A Brewing Balancing Act at Rafters

Rafters Grille & Brewery is a San Rafael brewpub that takes pride in offering an all natural product without any chemicals or additives. They do not add finings, filter or force carbonate their beers. According to Brewmaster, Dan Duncanson, "Everything is as natural as it gets."

Brewmaster, Dan Duncanson looks down from his perch next to the brew kettle at Rafters Grille & Brewery. Photo by Joel Williams

By Joel Williams  
Published: July, 2007 

Duncanson should know, he was studying biology at University of California at Davis at the same time he began homebrewing. After graduating from UC, Duncanson worked as an environmental biologist but soon found that the reality of politics made this dream job less than satisfactory for him, and returned to the practice of brewing. He worked as the production brewer at San Francisco Brewing for a year before he was offered the Brewmaster position at Rafters in February of 2006.

Rafters offers six house beers on tap, which mostly covers the more popular craft beer styles available today. Although Duncanson does make seasonal specialty beers, he rarely makes extreme beers that appeal to a limited audience — like Belgian styles or high alcohol concoctions — due to the limited space available in serving tanks and tap lines.

In all my beers I try for balance. I aim for balancing the malt with the hops and balancing the alcohol with the flavors that are there, so none of the beers are kick you in the face for anything. They are all going to be even and very drinkable.

The most popular beer at Rafters, by far, is the India Pale Ale, a Pacific Northwest style that is full-bodied and highly hopped but with a well-balanced flavor and over 7 percent ABV content.

The American Lager is light and refreshing and compares well to mainstream beers available today but with some added flavor and more mouth feel than the standard domestics.

The Pale Ale is an American style that resembles a mellower version of a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, without the intense hop character, yet having an unmistakable Cascade hop flavor.

The biggest surprise was their Amber, which I found delightful. It was well-balanced and had a light and smooth character while still being very flavorful with nice malty flavors including toffee and caramel.

Rafters Grille & Brewery may not try to brew the most exotic craft brew selection in the area, but it does have refreshing, well-balanced beers, good food and a welcoming atmosphere. I found the bar crowd and staff to be quite friendly and engaging, and, I felt like a regular right away. The restaurant itself has a very open, friendly environment complemented by an exceptionally high ceiling and a brewhouse that is visible from the dining room. The menu has plenty of pub grub with very tasty ½ pound Angus burgers, wood-fired pizzas and fish & chips, as well as a full menu of additional items with Italian flair.