On Sunday, the fella and I decided to escape the heat of our sans-AC apartment in Oakland and head across the Bay to San Francisco for a few brewery visits. Little did we know that it would be just as hot and un-air-conditioned in SF, but we had a great day anyway.
Our first stop was Triple Voodoo Brewery, located in the Dogpatch neighbourhood. We arrived around 1pm and it was nearly empty, but it was picking up a little by the time we left. They don’t serve food or have NFL Sunday Ticket, so it’s probably never going to get crowded early on a Sunday during football season. They do, however, have NFL Red Zone, so we watched a few great finishes as the first batch of NFL games ended. (West coast time…still weird to us.) The tap room is fairly big and has both high-top tables and bar seating. We sat at the bar, as we generally prefer to do while trying beers.
The bartender was super friendly and offered some advice as we chose our six-beer flight (pictured above). They had 10 beers on tap, but don’t offer the barrel-aged beer in the flight, so we only had to eliminate three. We wanted to share, so we skipped Illinois St IPA, Anxiety Pils, and Wiz Wit.
Breaka Dawn (Belgian Pale Ale): This was our last choice on our flight card, and it was down to this one or the Wiz Wit. The bartender on duty said that he helped brew this one, so he preferred it. Pale Ale is never my favourite style, and I liked the flavour right at the start of the sip, but not the bitterness at the finish. Fella: 3.5/5, Me: 3/5
Deep Cover (Saison): I usually like saisons, but thought this one was a little hoppy. Fella: 3.25, Me: 3.5
Tropical Sundowner (Fruit Kettle Sour): I saved this one for last, partially because a brewer recently told us to always taste the sours last, and partially because I tend to like sours best in hot weather. With mango and guava added to this brew, it tasted like nice, tart gose. We really enjoyed this one. Fella: 4, Me: 4
Octoberfest (Festbier/Marzen): We were originally planning to go to Oktoberfest in Munich this year, but had to scrap the trip when we decided to move to CA, so I have been a little resistant to Oktoberfest beers this year. This one was great, though—good and malty, amber in colour, and stronger than a typical marzen. Fella: 4, Me: 4.25
Inception (Belgian Golden Strong): I really like strong Belgians, as a rule, and found this one to be a little on the hoppy side. Very good, but not a standout. JP liked the classic Belgian flavour. Fella: 3.75, Me: 3.75
King Leopold (Belgian Stout): One of Triple Voodoo’s core beers, they often have different variations of this one. We were glad to taste both the original and a variation. It’s a strong, bold stout with oat and molasses flavours. I was impressed by how smooth it felt. JP was glad that it didn’t have too much coffee taste. Fella: 4, Me: 4.25
King Leo w/coffee, coconut, and chocolate (Belgian Stout): I loved this one and preferred it over the original King Leo. The coconut was very subtle to me and I could have used more (I can always use more coconut), but I loved the bold dark chocolate and coffee. Fella: 4.25, Me: 4.5
Triple Voodoo fills growlers and we decided to bring home a growler of King Leo. It was about $20 for 64 oz, I think. They sell 32- and 64-oz glass growlers for $8, but they will also fill outside growlers if the branding is taped up. We didn’t know about the California law that only allows breweries to refill outside growlers if the branding isn’t visible, so we were happy that the bartender had a roll of painter’s tape on hand to make ours acceptable.
Overall, we had a great time at Triple Voodoo and will definitely return. Maybe for Thursday trivia night!
Visit Triple Voodoo:
2245 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA
Transit: Muni T, 22, and 48. Close to 22nd St Caltrain.
Bring/order your own food
Bring your dogs, but not your kids (tap room is 21+)