La Trappe and Rogue Public.

I finally made it out to La Trappe, a bar in SF specializing in imported/Belgian beers. The setting is pretty cool. There's a small dining area upstairs, but downstairs is the bar with more dinner seating. The bar area is a pretty dimly lit, cozy cellar. Their bottle list is at least a dozen pages, each front and back, small print. I didn't really have the time or resources to work on that. The draft lineup was about a dozen beers, a lot of which are pretty freely available in bottles so I focused on the most obscure ones. Notes are brief.

Van Steenberge Gentse Tripel: Very smooth and sweet, a little undercarbed. Nice fruity phenolic character.

De Keersmaeker Mort Subite Blanche: A white lambic, i.e. a lambic brewed with wheat. Awesome strawberry and tropical fruit notes, very clean and light.

I forget what this was called. I overheard the bartender chatting up some girl about this one. It is apparently the original Hoegaarden recipe.

We made our way down to Rogue as well for some dinner. The menu as La Trappe looked nice, but I didn't get the vibe that I was going to get a lot of food for my money. But the joke was on me because I had a terrible fish and chips at Rogue. In retrospect, I should have remembered that because the last time I was there, one of my associates got the fish and chips and I got a taco salad. Both looked terrible.

Coincidentally, I recently had someone mention Mata Veza Morpho to me, about how it is a 0IBU beer or something, which is bizarre. I only had a taste, and it tasted more like a tea than anything.

Anderson Valley Port Stout: I actually wasn't thinking when I ordered this. On the first sip, I realized the "port" was referring to port wine. An interesting spin on a stout, not really sure if I like it though. I certainly wouldn't want to sit down with more than a half-pint. Rather tart up front with some body; underneath it is still a stout. Not sure how well the characters blended.

Deschutes Hop in the Dark: I presume this is a Cascadian Dark. Not bad, I think. I didn't take any notes for this one, and nothing really stands out in my memory other than the free Dead Guy the waiter accidentally brought me.

Rogue Chipotle Ale: I always pass over this one in the store. It wasn't bad, more peppery than a punchy spice or heat. The style never really appealed to me so I never drank it, but maybe I should sit down with a bottle and give it a shot.