AleSmith Brewing Company

AleSmith Brewing CompanyAleSmith Brewing Company
AleSmith Brewing CompanyAleSmith Brewing Company
Brewery, Bar, Beer-to-go

9990 AleSmith Ct
San Diego, California, 92126
United States

(858) 549-9888 | map
alesmith.com

AleSmith has been in operation since 1995. The brewery is open to the public for growler, bottle and merchandise sales:
Monday - Thursday: Noon-9pm
Friday: Noon-9pm (food truck at 5pm)
Saturday: 11am-9pm (food truck at 1pm)
Sunday: 11am-6pm

Tours are given the last Saturday of each month. Please call ahead for groups of 7 or more.
BEER STATS
Average:
4.05
Beers:
210
Ratings:
35,457
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.38
Reviews:
76
Ratings:
387
pDev:
8.68%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by teledeluxe:
Photo of teledeluxe
Reviewed by teledeluxe from Illinois

4.11/5  rDev -6.2%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.75
Not sure if it has changed, but when I went in 2010 the taproom was literally just a tiny bar/booth in which to sample before you buy growlers and bombers. Hard to really rate the atmosphere because it is simply a warehouse. You wouldn't really hang out here. Having said that, the people were helpful and the beer was probably the best we had within 30 miles of San Diego (Stone included).
Nov 21, 2013
More User Ratings:
Photo of Bouleboubier
Reviewed by Bouleboubier from New Jersey

4.18/5  rDev -4.6%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25
Visited yesterday just before 1p; I was the only one there for a bit... The building is at the end of a somewhat short industrial road; not obvious where's appropriate to park... Main room was kind of dark and cold, but clean and with ample space to roam... Got a brown ale, then later a small pour of Speedway NOLA... Beer was good, service friendly... Sat on the patio in the sun, across from a tacos y mas truck I regret not buying from... The Tony Gwynn museum was a delightful surprise... I was disappointed they were completely out of their Wee Heavy, which is mostly why I went... I would go back there with a group, but probably not on my own
Mar 06, 2024
Photo of snaotheus
Reviewed by snaotheus from Washington

4.18/5  rDev -4.6%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4
Visited here around 11 AM on a Thursday with my wife. Cool place -- huge, open, interesting architecture. The Tony Gwynn museum is also super interesting.

Wife and I each had a couple beers, we bought a couple to go. bottles available for sale were really interesting, the stuff we had on tap was well-made and tasty (of course).

Staff outnumbered us, they were friendly and knowledgeable. I enjoyed our visit.
May 19, 2023
 
Rated: 4.82 by MJSFS from Florida

Nov 23, 2022
Photo of NevadaBill
Reviewed by NevadaBill from Nevada

4.17/5  rDev -4.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.5
Fantastic selection of vintage, seasonal's and specials found in a really laid back, unpretentious and spacious indoor / outdoor local. Taco truck present on Tuesday when we arrived PM. Friendly staff and light casual atmosphere perfect for informal trivia events or other social get together's. Nice toons to boot. If we were local, then we would be here a lot, because the beer is fantastic. They have nice swag for sale too, and the food was good when we were there, but this is a brewer that has upgraded their location, and are building towards the future. Nice hang out.
Jul 13, 2022
 
Rated: 4.14 by Budlum from Maryland

Dec 01, 2021
Photo of Gatch
Reviewed by Gatch from Massachusetts

4.68/5  rDev +6.8%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.75
This place is the real deal. The penultimate craft brewery experience in the San Diego area and up there with the best in all of Southern California. Quality is top notch, variety of offerings is more than enough for several visits, and the food options outside were satisfying (though a tad expensive). Even during the pandemic, it was a vibrant and modern facility and the kind of destination I had expected and hoped for. Been waiting years to finally visit. And they have their own street/address, so you know they’re special.
Jul 04, 2020
Photo of cratez
Reviewed by cratez from Canada (ON)

4.72/5  rDev +7.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75
Visited with my wife on a recent trip to San Diego and Los Angeles.

Tried the following as part of a flight:
AleSmith Evil Dead Red
AleSmith Decadence 2017
AleSmith San Diego Pale Ale .394
AleSmith Speedway Stout - Vietnamese Coffee

Beers were superb across the board. Also bought some Old Numbskull and Speedway Stout to go; both were phenomenal. Service at the bar was fine as the beertender was quick to grab our drinks. The guy in the retail store was a bit more engaging, which we appreciated. Cool atmosphere in the beautiful, gargantuan taproom and we had fun touring the Tony Gwynn Museum. Our overall experience was very special, and we would happily come back.
Mar 29, 2020
 
Rated: 4.67 by REVZEB from Illinois

Feb 24, 2020
 
Rated: 5 by ntanner83 from Massachusetts

May 16, 2019
 
Rated: 5 by eawolff99 from Minnesota

Apr 03, 2019
 
Rated: 4.47 by NickThaFish from New Mexico

Mar 06, 2019
 
Rated: 4.54 by Korymiller from Arizona

Feb 18, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by edsanchezz28 from California

Jan 19, 2019
Photo of WillieThreebiers
Reviewed by WillieThreebiers from Connecticut

4.32/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.25
Huge tasting room in the front of brewery building. Merch shop is on the left as one enters, and the right opens up to a two-story taproom with windows into the brewery. Zigzag bar seats probably 40 to 50, and there are a number of tables spread about the room. Additionally, there is a patio in front with nightly food truck. 25 beers on tap, half were brewery only seasonals and specials. Place had an after-work unwind sort of vibe. Friendly efficient bartenders.
Nov 29, 2018
 
Rated: 4.87 by TrilliumFan from Massachusetts

Nov 07, 2018
 
Rated: 5 by BrenchToast from California

Oct 31, 2018
Photo of mrcraft
Reviewed by mrcraft from California

4.43/5  rDev +1.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5
AleSmith is a fairly large tasting room and production house. Tonight they had a couple of food trucks. Once you enter the building you have a gift shop and place to purchase beers to go. There is a large bar area with a view to the production area behind it. They had ample seating inside and out.

The beer selection tonight was nice. They had a couple Speedway variants I tried - Jamaican Blue Mountain and Thai. Both were solid beers. Had a couple of tasters and made my way back to my hotel I'm staying for a conference.

Overall, a splendid place to visit and hang out with friends.
Oct 14, 2018
 
Rated: 4.63 by santig0nzalez from Paraguay

Oct 08, 2018
Photo of Jboadway
Reviewed by Jboadway from California

4.31/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 2.5
Clean well kept and organized all around nice family friendly atmosphere large bar with lots of open seating options. Staff is friendly and knowledgeable food truck they had looked and smelled very good. Some games outside and nice upper deck with view and seeing the blue angels fly over didn’t hurt. Adding a signature non alcoholic drink or two and would have been 5s across the top!
Oct 01, 2018
 
Rated: 4.68 by Beernoobie from California

Sep 28, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by Aakash from California

Sep 08, 2018
Photo of CJNAPS
Reviewed by CJNAPS from California

4.93/5  rDev +12.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 5
Really nice place. The patio was set up perfect with great food trucks and patio games.
Really big tasting room with 30 plus beers on tap and the Tony Gwynn museum was awesome !
Aug 28, 2018
Photo of eppie82
Reviewed by eppie82 from Illinois

4.55/5  rDev +3.9%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5
This place is beautifully designed, as far as the architecture and layout. Beautiful building, huge open space with plenty of bar seating, table, outdoors, private area and special barrel age room. Quality of establishment is top notch. Everything is in excellent shape and the mini-museum for Tony Gwynn is fantastic (with a bunch of his trophies and all). Can't complain about the service or the staff in general either. They were not only quick but they also brought beer from their barrel aging section (where I was supposed to go to get BA beers on draft). Their shop clerk was also really friendly and insightful. Selection was huge, of both regular offering and barrel aged. They do not serve food but there is a food truck outside always if you get hungry.

Just a great place to visit. Wish it was closer to downtown San Diego but it is totally worth a 25 min drive from there to visit this unique place.
Jul 05, 2018
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

4.23/5  rDev -3.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25
this is a brewery i have respected forever, one of the first to turn me on to strong ales like old ale and barleywine, and i have been a longtime lover of their speedway stout, so it was sort of a full circle thing for me to get to visit their enormous new(ish) brewery. its a huge space, almost feels like a hotel lobby, with big leather couches, high ceilings, low light, noisy and bustling, kind of an urban industrial feel to it, tanks visible behind the bar, tons of fermentation capacity here, huge but comfortable, if a bit overly refined and lacking uniqueness as a space. its comfortable though, and it was exiting just to be here. the beer list included all of the staples, a few new ones by me, and a range of speedway variants i was super pumped to get into, including jamaican, vietnamese, chire, and thai. they were all awesome! they also have a cool gift shop with some bottles to go. a neat mix of people in here from corporate gathering to laid back california looking folks, mellow for how busy it was. service was fine, sort of unexcited but we didnt spend much time at the bar, opting instead for one of the leather couches where we had our minds blown by the speedway flight. its cool to see how successful these guys have been, their new space is beautiful, and the beers continue to speak for themselves. we had a great time here, definitely worth a visit, and if you are unfamiliar with their beers, be sure not to miss it!
Jun 25, 2018
Photo of WickedBeer
Reviewed by WickedBeer from Alabama

4.21/5  rDev -3.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.25
This was my first time to AleSmith. Very cool facility, huge! The selection when I went was great for Speedway Stout variants, but for those looking beyond heavy stouts, I’ve gotta say there maybe could have been a little more. Service was great, speedy and friendly. Beer quality was solid, from what I had. With the right event going on, during a full house session, I can really see this being a fun place to be!
May 23, 2018
 
Rated: 4.34 by vincechan from Canada (ON)

May 10, 2018
 
Rated: 4.53 by Argento from Rhode Island

Apr 29, 2018
 
Rated: 4.56 by spointon from Illinois

Apr 16, 2018
 
Rated: 4.43 by MVMC from Colorado

Mar 04, 2018
 
Rated: 4.47 by Richie_C_Johnson from Minnesota

Feb 16, 2018
 
Rated: 4.54 by tntsec from Georgia

Jan 16, 2018
 
Rated: 4.51 by AlexCarls from California

Nov 27, 2017
 
Rated: 4.75 by Ale_Lover from Georgia

Nov 26, 2017
 
Rated: 4.23 by frasergrove from California

Nov 19, 2017
Photo of Brolo75
Reviewed by Brolo75 from California

4.01/5  rDev -8.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4
Hit up AleSmith on a recent trip to San Diego. Lots of people, big crowd with big lines and long waits to get a beer. There was not enough seats for my friends and I, so we had to stand on the deck near the restrooms. Service was not that good but I could understand as they seemed understaffed for a Saturday afternoon. My recommendation is that they expand their tasting room, add more seats and staff.
Oct 01, 2017
 
Rated: 3.86 by mkyer from Connecticut

Jul 26, 2017
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Reviewed by BeanBump from California

4.83/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5
Arguably the best brewery in SD. They upgraded to a much larger tasting room a couple years back and have been working on revamping/expanding it since. The brewery not only boasts a large tasting room with both indoor and outdoor seating but they also have: fire pits, daily food trucks, a Tony Gwynn museum on-site (free), games, gift/bottle shop, tours and a private barrel-aged only tasting room ("Anvil & Stave"). Super friendly and helpful staff and Alesmith always has about 20 beers to choose from which include the every day favorites and a handful of barrel-aged, limited, or special beers. When in SD, this is a must.
Jun 29, 2017
 
Rated: 4.33 by jtk21351 from California

Jun 23, 2017
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Reviewed by Zythophile from Washington

4.53/5  rDev +3.4%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.75
There are a lot of places in industrial parks, and most of them feel like it. That said, AleSmith has done a lot to make this a welcoming space. Lots of room for the happy hour crowd in the main space, plus a cave-like hidden room for barrel-aged brews. Food trucks are usually outside, and I had to get the bacon grilled cheese. I could spend a lot of time there if I lived nearby, and I was kinda sad I had to move on to the next place because of my limited time. (San Diego. Poor poor pitiful me, right?)
Jun 01, 2017
AleSmith Brewing Company in San Diego, CA
Brewery rating: 4.05 out of 5 with 35457 ratings