This craft brewery might actually change your mind about Pier 39

Pier 39 isn’t just chowder bowls and sock shops anymore. 

Humble Sea Brewing threw open the doors at its taproom on the pier Friday afternoon. Within 30 minutes, every seat was occupied with people hoisting mugs of Landline Shark lager and Sunset Sesh IPA. Known for its approachable, lower-alcohol offerings and colorful, beachy packaging, the Santa Cruz-based craft brewery had teased its first San Francisco location on social media for more than a year prior to its debut.

Pier 39, long derided as a tourist trap by many locals, is a logical place for a brewery that favors waterfront locations like Pacifica or Alameda Point.

“We love being on the water,” said Humble Sea hospitality director Joe White, who found himself delivering pints amid the crush of customers. The pier gives the brewery exposure to locals and visitors alike. Plus, he added, “These are some pretty fantastic views.” 

The indoor-outdoor taproom pours four types of IPA — in the house parlance, they’re “foggy,” not “hazy” — but White noted the shift away from extra-hoppy brews and toward easy-drinking lagers.

Indeed, Humble Sea has built its considerable following by pleasing beer nerds and laid-back drinkers alike. For instance, every tap uses a Czech-style beer faucet from LUKR, which dictates how much air goes into the pour. “We make sure the beer you’re drinking has never touched oxygen because mouthfeel is really important,” White said. 

Richmond resident and tech worker Alex Green agreed. “People just want to drink casually with their friends,” he said. “I’m a home brewer, and I’d rather drink a beer that tastes really good and is a little bit lighter or lower in alcohol.”

That’s not to say Humble Sea plays it safe. Under the menu’s “miscellaneous” category, patrons will find some unique products, like a coffee-forward Irish dry stout called Life Find a Wave, or a 14% ABV barrel-aged stout dubbed Mocha Ryething, which has overtones of a vanilla milkshake. (It’s heady stuff at $6 for a five-ounce pour.)

Will it be enough to draw people to Pier 39? In a sense, they’re already there. As vice president of leasing Sina Von Reitzenstein noted, the pier’s lower level is now fully leased.

Holding a Pembroke corgi named Hazel, a tech worker named Sean said he would return to Humble Sea. “I kept my sailboat here for a long time, until we moved it to Alameda,” he said. “But this is worth coming back to. There’s not a lot of breweries around the city.”