Rich's Berkeley Blog

A blog about Berkeley and beyond. Social commentary, upcoming events, bargains, local restaurants, and more will be discussed. Enjoy!

Friday, February 24, 2006

Pacific Coast Brewing Company

I've been going to Pacific Coast Brewing Company for a few months now. It's definitely at the very top of my list for favorite brew pubs. If I lived nearby I'd probably be there several nights a week. What I usually do is take BART home from work in SF, get off at 12th street/city center in Oakland, and walk the couple blocks to the pub.

Last week was the first time I noticed they have Unibrou's Maudite on tap now. I've been drinking Unibrou beers for a decade now. They're out of Quebec and were started by an ex-head brewer of Chimay. They're very Belgian style ales and very delicious. Having this beer on tap is wonderful! Maudite's a darker Belgian-style ale, but it isn't too sweet. Very delicious!!!

They also consistently have Racer V IPA. Another of my favorites.

I also tried one last time called Pliney the Elder. This double IPA is incredibly hoppy, not so sweet, light in color and quite delicious. I will definitely drink this one more.

They usually have one of their beers on cask; the blue whale ale or sometimes the IPA. So delicious! I love cask beer!

One of the best parts is that they're right next to Oakland Chinatown and you can also walk right across the street to Taylor's Sausage Factory (<- link to an earlier post about the sausage factory) to get things for a BBQ.

The social atmosphere at the bar is the best I've seen. I haven't been to a bar ever where I've been maybe 10 times and already know most of the bartenders, several of the waitresses, and strike up conversation with fellow beer drinkers approx. 80% of the time. At the Berkeley pubs it's always seemed so unfriendly in comparison.

Enjoy!