On October 12, I joined beer distributor Chris Baker on his weekly rounds in Berkeley and Oakland. It was a unique opportunity to check out several nice establishments that serve good beer and meet some of the proprietors behind them.Thanks in part to savvy marketers/educators like Baker, a former brewer at Drake's Brewery in San Leandro, good craft beer has become ubiquitous in Oakland and Berkeley and is available at unlikely places, such as The Bear's Lair on the U.C. Berkeley campus, where Jeremy Lauzier, pictured here (top), helps steer new beer drinkers in a craft beer direction. Hefeweizens are by far the most popular choice in Bear's Lair, Lauzier said.
The Shattuck Hotel, across the street from the Jupiter Brewing company, also had a surprisingly good selection of craft beers, pictured with manager Gerald Murphy.
BBQ is among the many classic beer/food pairings, and lovers of beer and Q could do a lot worse than sipping a Drake's IPA with their ribs or pulled pork sandwich at Looney's Smokehouse Barbecue. Another classic pairing with beer is pizza, and one of the best is Zachary's on Telegraph, which also boasts a pretty decent selection of craft beer.
Need to work off some of that ale? Step over to the Thalassa Bar and Billiards on Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley, where Pixie is pictured explaining to Baker that cue balls that work on the tables that are rented by the hour won't work the same way on the coin-operated tables. Also pictured: Thalassa's beer board and some of their many pool tables.
Tomorrow: my beer odyssey with Chris Baker continues in Oakland and Berkeley
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