Liquid Gold:
Small- batch brews on tap for tasting by the glass or the flight
Staying on top of the beer scene can seem like a Sisyphean task: You get hip to sour beers, then find out that the latest thing is saisons. You’re finally on board with double IPAs, and brewers introduce new hop hybrids that make for light, citrusy pale ales.
To keep up with the rapidly changing beer world, you need a rapidly changing tap list. At least that’s the philosophy of Tim Lee, proprietor of the 6- month- old Liquid Gold, a sliver of a beer bar and bottle shop on Nob Hill.
Lee uses a svelte 5- gallon keg system, each holding about 40 glasses. ( A normal keg holds three times that.) On a busy weekend day, Lee will change out seven or eight of his 30 beers on tap, meaning that there’s always something different to check out, even if you were there the day before.
You wouldn’t be alone in revisiting. The crowd sitting on metal stools at the modern, polished wood bar is neighborly and convivial, with many industry regulars talking brews to the non-industry people beside them.
In the late afternoon, sunlight streams through the plate- glass windows in front and onto a large, oldtimey map of San Francisco that marks the locations of many of the city’s historic breweries. Framed photos on the bar’s slate- colored walls depict San Francisco history. In the back are several coolers stocked with local and hard- to- find bottles. The whole place exudes cleanliness and organization.
That sense of order extends to the electronic tap list that hangs above the bar. It displays a thoughtful array of domestic beers, most from California. ( An updated version is always available on Liquid Gold’s website.)
Brews are available by the glass or in flights, allowing you to try something like Lemondrop, the zingy single- hop experiment from Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., next to Holy Craft’s Magnum Opus, a hard- to- find Belgian out of San Jose. Familiar local breweries like Almanac, Drake’s, Fort Point and Moonlight are well represented; cider and white and red wines are also available on tap.
Lee, a San Francisco native and former home brewer, is an unassuming and friendly presence behind the bar. Whether you want to taste your way through a few porters, find out what’s going on in Sacramento or San Diego, or just sample things you’ve never heard of, he’ll pour you tastes and work patiently to find something you like.
At least until the keg blows, and then you’ll have to find a new favorite.