The 16 Best San Francisco Breweries to Try Right Now

Wood Beer & Wine Co. started in 2012 as Woods Cerveceria, a tiny brewpub on the corner of Dolores Park, and immediately gained popularity for its IPA brewed with yerba mate. Now there are taproom locations all over SF where you can find creative, small-batch beer (and wine) paired with empanadas (Polk Street, Treasure Island, Outer Sunset) and Joyride Pizza (Lower Haight). There’s truly a Woods beer for every palette (light ales, sours, IPAs, pale ales, etc.), including palettes that love beer and Girl Scout Cookies (released every March).

Olfactory is new to town—the brewery took over the former Triple Voodoo Brewery space last year—but has quickly found fans eager to sip (i.e. guzzle) its pale ales, lagers, and IPAs. The taproom is dog-friendly and you can often catch the game on the patio while eating snacks from Guajillo Kitchen or Pizza Squared.

The OG Harmonic taproom and brewery is in the Dogpatch and has long (well since 2015) been popular with grownups who desperately want a fun place to enjoy small-batch beer but also with kids and/or dogs in tow. The Dogpatch warehouse location is still the place to go for that (plenty of indoor and outdoor seating as well as food trucks), while the newer taproom near Chase Center is good for sweeping views of the Bay (or to watch the game on TV), tons of seating (it fits 300 people, which is enormous for SF), and comfort food bites delivered directly to your table.

Park Chalet’s biggest draw may be its expansive dog-friendly lawn where one can often find live music, but the hand-crafted ales and lagers are all plenty of reason for a visit to the beach. The beers are pretty traditional: honey wheat, West Coast IPA, Kolsch, etc., but that just means there’s something for almost every kind of beer drinker. You can’t get the beers anywhere else, but you can take them home in a growler. (And fine, you can also find them at their sister restaurant, Beach Chalet, which is the beer’s namesake, but those in the know understand that Beach Chalet is for tourists and Park Chalet is for the rest of us.)

21st Amendment moved most of its beer production to a sprawling brewery in San Leandro, but the brewers at the SF location still produce a couple of new, small-batch, one-off releases every week. The brewery—named after the amendment that ended prohibition—has a couple of year-round beers (the Brew Free or Die IPA is probably the most popular) but is also known for its seasonal beers, specifically Hell or High Watermelon wheat beer. Need an excuse other than just drinking some classic and tasty SF-brewed beer? Hit up Trivia Night on Sundays at 7 pm.

Cellarmaker is quite possibly the most popular of all the San Francisco breweries, and it’s not because they make an excellent flagship beer. It’s the exact opposite. The owners/brewers at Cellarmaker are constantly producing small batches of experimental beers. There are 12 beers on tap in the cozy tasting room, and although you can’t count on drinking whatever it is you loved the last time you were in, you can count on three to four of the taps pouring some of the best hoppy IPAs you’ll ever drink. Bring your growler if you want to take some home. Head to Cellarmaker House of Pizza in the Mission, where there are 10-plus beers on tap if you’d like to pair SF’s best Detroit-style pizza.

This industrial-style small-batch brewery is popular for its inventive California-meets-Belgian–style beer but also because there’s almost always something fun going on (think: karaoke, trivia, craft nights, pinball, collaborations with other San Francisco breweries, food trucks). There are 16 rotating taps in the kid- and pet-friendly, 1,000-square-foot tasting room (there’s also a parklet), and if the Rhubarbra Straws and Sour (a sour ale with a focus on rhubarb and accents of strawberry) is available, definitely get that one.

“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone” was never more true than when Speakeasy suddenly shut down in 2017. Maybe most San Franciscans hadn’t had a Big Daddy IPA or Prohibition Ale in years, but to not even have the option to drink Speakeasy’s bold, complex beers was too much to handle. Luckily, it was brought back to life a few months later, and we’ll never take it for granted again. The prohibition-era-themed taproom has 17 beers on draft, including the two usual suspects, but don’t forget to try a limited release.

If you like to really nerd out about beer, Black Hammer Brewing is your spot. The beer is made by two guys, one who earned awards for his home brews and one who was a chemical engineer, and both of whom like Burning Man enough that they vaguely referenced its location in the brewery’s name. Together, they create all kinds of ales and lagers using a mix of traditional methods and science experiments. The brewery—which doubles as a great spot to work from since it has outlets everywhere and a garage-style door that rolls up for fresh air and sunshine—has 12 fermenters, and the beers change daily as inspiration strikes. Though not a brewery, Black Hammer is also behind the beer garden and sausage haus Willkommen in the Castro.

