San Diego County breweries

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by sandiego67, Dec 22, 2012.

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  1. sandiego67

    sandiego67 Initiate (0) Feb 25, 2008 California

    Obviously, Stone, Green Flash, Ballast Point, Alpine, Alesmith, Lost Abbey and Port get 90% of the publicity around the country. What are your thoughts on the smaller, regional breweries popping up every week?

    I think that I have been to every tasting room except Rip Current, Mad Labs and New English (unless one popped up this week.

    We have several that have hit their 2nd anniversary so they apparently are making enough to cover their bills.

    Which breweries (without regional distribution) would you recommend to beer drinkers outside of the area?

    Manzanita?
    Coronado?
    Karl Strauss?
    Aztec?
    Iron Fist?
    Mother Earth?
    Oceanside Ale Works?
    Breakwater?
    Back Street?
    Rip Current?
    Stumblefoot?
    Fezziwigs?
    On the Tracks?
    Lattitude 33?
    New English?
    Rough Draft?
    Hess?
    Wet N Reckless?
    Societe?
    Money Paw?
    Off Beat?
    Belching Beaver?
    Indian Joes?
     
  2. SageO

    SageO Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2010 California

    From your second list, Societe is the definite go-to for me. And I haven’t been to Rip Current yet, but from everything I’ve heard they're going to also be a definite go-to brewery.
     
  3. rrryanc

    rrryanc Pundit (884) May 19, 2006 California

    How is this thread different than the hidden gems thread?
     
  4. vapodge

    vapodge Initiate (0) Nov 24, 2009 Florida

    Societe seconded. Great atmosphere.

    Also, Coronado gets out to FL — they're kinda big.
     
  5. Pecan

    Pecan Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2012 Arizona

    I just moved to town and have had to buckle down on prepping for an exam, so I'll slowly visit pretty much every place on that list... but for now

    Societe: Nice atmosphere, a couple solid beers (Butcher and Dandy were my favorites). On the couple trips I've taken, all of the same beers on tap and nothing in bottles. Food trucks sometimes, but not always food on-site. If you're going here and might need to eat, make sure there will either be a food truck or you know the area's food offerings. 7/10

    Coronado: Decent place but PACKED when I visited. None of the beers were something I wanted to take home, but were good enough that I enjoyed them on premises. Friendly environment and helpful staff. 5/10

    Just for reference, other bigger places' ratings on the experience of visiting...

    Stone: 9.5/10
    Lost Abbey 8/10
    Green Flash 8/10
    Alesmith: 7.5/10
    Ballast Point: 7/10
     
  6. hophead247

    hophead247 Initiate (0) Jan 27, 2008 California

    Because he got it right by saying Alpine is in San Diego county, and not San Diego?

    That's all I got...
     
  7. besaunders

    besaunders Initiate (0) Nov 8, 2007 California

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  8. pinkgrenade

    pinkgrenade Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2011 California

  9. jrnyc

    jrnyc Pooh-Bah (2,988) Mar 21, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I think repetitive threads could be said about 98% of the threads on BA :slight_smile:! If not, what else would we be doing as we drink our beer on a Saturday night ?
     
  10. rrryanc

    rrryanc Pundit (884) May 19, 2006 California

    I mean that's fair, but normally they're at least somewhat different, or at least reposting something a week or more old...
     
  11. MacNCheese

    MacNCheese Initiate (0) Dec 10, 2011 California

    Manzanita: No
    Coronado: Yes
    Karl Strauss: No
    Aztec Time Permitting
    Iron Fist: No
    Mother Earth: Yes
    Oceanside Ale Works: No
    Breakwater: Time Permitting
    Back Street: No
    Rip Current: yes
    Stumblefoot: No
    Fezziwigs: beats me
    On the Tracks: Jesus Christ NO!
    Lattitude 33: Yes
    New English: No
    Rough Draft: Time Permitting
    Hess: No
    Wet N Reckless: No
    Societe: Yes
    Money Paw: Yes
    Off Beat: Haven't been there
    Belching Beaver: Heard it's good
    Indian Joes: Heard it's bad
     
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  12. NickMunford

    NickMunford Pooh-Bah (2,094) Oct 2, 2006 Wyoming
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I've been to a few. I would recommend:
    Manzanita - Yes, good stuff.
    Coronado - Yes if you want to go for a meal. Its more of a restaurant.
    Karl Strauss - Same as Coronado, but IMO Coronado has better beer.
    Iron Fist - Yes, one of my current favorites. Their standard releases have been better than their one offs though.
    Lattitude 33 - Decent, but only if you have extra time.
    Hess - Yes. Another one of my current favorites.
    Societe - Yes. Good stuff here, but not as good as Hess or Iron Fist, in my opinion again.
     
  13. besaunders

    besaunders Initiate (0) Nov 8, 2007 California

    I think we need a polling function with choices tied in to the BA rating database. It wouldn't be infallible, but it would be a good starting point.
     
  14. MacNCheese

    MacNCheese Initiate (0) Dec 10, 2011 California

    You have got to be kidding me.
     
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  15. NickMunford

    NickMunford Pooh-Bah (2,094) Oct 2, 2006 Wyoming
    Pooh-Bah Society

    You have got to be kidding me.
     
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  16. jmgrub

    jmgrub Initiate (0) Nov 20, 2010 California

    I love (Mike) Hess Brewing...I know it doesn't get a ton of love for whatever reason, but I'll continue to visit every time I'm down in the area.
     
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  17. besaunders

    besaunders Initiate (0) Nov 8, 2007 California

    There really are only a few reasons:

    1. A lot of people don't think their beer is quite up to "production" quality. Some of them think this will change with the North Park brewery.

    2. The industrial park feel of the place isn't for everybody.

    3. A few people have been rubbed the wrong way by a certain person's personality, or lack thereof, and when the nice person associated with Hess took off they saw little reason to come around.
     
  18. tyrsis

    tyrsis Savant (1,050) Mar 13, 2009 California
    Trader

    I've been beating around the bush a bit with Hess, because I don't want to offend my friends that like that place. But fuck it.

    Hess sucks. Don't waste your time when a world class brewery like Alesmith is 2 minutes away.
     
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  19. SageO

    SageO Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2010 California

    Hah, I hope you don't mean me – as MacNCheese can attest, I don't get offended at all. If we all were to get offended anytime someone disliked a brewery we liked, then BA would... oh wait...
     
  20. tyrsis

    tyrsis Savant (1,050) Mar 13, 2009 California
    Trader

    Nah, someone else.
     
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