As a long-time Warriors fan and an honoree season ticket holder, one would think that it would be easy to find good beer at a Warriors game. Not so much. For years, I’d opt for a pint of Leffe and a slice of cheese pizza before every game because 1) I’m extremely superstitious, and 2) I had to visit Tina, the most-friendly bartender in the stadium. This was a great idea until I could no longer take one more sip of a Leffe, and the Dubs replaced pizza with a frozen yogurt bar. I swear, only in the Bay Area (sigh). Sure, I could probably score some quality beer in one of the courtside club areas, but until I win the lotto, I’m left to fend for my picky palate on my own. But, after watching a recent episode of Warriors Central, I thought my luck may have changed after learning about the new “craft beer bar” in the arena. Yippee!!!
A friend and I arrived at the game early in search of this “craft beer bar.” We asked three different ushers where it was located and no joke, got the same three responses: “CRAP beer bar?” followed by a look of utter confusion. After establishing that we were looking for CRAFT beer not crap beer, we were pointed to the Budweiser bar and also asked if we were in need of a pitcher of beer. This got me thinking that I either need to start annunciating better (are we still talking about CRAP beer?), or there are a ton of people who have never heard of craft beer.* I tried explaining it as local, small breweries, which didn’t really seem to help. And my friend chimed in and said "you know, like Lagunitas?” Eventually we made our way to the “craft beer bar,” and found a pizza place with Firestone Walker’s Pivo and Union Jack, along with Budweiser (or some other big name beer) on tap. The ushers were spot on – we were looking for the “crap beer bar.” But, at least I got a Union Jack to go with my slice of cheese pizza.
At 7.5% ABV, Firestone Walker’s Union Jack is a solid, west coast-style IPA, and probably your best (if not only) IPA option at Oracle Arena unless you're sitting somewhere fancy. This beer is quite tangy, full of pine and citrus hops. You can find it at Slices and Suds at Oracle Arena, or your local grocery store.
*BTW, if you’re interested in how the Brewers Association defines “craft beer,” check out this link: http://www.brewersassociation.org/statistics/craft-brewer-defined/.
A friend and I arrived at the game early in search of this “craft beer bar.” We asked three different ushers where it was located and no joke, got the same three responses: “CRAP beer bar?” followed by a look of utter confusion. After establishing that we were looking for CRAFT beer not crap beer, we were pointed to the Budweiser bar and also asked if we were in need of a pitcher of beer. This got me thinking that I either need to start annunciating better (are we still talking about CRAP beer?), or there are a ton of people who have never heard of craft beer.* I tried explaining it as local, small breweries, which didn’t really seem to help. And my friend chimed in and said "you know, like Lagunitas?” Eventually we made our way to the “craft beer bar,” and found a pizza place with Firestone Walker’s Pivo and Union Jack, along with Budweiser (or some other big name beer) on tap. The ushers were spot on – we were looking for the “crap beer bar.” But, at least I got a Union Jack to go with my slice of cheese pizza.
At 7.5% ABV, Firestone Walker’s Union Jack is a solid, west coast-style IPA, and probably your best (if not only) IPA option at Oracle Arena unless you're sitting somewhere fancy. This beer is quite tangy, full of pine and citrus hops. You can find it at Slices and Suds at Oracle Arena, or your local grocery store.
*BTW, if you’re interested in how the Brewers Association defines “craft beer,” check out this link: http://www.brewersassociation.org/statistics/craft-brewer-defined/.
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