Magnolia Pub & Brewery in San Francisco has a Grateful Dead theme and, since I consider myself a Deadhead, I put on a tie-dye, slipped on my Birkenstocks and headed down to the Haight to meet with Owner/Head Brewer Dave McLean and sample his brews.
Magnolia Brewery
By Joel Williams
Published: October, 2006
Magnolia, located on the corner of Haight and Masonic in a Victorian built in 1903, opened in 1997 after extensive construction to the building’s cramped and neglected basement that houses the brewery. The pub is small but the interior woodwork that was installed around the 1920s beautifully complements the psychedelic mural above the bar that wraps around the interior. Grateful Dead lyrical references can be found in the mural, if you look closely.
Now, on to the beer. There are usually 12 beers on tap and five additional cask ales, among them three different Bitters. McLean says he is inspired by English style beers and therefore, Magnolia’s uses only the finest, imported floor-malted English barley and an English Ale variety of house yeast.
What you won’t find at most American breweries is a range of bitters. McLean said, adding, Bitters are not so bitter anymore. In the olden days, bitters were more bitter than the sour beers that were prevalent at the time, so bitters were the fresh young beers that had a lot of hop aroma and character. In England, bitters are a really broad category.
The first of the three bitters I tried was the New Speedway Bitter. I found it to be very smooth and clean, as well as nice and light in both mouthfeel and alcohol content (3.6% ABV).
Next up was Pearly Baker’s Best Bitter, also on the low end of the spectrum as far as alcohol (4.1 ABV) and mouthfeel. Pearly had a little more malt flavor than the New Speedway but was still quite light and refreshing.
The third, Blue Bell Bitter, an Extra Special Bitter (ESB), has a rich, malty, robust character. Basically, it had a little more of everything that the other two offered (4.9% ABV) with a nice body and noticeable hop bitterness.
This style is about balance, despite the misnomer of the name, bitter. That’s the troublesome name issue. McLean explained, Because of the name, people will end up going away from the thing that they’re probably most likely to like and go for the IPA, which if they don’t like bitter, they are least likely to like.
Magnolia also had all three bitters in the form of cask conditioned ales, along with two other cask beers.
I’ve had cask conditioned ales at several breweries before but have never seen such an elaborate set up and dedication to this traditional English serving method. Magnolia has a dedicated cask cellar that holds over 25 casks and five beer engines to pull the beer up to the bar without using CO2, where they are served in traditional 20-ounce English pint glasses.
Cask conditioned ales have a very low carbonation level and are served at a cellar temperature of 56 degrees Fahrenheit, not warm or at room temperature. Since cold temperatures numb the taste buds, serving them at a slightly higher temperature allows the cask ale characteristics to come through, and the low carbonation allows for a fuller taste to be experienced, without the distraction of all of those bursting CO2 bubbles.
A great example of what a cask can offer is Proving Ground IPA. This beer is a modern West Coast IPA that has an aggressive hop aroma and flavor, but when served as cask conditioned ale, it takes on a different character. I found it to be exceptionally smooth with rather tame hop characteristics--I felt it was the best beer I tried that day.
Magnolia’s food is also worth mentioning. They serve traditional pub grub like pizza, burgers and wings, and there are several non-pub delicacies available like fish du jour, vegetable pistou, pork chops, jerk chicken and nightly specials. Magnolia is proud to support sustainable agriculture as well as local farms and businesses. Their meat and poultry is all natural, free range and raised without the use of hormones or antibiotics.
So next time you feel like heading down to the Haight for a dose of the freewheeling hippy atmosphere, stop by the Magnolia Pub & Brewery for a little bit of traditional English Ale House fused with the local psychedelic music and atmosphere. Oh yeah, and if feel like wearing a tie-dye and Birkenstocks, you’ll fit right in.
Magnolia Pub & Brewery will host October’s Meet the Brewers Night sponsored by the San Francisco Brewers Guild. Drop by on October 19 between 6PM and 9PM to enjoy a casual pint and meet some of the local brewers from Magnolia and other breweries in San Francisco.
Magnolia Pub & Brewery
1398 Haight Street / (415) 864-7468 / www.magnoliapub.com
Joel Williams was a professional craft brewer for over 7 years at several breweries. He earned a Diploma in Brewing Sciences in 1996 from the world-renowned Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago.
