At last! A day without drinking....well by that we mean, well, I dont know what we mean. But none us are drunk, which is a good sign!
Our livers were due for a day off, and luckily Jaime Jurado, Director of Brewing Operations, The Gambrinus Company (Trumer Pils and more) had set aside his day to show us the highlights of San Francisco and surrounds.
After finding that the Apple store in downtown San Fran had sold out of iPad's (our tech support guru Jason was going to buy two) we made our way across the bay to visit the Trumer brewery in Berkeley. The entire site takes up one whole city block, yet there is still an intimate feel and great love for the beer brewed here. This brewery is dedicated to making one beer only. Everything is crystal clean, super efficient and quality driven. Jamie puts the term 'Craft Brewery' into perspective.
We visited a few local bars including the Lucky 13 (where Barney enjoyed a Tripel Karmeliet on tap) and Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon in Jack London Square. The night was capped off with dinner at a local seafood restaurant and a few bottles of wine (as our livers needed a rest). However, temptation got the better of us, and we finished the night on an Odells Woodcut No 3, Oak Aged Crimson Ale. Highly recommended....if you can get it!!!
One large measure of a craft brewery, according to the Brewers Association, is that they are “…independent and traditional….” In the snip shared above, I said 'craft' brewery but really should have been clearer and said "microbrewery'...I was discussing what is the definition of a microbrewery, which I believe stops once production exceeds 15,000 barrel/yr and then it becomes 'regional craft brewery'.
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