Battle of the Bay Brews Taste Test — The Bold Italic

that the Bay Area brews some of the best beers in the world. From Pyramid’s smooth Apricot Ale, perfect for summer time, to Anchor Brewing’s classic Anchor Steam, perfect for anytime, there’s almost no end to the variety of brews Bay Area residents have at their disposal. So it’s no surprise that one of our favorite pastimes is day drinking local beers whenever we get the chance — especially when they’re free.

The Bay Area is home to more than a hundred different breweries, but I was curious which side of the Bay — the city, East Bay, or North Bay — really makes the best beer. It’ a daunting question, but I wanted an answer.

For extensive knowledge of where the best beer’s at on both sides of the bay, check out the San Francisco Beer Map and the East Bay Beer Map.

So, I invited 18 of our readers to The Bold Italic headquarters in Hayes Valley to try out some of the Bay’s best pale ales and see what they thought. The tasters were a diverse crowd including a local celebrity in the beer industry and a Brooklynite just passing through the city.

The afternoon consisted of a blind taste test in which each participant got to taste six different ales — two brewed in the north, two in the east, and two in the city — in a random predetermined order. The tasters then ranked the beers by preference and a winner was established by averaging the scores. From that, it was pretty easy to determine which side of the bay is the superior brewer, and I’ll admit, the results were pretty shocking. Read on to see if your ’hood can hold its own when it comes to brewing some beer.

DRAKE’S
SAN LEANDRO

Drake’s 1500 Pale Ale

A big hoppy beer with aromas of pine and citrus, Drake’s is your classic pale ale and good for any occasion.

LINDEN STREET
OAKLAND

Urban People’s Common Lager

The flagship brew, the Common is malt forward with a nice hop finish that leaves you satisfied and gives you a taste of what beer tasted like back in the olden days.