I’ve hop scotched — beer scotched? — around the Bay Area checking out breweries from Gilroy to Brentwood. This time I ventured to the upper Peninsula to check out beer havens in South San Francisco and Pacifica. Here’s what I found.
South San Francisco’s Armstrong Brewing was a casualty of the pandemic’s first year, but the good news is that 47 Hills Brewing is still thriving. Owner and brewer John Tucci is a veteran of the Bay Area beer scene, getting his start as a home brewer in the 1980s before moving to
Germany to learn more and intern at Munich’s Paulaner brewery.
Back in California in 1998, he began brewing at Palo Alto’s Gordon Biersch and by 2001, he was head brewer for the company in San Francisco. Tucci opened 47 Hills in South San Francisco in 2017, the name a nod to an old quote that holds that San Francisco has 47 hills. (Depending on the source, the actual count can vary from seven to 74.)
Tucci has a gift for lagers, but his IPA is also quite tasty, and his best-seller is Yelling at Cars, a tart, refreshing pilsner. Pink Boots, named for the Pink Boots Society, an organization that supports female brewers, is a close second. It’s unfiltered, but not a hazy — the best of both worlds. He also makes Farmhouse Ale, a Belgian-style beer brewed with Kveik, a Norwegian yeast.
The neighborhood is industrial, but the brewery is something of an oasis with a large beer garden outdoors and cozy seating inside, with long community-style bench seating and a long bar. An arcade offers a dozen pinball machines and old-school video games, and the kitchen serves up Wagyu burgers, hot fried chicken sandwiches and flatbread pizza.
Details: The brewery opens at 7 a.m. — with a breakfast menu and coffee — Tuesday-Friday and noon on weekends at 137 S. Linden St. in South San Francisco; 47hillsbrewingcompany.com.
Head 15 minutes down Highway 1, and you’ll find Pacifica’s first brewery, Pedro Point Brewing, opened by Jason Bentley, Aaron Bonner and Roberta Gamble in 2015. These days, Matt Miller handles the brewing. Located in a small strip mall within sight of the ocean, the taproom is warm and cozy, with nooks and crannies for seating, local art on the walls and board games to play while you’re there. Outside food is welcome. And the brewery is dog friendly.
They keep 15 or so beers on the menu, which is divided into lighter beers — a hefeweizen and a blonde — as well as pale ales and IPAs, malty and darker, and sours, plus a couple of hard seltzers. The IPAs include two West Coast versions and two hazies, but they also make a distinctive Milkshake IPA with coconut and pineapple. Consider it a Pina Colada Hopsicle. The Say Dunkel was a standout for me, a Munich-style dark lager with great malt character and a touch of coffee goodness.
Details: Pedro Point Brewing opens at 3 p.m. on weekdays and 1 p.m. on weekends at 55A Bill Drake Way in Pacifica; pedropointbrewing.com.
Just a few more minutes down Highway 1, you’ll discover Pacifica Brewery, which I mentioned last year in a column about great new breweries. It’s well worth a stop. Brewer Kim Sturdavant
makes a wide range of terrific beers and the menu by French chef Sylvain Montassier is
several levels about standard brewpub fare.
Details: Pacifica Brewery opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 2 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. Sundays at 4627 Highway 1 in Pacifica; www.pacificabrewery.beer.
Know a local brewery or brewpub that’s knocking it out of the park? Drop me a line at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.
