So last year my friend Ally told that there was a special event going on at a bar in in Oakland that I have been wanting to check out. The event turned out to be a "Guido Night" I kid you not at the Trappist in Oakland, Ca. Turns out they got a special keg of a Belgian brew that bore my Name and seeing how it was on my freaking Birthday I just had to go. I convinced my friends Clay and Fred to take the train to Oakland for the day to celebrate me and they happily obliged!
We took the Amtrak to Jack London Square which is about a ten minute walk from the Trappist and many other great places in that part of Oakland. While on the train we enjoyed a few adult beverages and played scrabble and in no time we arrived at our station.
Our first stop though was a great Italian Market called G.B. Ratto's. We got a couple of sandwiches and stared at the meat counter like it was a candy store! The food was great and it'll be a must visit anytime I'm that area. Below are a few pics of our food and the store!
After nourishing ourselves it was on the the Trappist! We waited outside of the place waiting for it to open and grab some prime bar seats. I recommend getting there early as well due to the small size of the place and the easier access to the brews! They have a beer catalog that must be two inches thick and a chalkboard that updates the latest finds!
There were 140 freaking beers in this tiny place and so at that point we decided to ask our friendly bartender to suggest some for us. Each one was amazing yet very different ranging from the lighter Belgian white ales to Local ales and onward to darker beers too. Each glass gets a little water bath before the pouring to cleanse whatever may have drifted into them.
This was all before trying the "Guido" beer! Alas we made our way into the private tasting area to have a taste of my namesakes brew and I'll just say it, it sucked! All of the other brews up until then were fantastic, but this beer tasted like raisins and honey, two things I never want in my beer! So we opted to go back to try a few others at the main bar which were all delicious and before you knew it, it was time to head back and catch the train back to Sacramento
This was one of the best Birthdays that I have ever had and I highly recommend that if you are in the Downtown Oakland area you give these place a try.
Cheers,
G
http://www.thetrappist.com/
