
4. Speakeasy Ales & Lagers
This popular brewery is owned by Oakland businessman and one-time mayoral candidate Ces Butner. The Big Daddy IPA was at one point the best-selling IPA in the city, and it’s still a brewery favorite. Also be sure to try their Prohibition Ale, their very first iconic beer from 1997.
Location: 1195 Evans Ave, San Francisco, CA
5. 21st Amendment Brewery
This brewery has been cranking out delicious and iconic beers since 2000. You may recognize the refreshing “Hell or High Watermelon” wheat beer, or the “Brew Free! Or Die” IPA. If you want to try something different, order a can of the SoMa seltzer, which comes in watermelon, mango, black cherry, and guava & passionfruit flavors. The SF location is also a great restaurant, and they have a larger outdoor space in their San Leandro location.
Locations: 563 2nd St (San Francisco), 2010 Williams St (San Leandro)
6. Black Hammer Brewing
Here’s a small-batch brewery producing big flavors that you’ve got to try. There’s something for everyone here: hard seltzer, kölsch, double IPAs, Belgian tripels, and much more. The innovative brewers at Black Hammer also follow precise procedures so as to make their beer “gluten-removed,” meaning it contains less than 3ppm gluten.
Location: 544 Bryant St
7. Barebottle Brewing Company
Barebottle is a must-try for any self-respecting craft beer aficionado! Not only do both their San Francisco and Santa Clara locations feature awesome rotating food trucks, but their beer is absolutely on point. They brew dozens of fresh draughts including Italian- and German-style pilsners, a wide variety of hazy IPAs, and rich stouts and porters.
Locations: 1525 Cortland Ave (San Francisco), 2520 Augustine Dr (Santa Clara)
8. Local Brewing Co.
Local Brewing Co. just expanded their indoor and outdoor dining hours, so you have got to get in for a pint or three. They create approachable small batch beers with high-quality ingredients. If you’re a fan of hazy IPAs, you’ll be stoked to see what’s on draft now!
Location: 69 Bluxome St
9. The Seven Stills Brewery & Distillery
Come for the beer, stay for the whiskey! Seven Still has everything your little beer-loving heart could desire, but you can’t miss out on their whiskey flights and cocktails while you’re at it. Pro tip: Keep going back!
Locations: 100 Hooper St Ste. 4 (Brewery & distillery), 3645 Lawton St (taproom)
10. Standard Deviant Brewing
Standard Deviant creates excellent, high quality beer for everyone. Great flavors to try are the Wrong Nelsons Pale Ale, Hazy IPA Brah, and the Nitro Cream Ale. They also feature great rotating food trucks, are very active in the LGBTQ+ community, and have adorable brewery dogs who are free to pet. What more could you want?!
Location: 280 14th St
[Featured Image: @anchorbrewing via Instagram]