West Coast Bias: San Francisco – The Bistro DIPA fest

And sometimes the experience and the journey are just that.

I awoke the next morning with a full day of beer related events to attend (so much so that it will cover two posts!).  I leisurely got dressed, packed up some bottles I needed for a trade, and headed out to the Double IPA fest at The Bistro.

After an excruciatingly long journey to Hayward, California, I arrived at The Bistro and its annual Double IPA fest.  I saw the street was blocked off and proceeded to be an idiot about getting inside (I walked around the perimeter of the festival until I realized that I had to enter through the bar itself).  Once I figured this out, I headed in.

View from the DIPA tents (on the right).

I will say I am glad they did not have this in the bar, as (from what I saw) it was very small for an event of this magnitude.  Upon exiting the bar onto the street, I proceeded to the ticket counter to pick up my collectible glass and 10 tickets (good for one pour each).  I then went to start drinking.

TIPA tents (on the left).

I would eventually figure out that the tents near the check-in were for Double IPAs and the tents near the port-o-potties were for the Triple IPAs.  Since I had Pliny the Younger the day prior, I skipped that massive line and headed for other, unique beers that I cannot get in Chicago.  I waited in line for beers 1-8, and picked the Trendy Triple from Berryessa Brewing (near Winters, CA).  Needing a table to set things down at, I saw two gentlemen standing on the side of the last Triple IPA tent, asked if the spot I saw was open (it was) and parked it there.  I noticed the guy I was standing next to had a small notebook out; turns out I was standing next to beerguy101, who has over 5000 reviews on ratebeer.  So I asked him what to try next.

Attendees getting their TIPA on.

He responded with the Notorious IPA3 from Boneyard Beer Company.  I sipped and chatted with him, all while browsing the options I had available to me.  I quickly looked at the Triple IPA list (since I was there), saw nothing I wanted, and flipped to the Double IPA side.  I knew what my next beer was going to be.

The packed DIPA tap list. So many quality options.

Telling my new drinking buddies I’d be back, I headed over to the DIPA tents to finally try a DIPA that trades (for some reason) well above what a DIPA usually trades for – Kern River Citra DIPA.  I was very happy to finally try this (and from a keg no less), and was thoroughly impressed.  I next moved to a Societe Brewing DIPA, The Roustabout.  I have heard great things about Societe and this was no exception.  I then saw a quality TIPA I had missed upon the first scanning of my list and headed back.

TIPA tap list. Same quality, less quantity.

And that was for the Simtra TIPA from Knee Deep, one of the standouts of the festival (my favorite TIPA, with Citra being my favorite DIPA).  I chatted with the gentlemen again, finding out that The Bistro (for the first time) bought out the entire street between the two cross streets.  This was a wise and key move on The Bistro’s part, as at no point did I feel cramped or squished.  The extra bathrooms added were the perfect amount; I rarely had to wait, and if I did, it was only one person deep.

I finished off my Simtra and looked at my phone.  It was getting time for me to leave.  I got a Hopocalypse Black label TIPA for my trip to the DIPA tents, then got an Original Dankster by Cellarmaker.  With that, I headed out to a very sour, bitter place.

Cheers to The BIstro for putting on a superb event!