When you think of New Belgian Brewing, you probably think of Fat Tire and Colorado, but now you can also think of SF as the home of its first flagship restaurant and taproom. Located in Mission Bay, close to both the Giants and the Warriors stadiums, New Belgian is a full-service spot that can handle the crowds indoors and on the waterfront patio (canal, not Bay) with views of Oracle Park’s scoreboard. You can order a bunch of the New Belgium classics, but what you should do instead is try the small-batch releases brewed on-site, especially if there’s a sour on the menu.

Sapporo may have bought this historic brewery responsible for the first craft beer in America in 2017, but it still is—and always will be—a favorite staple of the San Francisco beer scene, as proven by the fact that it’s been around for 125+ years. The brewery offers public tours and tastings, but if you want to drink your beer without 60 minutes of learning beforehand, head to Public Taps (an indoor/outdoor space across the street from the brewery), where you can get beers exclusively brewed for the space. Definitely try some of those, but don’t shy away from ordering the classic Anchor Steam Beer as well. Yes, we know you can get it at pretty much any grocery store in the Bay Area, but it tastes even better fresh from the keg.

Fort Point came onto the SF beer scene in 2014 and found instant popularity. The secret to its success is its approachability; beers are balanced, thoughtful, and easy to be around. The main brewery is in a historic Crissy Field building –that was once used as an Army motor pool –but the location isn’t allowed to serve the public. A new pop-up just around the corner from the main place is located at the Main Parade Lawn (right by Tunnel Tops) where you can get beers on draft, crab rolls, hot dogs, and more. That pop-up is only open a few days a week, but you can enjoy the beer at Fort Point’s flagship beer hall in the Mission seven days a week. That space comes equipped with tons of seating, including dog-friendly outdoor tables; a food menu focused on SF-style seafood, like Dungeness Crab Rolls and Cioppino; and 20 taps (10 of which are guest taps). Want a beer after your weekend farmers market shopping? There’s also a cozy Fort Point kiosk in the Ferry Building.

Brewmaster Dave McLean started brewing balanced, sessionable beers in a seven-barrel brewery in the basement of the Haight Street brewpub in 1997. Today, Magnolia brews dozens of beers that run the gamut of flavors and styles, so you can always find whatever you’re craving. McLean is no longer a part of Magnolia, but the beer remains as interesting and innovative as ever. The sprawling Dogpatch location closed in early 2022, but the Haight Street location was always a lot cooler anyway—it’s still thriving and offering 12 beers on tap (most of which you can also take home in a growler) and tasty pub fare.

If you’re looking for “a great place to smash a few cold ones,” look no further than this laid-back brewery housed in a former auto body shop on 14th Street where you’ll find a wide variety of styles of rotating beers, ranging from crisp, Mexican-style lagers to refreshing West Coast IPAs to tart saisons—all of them served ice cold. Seriously, if you like your beer really cold, this is your spot. There’s also shuffleboard and food from local restaurants and food trucks on the weekends.

If you have kids and you like hazy IPAs then Barebottle is quite likely already as much as part of your vocab as the names and jobs of all the Paw Patrol pups, since this expansive taproom is kid-friendly and has games that people of all ages will appreciate, including shuffleboard, ping pong, pinball, and more. Dogs are also allowed, so the space feels very lively on the weekends when it’s filled with both. You can also bring your own food, but there’s usually a food truck or pop-up serving up tasty bites if you’d prefer to not pack your own lunch. As far as what to order—this is definitely the spot to start with a tasting flight.

Local Brewing truly keeps it local with a slew of beers made by head brewer and co-founder Regan Long, known for her approachable concoctions with clever, hyper-local names. The taproom has 10 rotating beers brewed on-site and a stellar food situation with pizzettes, sandwiches, and sausages. A great stop pre-Giants game or just any time you want to support one of the only women- and LGBTQ-owned San Francisco breweries.
NOTE: Local Brewing Co. is temporarily closed due to a December 2022 fire. You can donate to the GoFundMe to help support the rebuild and follow them on Instagram for updates about events, pop-ups, and more.