The Mikkeller bar has one of those traditional horseshoe shaped bars we all know and love from Cheers, but we didn’t get to sit at it instead taking a shared table with waiter service (such a good idea for any bar I always think). Mikkeller mainly serve their own brews but they use around a third of their taps for guest beers. I took three to try:

• Dieu Du Ciel’s Peche Mortal, a imperial stout with coffee
• Mikellar’s Crooked Moon Tattoo Stockholm, American stout brewed with figs
• Barrel Brothers Snozberries Taste like Snozberries, a Berliner Weiss with blueberries, raspberries and lactose.

Both the stouts were great, but the mouth puckering pink beer with a fabulous name won the beer of the bar award. (Simon is drinking entirely different beers throughout the trip, the more IPA side of things, but not blogging. Do feel free to ask him about his experiences – although I doubt he’ll remember much!) We had been toying with visiting a local brewhouse with arcade games, much like Tilt in Birmingham, so when the Mikkeller waiter confirmed Brewcade had great brews we decided to head there next. Simon has a soft spot for 80s Space Invaders and classic pinball while Flo just fancied shooting some zombies, so this bar combining those squad goals with fresh beer was ideal.

We grabbed an almost empty trolley bus and hung out the back window like the tipsy tourists we were as we waved goodbye to Mikkeller SF. Brewcade is dark and dingy, just how I like my bars, and with a very decent beer list. We enjoyed a few beers, spent a few dollars on games, and then had a leisurely stroll home to Castro.