Off-Centered Ale Trail: San Francisco

San Francisco has a well-deserved reputation as an offbeat city—there’s much to be found here that doesn’t exist anywhere else. There’s also a strong beer-drinking history, summed up in the first stop along our route: the old Hippodrome. It’s a remnant from the raucous Barbary Coast days, when San Francisco was overrun by Gold Rush miners, sailors, and saloons.

Elsewhere, we’re celebrating Dogfish Head Brewery’s SeaQuench Ale with the Wave Organ, a musical instrument played by the ocean, and Flesh & Blood IPA with the Gold-Rush-era tombstones that have been recycled and used to pave San Francisco’s parks. The Long Now Orrey is our 60 Minute IPA spot: a modern version of Enlightenment planetary models, representing the motion of the solar system. The contraption is designed to move twice a day, sending its small Earth around the sun every 365 days. Saturn’s rotation will take 29.7 years.

You can check out our Ale Trails across the country here, and start building your own by clicking the “Add to List” button alongside each entry. We’ll see you out there!