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It’s pretty much what you expect. You arrive to the office, check e-mails, answer a few calls. The usual. Except this subject matter isn’t usual. Your world consists of trying to outfit the retail side of a bustling Whole Foods Market in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, as well as lining up the craft beer centric café Steep Brew, with the most satisfying, diverse, and flavorful local craft beer on tap. Quite the day’s work if I do say so myself.
Wes Anderson – nope, not that one, the Northern California born and bred Wes Anderson – is the man behind the scenes. He’s making the shopping experience more bearable by supplying you with the optional beer buzz before you play bumper carts in the aisle. He gave me the background on the development of Steep Brew, how it came about and what he’s looking forward to.
The two-story space has an inviting, approachable vibe, with huge glass windows pouring in light, as well as two TVs going at the same time. If a beer bar that served food combined with a coffee house, this is what you would get. The easygoing nature of the place is especially nice for folks who don’t really know the difference between an Imperial IPA and a Belgian Saison. It creates an atmosphere where beer lovers and novices alike can ask questions, gain some knowledge, and become devout converts like the rest of us.
Just passing its one-year anniversary mark, Steep Brew is the third iteration from the Whole Foods team (having a similar concept in Santa Rosa as well as Richmond), but the first to have a blown out kitchen. They’re cranking out amazing pizzas from their pizza oven, pork chops, mac and cheese, and more. You name it and they’re pairing it with the 16 rotating taps Wes and his team regularly swap.
Upstairs is where the fruit, vitamins and such hang out, but also where Wes curates an incredible selection of bottles and cans ranging from the major players in the game all the way to the new, up-and-coming little guys. It’s pretty clear when someone loves what he does (and knows their craft) because it sings through the final product. His idea with the 16 rotating taps is that it would complement what is in the retail section. It also serves as a location for local brewers who aren’t yet canning or bottling to get their goods on draft, and helps facilitate creating demand and a consumer base.
While “Tap Takeovers” & “Meet the Brewers” nights are a few of the events Steep Brew dabbles in, they’re also rolling out a monthly beer club called Society of Beer Adventures. It’s the first of its kind for Whole Foods and if successful, you might be seeing it elsewhere around the country. The idea is to give people a variety package of rare, hard to find bottles from the best brewers in the business, which will change each month.
Wes has a great Twitter presence as well. He uses it to inform his followers when new items come in for retail or on tap, encouraging a lot of unplanned trips to pick up what he’s putting down. You never knew you needed a 21st Amendment Lower De Boom Barley Wine at 9 in the morning, until you saw it on your feed.
Follow the “Beer & Tap Room Specialist” @wesleybeero to get in the know. If you haven’t visited Wes yet, this is the perfect reason to go “shopping,” pick up a few things, and make a stop at the old café downstairs.
