Welcome to an extra stop on the Brews and Choos project.
Brewery: Southern Pacific Brewing, 620 Treat Ave., San Francisco
Train line: BART, 16th St/Mission
Time from Embarcadero: 7 minutes
Time from Chicago: about 4½ hours by air
Distance from station: 1 km
This small brewery with a huge taproom is hidden in an industrial section of the Mission District. It's a quick walk from the BART through the Pilsen of San Francisco down a side street and an alley. Talking with some of the people there, it gets busy after work and on weekends, with lots of office parties and football games on the huge projection screen opposite the bar. (Fortunately they keep all their other TVs in the lofted party space and not by the bar or on the patio.)
I tried three of their beers, none of which had a clever name or unconventional hop profile. They didn't have any of their American Pale Ale on draft, and they don't do flights. They do have 150 mL (5 oz) pours, so I started with that size hazy IPA, a lovely, well-balanced beer with orange, banana, and apricot flavors. (I went back for a full pint of this after the small pours.) Next, their West Coast IPA (5.8%, 55 IBU) had a big-hop, crisp flavor with a little astringency that I didn't like at first. I finished with their Stout (9%), a huge, chocolate, chicory, coffee brew that I liked a lot.
I wound up staying so I could finish the book I was reading, and watched several after-work parties come and go. I also had a Caesar salad, which was not bad. If I lived in the Mission, I'd probably go to this brewery a lot.
Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Outside only
Televisions? Avoidable
Serves food? Full menu
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes