Social Meetup - Faction Brewing & St. George Distillery

Update 8/27/2014: Event Details

For this event we will attempt the Spirits Hat Trick, visiting a brewery, winery, and distillery that are all within walking distance of each other on Alameda Island.

There are a lot of logistical details below, but here are the key takeaways:

• Please re-confirm whether you are coming or not. We need accurate numbers.

• The schedule is --- 1:00pm Faction Brewing, 2:30 Rock Wall Winery wine tasting, 4:00 Advanced Training Tour at St. Georges Spirits. Join us for 1, 2, or all 3.

• You need to get yourself to Faction Brewing Company at 1:00, and get yourself home at 5:00. Details below.

• We will make a reservation for the tasting at Rock Wall Winery. It will cost you $15.

• You need to RESERVE YOUR OWN tour at St. Georges! It will cost you $20. These sell out, so make your reservation AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Book the 4:00pm Advanced Training tour. See below for a link to the reservation site.

• You are welcome and encouraged to bring friends. Just add them as a +1 when you click the YES button above.

Now the details....

A few weeks ago we changed the date of the event, and that caused some confusion. For that we sincerely apologize. We are just learning how to use Meetup. But we need you to reconfirm whether you are coming or not. Currently we think there are 15 of you.

You need to plan your own transportation. We don't want anyone to over-indulge, but in case you do, be safe. If you drive, have a designated driver. Or take public transportation.

The best option for many will be to take the ferry. It can take you from the S.F. Ferry Building to Main Street on Alameda Island for $4.75. There is one that leaves S.F. at 12:30pm and arrives at 12:50. Bring your Clipper Card to pay. There are return ferries at 5:10 and 6:10pm.

You can also take BART and get off at the 12th Street Oakland City Center station. You'll have to take a bus or cab 3.5 miles from there. It goes through a tunnel, so you can't walk or ride a bike.

Once you get to Alameda by ferry, it is about a 1 mile walk (20 minutes) to Faction Brewing. We recommend bringing a bike with you on the ferry to speed that up. From there all three venues are within a block of each other on Monarch Street. See below to a Google Maps link that shows the route.

At Faction Brewing we will sample some of their hand crafted beers in their new tasting room from 1:00-4. See their website link below.

If you're getting hungry they have an onsite restaurant called Scolari's At the Point, which has burgers, fries, pizza, sandwiches, and daily specials. See their websites below.

Finally at 4:00 we will make our way to St. Georges Distillery for their Advanced Training Tour and tasting. They are famous for their artisan Hanger-1 vodka, and as the first distillery in the USA to produce Absinthe after it was legalized in 2007. They also make wonderful gin, bourbon, whiskey, rum, brandies, and liqueurs. We'll get a tour of the distilling room, and then taste the daily selection of 6 of those products. Again, this is very important, you need to book your own tickets for this tour. Do it ASAP before they sell out! A link to their reservation website is below.

After the tour we will make our way back to the ferry and home.

If there is anthing that is not clear, or if you have any questions, please drop us a comment below.

Resources...

Our Route Map (Google Maps) (http://tinyurl.com/kc5um2f)

San Francisco Bay Ferry (http://sanfranciscobayferry.com/route/alameda/sffb) website

Faction Brewing (http://factionbrewing.com) website

Scolari's At the Point Restaurant (https://www.facebook.com/ScolarisGoodEatsAtThePoint) facebook page

St. Georges Spirits Reservations (http://www.stgeorgespirits.com/reservations/) website

-- Ian, Sarah, and Mike