Cerveceria de Mateveza

San Francisco seems to have breweries and beer-related businesses proliferating like daffodils on a suburban lawn. If things keep up, we might reach the level of beer-absurdity enjoyed in San Diego--where they've got 33 commercial craft breweries to serve a population only half the size of the Bay Area. Last Sunday my girlfriend and I spent the morning in San Francisco's Dolores Park, and afterwards stumbled across this new mini-brewpub on the corner of Church and 18th. It's a quick and dirty conversion of a pre-existing cafe, featuring a stripped down menu of offerings focused on Argentinian empanadas and Mateveza beer. There's also a pair of fridges packed with craft brew available for takeaway.

Mateveza's a local brew-company that's been fairly visible in the Bay Are for a few years now, despite the fact that I've yet to find anybody who favors the stuff. Maybe they've failed to catch on with the beer-geek community because they feature Yerba Mate in all of their beers. Seems like the beer geeks are picky about their novelties--uber-ipa's and sour-beers are in, but using an herb associated with trendy soda-substitutes is out, and least for now.

Doesn't seem to have discouraged Mateveza's owner, Jim Woods, who's been doing his thing consistently and reliably despite the lack of big beer-geek press coverage or adoration. Despite the simplicity--or maybe because of it--Cerveceria de Mateveza struck me in a decidedly positive way. The beer was good--they offered us a sample of all three of their styles currently on tap, and the only one that didn't meet my approval was the Morpho Herbal Ale, which didn't really taste like a beer to me--and the vibe was right. I imagine they'll find their crowd, even if it isn't composed of the typical beer-geek flock.