Moonlight in the Mission and a Twist of Fate originally appeared on Hop Talk.
By a twist of fate, I scored free tickets to the Giants playoff game at AT&T Park on Tuesday. So Monday night after work, I decided to hit The Mission District with my buddy Chad, who lives in San Francisco. We ended up in a bar called Gestalt, and were immediately impressed with their beer selection.
First I sampled Payback Porter from San Francisco’s own Speakeasy Brewery. It was honestly the best Porter I’ve had all summer- cocoa-y with a finish so smooth it was like a plane touching down on water. Chad had a Downtown Brown, a favorite here in Northern Cali. Then, while deciding on our second beer, the bartender told us the charming story of Moonlight Brewing.
He spoke of a man in Santa Rosa who still handles the daily operations of his Abbey Brewery. His abbey is small, but the demand for his beer is as large as can be. This guy grows his own hops on site, and only does 1000 barrels a year. He is Brian Hunt, the man behind the beer you can only get in kegs. In fact, Chad and I were lucky that night, because Brian’s beer is hard to find. We had heard of Death and Taxes, perhaps Moonlight’s most popular beer. I recalled a black lager with surprising lightness, but while I’ve drunk Death and Taxes a few times, I had never heard the story behind Moonlight Brewing.
Gestalt offered only one of Moonlight’s brews- Twist of Fate, a Bitter Ale. Of course Chad and I had to get it after hearing about such a regional commodity. Twist of Fate is a delightfully bitter beer. Bitter to the bone. It hits you in the mouth with all it’s got, and then, surprisingly it falls away just as quickly. The darkness of its red color makes you ready for something heavier, but like Death and Taxes, it leaves you with a crisp, light finish. It really was pleasant, and we passed the rest of the night with that comfortable feeling you only get with a good friend and good brew.
Perhaps we indulged a bit too much in the Mission under the light of the moon, because I didn’t feel too hot the next day for the Giant’s game. Good thing they won anyway.
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