The view from the Vallejo ferry.

My besotted eyes dragged across the menu, another round of Double IPAs and Imperial this and Strong that were on the way to the table, but we needed more food to pair with our ales.

And then I saw it, deviled eggs.

For what pairs better with beer ice cream at close to 1 a.m. than deviled eggs?

Christine and I were with friends in San Francisco recently to be part of SF Beer Week and it also happened to be Strong Beer Month. So on our tour of a few of the city’s best beer establishments we imbibed and feasted in SF style.

Our first stop was the Rogue embassy on Union Street where we sampled a few special Dead Guy releases as well as the Rouge whiskey. The whiskey was surprisingly light but full of delicate malt notes and had a pleasant aroma. There’s a great beer garden in the back of Rouge and it was a perfect place to start our evening as we were able to enjoy the last of a beautiful day in the city. The food at Rogue, we had buffalo wings, bean dip and some waffle fries, was pedestrian bar food but it was only the start.

After Rogue, we took a cab down toward the Giants ballpark to find a place called the “Truck Stop” where some craft brewers were offering up their wares alongside food trucks like “The Rib Whip.” We found the site, a vacant lot, but alas the site only had portable toilets and the ladies in our group refused to stop there before finding some proper facilities.

Thankfully, the 21st Amendment Brewery was only a few blocks away so we hoofed it over there. The 21st Amendment, on 2nd Street, is my preferred pregame stop for Giants games and I always love visiting there. During our most recent visit we sampled through their special offerings that included a dark, roasted double IPA that was pretty inventive and an Imperial Amber that was really good. One disappointment was their Imperial Bitter that was a bit malty and bland. The 21st has great food and we noshed on a Margherita pizza to accompany our ales.

Perhaps we enjoyed the 21st a bit too long because when we returned to the Truck Stop the event had ended. The craft brewers had shut up their shop and The Rib Whip had rolled off onto the busy San Francisco streets to wherever mobile barbecue joints go for the night.

Undaunted we hopped another cab to Magnolia on the Haight for some sophisticated ales and gourmet pub foods. Sophisticated and the Haight didn’t seem to jive with me and, of course, when we stepped from our cab I was accosted by a tall, disheveled and bearded homeless man who said he needed money to help come down from his acid trip. The bar was packed and it was a two hour wait to get a table. We strolled up through the Haight to The Alembic, another hip beer joint like Magnolia, but again we were turned away by a packed house and two hour wait. Then on to a Cuban restaurant that was also packed and required a multi hour wait for a table. Finally our quest paid off when we settled on a Mexican joint where we had some awesome tacos and Negro Modelos.

After tacos, we ended up in a trendy cocktail bar where there wasn’t any special beer or food but we did find nourishment in the goodness of White Russians and Guinness.

Christine and I in our booth at Magnolia. Cheers to San Francisco and cheers to strong beer.

By then the crowds at Magnolia had thinned and we were able to grab a table. And it was then, that faced with a menu decision my stomach and common sense wrestled with desire. But why not? After buffalo wings, bean dip, fries, pizza and tacos, didn’t deviled eggs make sense.

Not really, but when you’re in SF drinking beer, and strong beer at that, order up those deviled eggs son.

And they were Okay, kinda greasy though. The beer ice cream was much better.

Then it was back to our friends’ apartment where there was a tasty of homebrews that resulted in blue ribbons for all.

The next day at the ferry terminal was a little rough, but a top-notch cappuccino from Blue Ribbon coffee softened the edges.