Day 18 - Anchor Brewing and great dinner

Date 7/7

Weather: Sunny

Expense
$3 transportation
$3 souvenir
$6 today
$761 for the trip

Mileage: 0 today, 3,138 for the trip

Beer: 5 (4 beer, 1 wine) today, 22 for the trip

Pictures: homepage.mac.com/cenya/PhotoAlbum55.html

I decided to not run today. I often take a break from running. I think I needed a break.

I scheduled a brewery tour for today. Anchor Brewing Company to be exact. Very excited. Last big brewery tour was Coors in 1997, I think.

I need to exchange a pair of jeans, which my sister gave me yesterday for my birthday. It is a little too long and big. It is good when you need to return clothes for being too big. See, girls are not the only ones with insecurities.

After my sister went to work, I began my day by walking to Kenneth Cole to exchange the gift. I got a pair of striped pants. An Asian salesman, who has a rather womanly voice, helped me. Perhaps, I am a little paranoid. I was not bothered by it or anything, but I was annoyed by my observation. Am I not supposed to notice things? Am I a homophobe? Well, who really knows?

I then went to get a falafel from a Turkish restaurant my sister mentioned this morning. It was a little bit pricey at six bucks. It was a hearty portion at least. I enjoyed it. It was not the best or the worst I had.

I caught a Muni out to Anchor Brewing after my meal. I had my first unsavory experience with mass transit in SF. An African American person started slurring racial remarks about Mexicans. I don’t even know how he knows anyone is Mexican or not, but he went on and on about how Mexicans smell. Worst part was he was quite smelly in bad way. No one said anything. I guess no one wants to start a confrontation, but everyone seemed very annoyed by him. I am glad he got off the MUNI quickly. I am sure someone would have done something if there was a physical abuse. I am not sure if I would have acted. I guess I will leave this up to when it happens.

On the other hand, Anchor Brewing was just a delight the whole time. I must say I did not really learn anything new, but the tour guide was a cute short woman named Katie, which made for more fun. Anchor Brewing is a small outfit with older equipment. Katie got around this by saying things like old traditions. Like logging parameters instead of automated recording. WHATEVAH! It was good to see big equipment to make much bigger batch than 5 gallons.

The best part of the tour was beer tasting, OF COURSE! Unlike Coors, there was no two drinks limit. YES! I got to taste their flagship Anchor Steam (70% of the production), Liberty Ale, Bock, Old Foghorn Barley Wine, Small Beer, Summer Beer, and Porter. I like the Summer Beer very much. It was a nice easy drinking beer, which is dangerous. Good thing I am a light drinker. I also like Liberty and Steam. I was also okay with Bock and Barley Wine, but Small Beer has got to go. It was the most horrible beer I have ever tasted. It is made from the second running of the barley wine mash. I got back to the apartment after purchasing a small Anchor Brewing patch.

Another highlight of the day is dining at California Culinary Academy. I made reservation for us, which included Stacy, Kendall, Garrick, Matt, sis, and me. We met up and ordered from a menu of three course meals. I had calamari for an appetizer. It was a little too chewy. I had crabmeat stuffed in lobster shell. It was a little too salty. Lastly, I had crème brulee. It was a little too well torched on top. The best part was again the company. It is nice to sit with smart people and talk intelligently about nothing and say funny things. I cannot remember laughing so much in a long time.

Anyway, Matt had an early plan so the Palo Alto group left after dinner. So we all decided to go separate ways. It was great nonetheless.