The difference between downtown’s two malls is stark — and it’s about to be starker. 

On Market Street, the San Francisco Centre (formerly the Westfield) is nearly empty apart from H&M, Shake Shack, and a remarkably lively Panda Express. Around the corner, on Fourth and Mission streets, the Metreon is thriving, with an occupancy rate approaching 90%. And it’s set to get even fuller when the mall welcomes something it’s never had before: a cool place to get a good beer. 

Later this month, Richmond-based East Brother Beer Co. will open an indoor-outdoor taproom called the Rec Room. With more than 3,000 square feet fronting the grassy landscape that is Yerba Buena Gardens, it’ll offer 15 or so beers, along with board games, darts, and pool — like a fun suburban basement, but with way more taps. Wine and cider are forthcoming; there will be no food, but the Metreon already has plenty. 

On the patio, with SFMOMA visible through the trees, blue-and-white umbrellas are emblazoned with the brewery’s name in a script typeface that evokes old-timey beers like Olympia or Schlitz. Patrons can stroll in from the park or through the Metreon’s food court.

East Brother — which takes its name from the rocky islet off Point San Pablo Harbor, best known for the bed-and-breakfast in its historic lighthouse — is not one of the Bay Area’s most high-profile beermakers. Indeed, cofounder Rob Lightner describes the 9-year-old company as an under-the-radar operation — although, to be fair, its signature Bo Pils won a silver medal at the California Brewers Cup.

Lightner and partner Chris Coomber, who began by brewing beer in a home closet, have gradually built a reputation for what he calls “making beautiful examples of existing styles,” centered around easy-drinking Pilsners and lagers with occasional forays into less-known, lower-alcohol German varieties like Maibock and dunkel. 

East Brother is something of a “craft brewer’s craft brewer.” Regional powerhouses, including Harmonic and Almanac, have contracted with East Brother to produce beers, as does Local Brewing, which has been without a home since a 2022 fire gutted its SoMa facility. Dave McLean, the city’s godfather of craft brewing, partnered with East Brother on his recently debuted label Hidden Splendor. “People come to us because they know we are very good at what we're doing,” Lightner says. “We’re kind of like a session musician.”

The brewery distributes its beers across Northern California, but until now, its physical footprint has been confined to a single taproom in industrial Point Richmond. The team will continue to do all production at that site, but Yerba Buena isn’t East Brother’s only expansion project. Within days of the Rec Room’s opening, Mill Valley’s former Floodwater will pivot to become Tam Tavern, a full-service restaurant run by the same group that operates Bix, Panorama Baking, and a swath of eateries across the city and Marin County. It will pour East Brother’s beers exclusively.

The Rec Room is another sign of downtown San Francisco’s increasing appeal. Encouraged by the thousands of people who routinely turn out for First Thursdays and other events, East Brother is betting on foot traffic from conventions at nearby Moscone Center. The Rec Room will stay open until at least 8 p.m. — when the Metreon closes — and keep the beer flowing until late in the evening whenever the convention center is bustling. “When there’s a billion people over there, we’ll just roll with it,” Lightner says. 

In the meantime, East Brother has rolled out the light, Bavarian-style Festbier in time for Oktoberfest, with a Munich dunkel scheduled as the next release. Like most of its offerings, the alcohol content hovers in the 5% range. East Brother, Lightner says, never got swept up in the IPA arms race, as brewers competed against one another with ever-hoppier, ever-brawnier beers that often ended up bitter and unbalanced. In other words, this session musician is content to make beer that’s, well, sessionable.