Pacific Coast Brewing Company
I've been going to Pacific Coast Brewing Company for a few months now. It's definitely at the very top of my list for favorite brew pubs. If I lived nearby I'd probably be there several nights a week. What I usually do is take BART home from work in SF, get off at 12th street/city center in Oakland, and walk the couple blocks to the pub.
Last week was the first time I noticed they have Unibrou's Maudite on tap now. I've been drinking Unibrou beers for a decade now. They're out of Quebec and were started by an ex-head brewer of Chimay. They're very Belgian style ales and very delicious. Having this beer on tap is wonderful! Maudite's a darker Belgian-style ale, but it isn't too sweet. Very delicious!!!
They also consistently have Racer V IPA. Another of my favorites.
I also tried one last time called Pliney the Elder. This double IPA is incredibly hoppy, not so sweet, light in color and quite delicious. I will definitely drink this one more.
They usually have one of their beers on cask; the blue whale ale or sometimes the IPA. So delicious! I love cask beer!
One of the best parts is that they're right next to Oakland Chinatown and you can also walk right across the street to Taylor's Sausage Factory (<- link to an earlier post about the sausage factory) to get things for a BBQ.
The social atmosphere at the bar is the best I've seen. I haven't been to a bar ever where I've been maybe 10 times and already know most of the bartenders, several of the waitresses, and strike up conversation with fellow beer drinkers approx. 80% of the time. At the Berkeley pubs it's always seemed so unfriendly in comparison.
Enjoy!