American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
Craft beer tourism has come of age and increasingly fans are building their travel plans around cool cities that also brew serious beer. One of the most exciting new beer destinations is Oakland, California, a city we drank our way through recently – and the Pacific Coast Brewing Company is one of the places that you don’t want to miss when you’re there.
Tucked away downtown in the shadows of the Oakland Convention Center (off-season home to the Golden State Warriors) lies the Pacific Coast Brewing Company, one of the region’s longest reigning craft brewing operations and the perfect place to begin you drinking tour of this bohemian enclave.
Billed as an “Oakland Original” (it is that!) Pacific Coast Brewing is both an old-fashioned brewpub and a wonderful introduction to city’s progressive brewing traditions.
Brewpubs, especially those that have been around for a while, can get set in their ways and lean on the “dependable” rather than take risks. But at Pacific Coast Brewing, we were blown away by the sheer variety of styles they had successfully taken on.
In the comfort of their shaded backyard beergarden, complete with a roaring fire pit and Adirondack chairs, we drank our way through an array of offerings, all handpicked by Pacific Coast’s founder Steve Wolf. And it was a paradigm-shifting experience to say the least…
We sampled a fresh cucumber Kölsch that was killer, nursed a cask conditioned XPA that was “borderline brilliant,” and savored a Strawberry Saison that was as delicate as these things come. And we ended our afternoon of serious drinking with their popular BBA Leviathan – a massive 9.3% ABV Wild Turkey Barrel-aged Stout that’s a “must” when you’re there.
Don’t leave without ordering something from their seasonal menu because their food can be as impressive as their beer. Curated under the watchful eye of General Manager Alan Fullerton, Pacific Coast’s food offerings use only the freshest local ingredients, and even better, all their dishes incorporate different beers that they brew.
We enjoyed a terrific beef brisket served on handmade pasta when we came though and a beer-battered corn dog with bacon that was beyond words.
Bottom Line – the Pacific Coast Brewing is a brewpub (and bar) that approaches the art of brewing and beer cuisine with a seriousness and sophistication that one seldom sees at this level – and it’s the right place to begin any drinking journey through Oakland.
