The Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant is located in San Francisco “where the Park meets the Pacific,” on the edge of Golden Gate Park across the street from the beach. It is a great location to have a locally brewed beer. I’m not sure what stores carry Beach Chalet beers but the brewery/restaurant has a long list of styles to choose from on their website and on their leaflets. They brew everything from stout to hefeweizen and they even have an altbier.
The Beach Chalet describes Fleishhacker Stout as follows:
Medium-boded stout with chocolate notes & a rich, smooth finish.
This description, however, does not explain what Fleishhacker means. It turns out that Fleishhacker refers to the Fleishhacker Pool, which was the largest swimming pool in the United States located in San Francisco, CA near the zoo. With this knowledge, the beer label, which depicts a woman diving into a pool, makes more sense.
Where I Found It. I had this beer at the Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant in San Francisco, CA.
Serving Type. When I sampled this brew, it it was served from the tap into a pint glass.
Appearance. The head has a cappuccino color. Although the head was nice and foamy coming out of the tap, it did not last long. This might have been because the bartender seemed a little impatient with the head settling and overfilled the glass several times. Flieshhacker Stout has a black opaque color that you would expect from a stout.
Smell. The aroma of this stout is of very dark roasted malts and chocolate. The hop bouquet is very slight and has a hint of citrus and a more faint hint of concord grape juice.
Taste. Fleishhacker Stout has a nice flavor of toasty, dark roast coffee. There is also a noticeable bitterness, which was more than I expected. The bitterness, however, is balanced well against a pleasant malty sweetness. The flavor also has a hint of chocolate.
Mouthfeel. As described by the brewery, this is a medium bodied beer and I personally prefer a stout that has a fuller and creamier body. In fact, I think the mouthfeel is a bit watery. The aftertaste has a hop bitterness that lingers on back sides of the tongue. Finally, there is a slight chalky texture to this beer, which I also do not like.
Drinkability. Fleishhacker Stout is a smooth beer that can be consumed all year round. It does not, however, give a warming feeling that a winter warmer style beer does and that’s okay.
Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score. The overall rating is calculated exactly the same way as Beer Advocate.
- Appearance (20%): 3.0
- Smell (20%): 3.5
- Taste (40%): 3.5
- Mouthfeel (10%): 2.0
- Drinkability (10%): 3.0
- Overall: 3.2
Information
- Alcohol by volume: 5.6%
- Style: American Stout
- Brewery: Beach Chalet Brewery
- Beer Advocate rating: 3.77 (on January 24, 2009)
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