For this month’s Bay Area brewery tour, I headed back to San Francisco on a sunny spring day to visit three breweries I’ve been meaning to check out: Enterprise Brewing in the city’s South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood, Barrel Head Brewhouse in the area north of the Panhandle (NOPA) and San Francisco Brewing in Ghirardelli Square. With great beer, food and atmosphere, these destinations did not disappoint. Open since August in the former Cellarmaker digs, Enterprise Brewing Co.
was founded by Jesse Hayter and brewmaster Cameron McDonald, who met while working at Fort Point Brewing as, respectively, the first delivery driver and first brewer. The brewery’s name comes from the recesses of San Francisco history, a nod to another Enterprise brewery that opened on Folsom Street in 1873 only to be shuttered by Prohibition. This brewery’s space is small, but open and vibrant, with a raucous, lively energy.
A roll-up door brings in air and light. It feels welcoming and inviting, with a DJ spinning tunes and people bringing in food from next door. On Saturdays, they bring in pizza from .
McDonald keeps 10 or so beers on tap, including a clean, refreshing lager and a Continental-style pilsner, which are their best-selling beers. I enjoyed their Dutch Blonde, their take on a Kuit beer, a nearly-extinct beer style from the Netherlands. They also had a lovely copper ale, that was giving steam beer vibes, and a sourdough stout brewed with sourdough loaves from Rize Up and served .
