BeerAdvcoate, the online forum turned magazine, doesn’t republish the print zine’s content online, but if you have #73, there’s my beer travel story on one of the best beer towns in the world: San Francisco. After the lede, below, I devised an itinerary that stops at musts like the legendary Toronado as well as more intimate nooks like Fat Angel.

Anchor Brewing Co., established in 1896, transformed into America’s original craft brewery in 1965 when Fritz rescued and renovated it, thereby making the SF Bay Area the epicenter of the beer renaissance. Maytag was even ahead of the real food movement, pioneered by Alice Waters who opened groundbreaking Chez Panisse across the bay in Berkeley in 1971.Today, the Bay Area is home to over sixty breweries, and The City itself boasts nine beyond Anchor…and growing. In fact, the SF Brewers Guild decided to bring the contract and gypsy breweries into the fold so now membership stands at fifteen.