Half Moon Bay Brewing - Contributor Post by Mrs. Freshpints

Half Moon Bay Brewing, seen from Capistrano Blvd.

Hi everyone!  As "Mrs. Freshpints" I'm normally a behind-the-scenes contributor for this blog, but since I had the chance to try some beers outside the usual freshpints stomping grounds, figured I'd post directly this time.  I hope you all enjoy!

Recently I visited San Francisco, just for a few days and for work, so it was a fast trip and not really conducive to a lot of free-time shenanigans.  But I found myself with several free hours at my disposal one very fine Sunday afternoon.  So, I decided to take a drive out to Half Moon Bay and give Half Moon Bay Brewing a whirl.  No better way to spend the afternoon than tracking down delicious, local craft brews.

The drive was absolutely beautiful once I got outside the larger freeways.  Down through Pacifica and past, there were really amazing ocean views that all on their own made the drive worth the while. The beaches looked sandy and flat, great for strolling, and there were quite a number of people taking advantage of the mild November conditions.

Seriously can you believe this view?! Those are moored sailboats you're looking at.

Half Moon Bay Brewing itself is actually a little north of town, down Capistrano Blvd.  The building is coastal-quaint from afar, but when you get up close you see how crowded it really is.  Inside, it’s pretty dark and bar-ish.  So, I opted to sit outside facing the water.  Great choice – the view was outrageous.

What I'm seeing while enjoying my beers, aaahhhhhh!

Since I hadn’t tried the beer before, I ordered samples of a few that I figured I’d like based on nothing other than type: Princeton-by-the-Sea IPA, Back in the Saddle Rye Pale Ale, and Pit Stop Chocolate Porter.

I started with the Rye.  Hands down, this was my favorite beer of the day.  It was light and crisp, refreshing like a good Pale should be.  And after a long day in transit between PDX and SFO, I really needed some refreshment!  I wish I would have ordered a pint. This was a really tasty beer.

Next up was the IPA.  Being from the Northwest, I recognize I’m a total IPA snob.  I can’t help it; this is a thing in Beervana (Portland, OR for the uninitiated.) I’ve been drinking insanely great IPA since before most of North America knew their Bud Light from their Miller High Life.  This one was, sadly, really unremarkable.  Yeah, I’m tough to please.  But if you’re an IPA, you’ve got to leave me with a strong impression… this one really didn’t.  Verdict?  Meh.

The Chocolate Porter was next.  I love chocolate, Porter is great, chocolate porter seems to be a great marriage of two wonderful things.  But alas, that was not the case.  This beer was cloyingly sweet for my taste, with a too-strong M&M's-like chocolate flavor coming through. 

I had a pretty killer smoked French Dip sandwich with my beers though.  So, that was a plus.  And like I said, the view was awesome.  Between that outstanding Rye Pale and the French Dip (not to mention the insane views) I was pretty glad I made the trip out.  Since it's so close to San Francisco, it's pretty easy to reach. 

However, this being my first actual post, I neglected to take photos of the actual beer or food. DOH!  Rookie mistake; rest assured I'll do better next time.

Cheers everyone!

--Emily D.
Half Moon Bay Brewing Company web page
Half Moon Bay Brewing Co Twitter page
Half Moon Bay Brewing Co Facebook page

Half Moon Bay Brewing Location:
390 Capistrano Rd.
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019

Two of my three empty tasters... oops!

To make up for forgetting to take pics of my beer, I took pictures of other people drinking on the patio... ironically, these guys were having wine.