San Francisco Brewing Company
(short notes)
San Francisco, California
All beers sampled draft at the brewpub, August 1995.
| Andromeda Wheat | American Wheat Ale | * * |
| Somewhat fruity and hoppy with a bot of a bitter finish, but blander than Marin's American. |
| Gripmanns Porter | Brown Porter | * * |
| Broadly in the brown style. Deep garnet color, crystal bright. Some chocolate notes in flavor, a very slight roasty finish. Blandish. |
| Albatross Lager | Helles "Lager" | * 1/2 |
| Claimed to be a pale lager. Pale, yes; lager, no. Way too estery to be a lager, not at all crisp, and not at all flavorful. |
| Emporer Norton Lager | Vienna "Lager" | * |
| Amber in color, leading me to assume a broad attempt at a Vienna. However, like the pale lager, this beer is not at all lager crisp. No malty profile evident. Also, there is something horribly wrong with this beer -- a procedural flaw, bordering on infection. I couldn't finish my tiny sample. |
| Pony Express Ale | American Amber Ale | * * |
| Amber. Typical of California Ambers: some hoppiness, a little ester in the nose, generally unexciting. Clean, though, unlike the prior two beers. |
| Barleywine | English Barleywine | * * * * 1/2 |
| Fortunately, I saved the best for the last. This beer had a huge malt/alcohol nose. It was an extremely deep garnet in color. Big malty flavor profile, with a wonderful alcoholic warmth. Excellent beer. |