Making my first trip to San Diego (from Kansas) first week of November. Please tell me what craft beer related activities I should absolutely not miss while I am there. I will be mobile with a rental car and designated driver (wife). In class all week every day until 4:30 and free to explore in the evening.
I'm not a SD resident....just a once-a-year-or-so visitor. But every trip we make to San Diego involves a pretty significant beer component, so I can definitely tell you what my "must stop" places would be, but I'm almost certainly missing a few. And it's ridiculous how many new breweries have popped up in the area in the last few years....even in the last year! A must-stop is the Stone World Bistro and Gardens in Escondido. First, because Stone is one of the iconic SD-area breweries, second because they have a very good brewery tour, and thrid because the facility and grounds are absolutely stunning. I find the food terribly overpriced, but definitely go for a beer or two and wander around. Oh, and a fourth reason for going is that you're a stone's (no pun intended) throw from Lost Abbey, which is one of my favorites (but I think they have pretty limited hours). I'd also try and find a way to visit a Piizza Port location.....Carlsbad is the one I'm most familiar with, but there are a handful. It's super-casual, the pizza is good, and the beer selection (which consists of a ton of their own stuff as well as many guest taps) is outstanding. On our latest trip, we discovered a great new brewery: Modern Times. It's located near the Sports Arena, as I recall, in an out-of-the-way industrial location.....the beer was *great*, the servers were really friendly and helpful, and the space itself was really fun and unique. There are a ton of warehouse-location breweries around SD, but I think this one lept to near the top of the list. Another new discovery for us was the newly opened Karl Strauss tasting room, just off I-5 between PB and La Jolla. I've always enjoyed Karl Strauss beers and try to make it into one of their brewpubs when we're in town, but the tasting room offered a much bigger variety of taps (including a lot of special/seasonal offerings), and a nice atmosphere with a fair amount of outside seating....also a very nice/knowledgeable staff. This only scratches the surface.....San Diego really is turning into one of the best beer towns in the U.S.
Find something from beer week if possible. Besides that, do Stone (above mentioned reasons are good), Modern Times, Societe, Alesmith, a Pizza Port or two, and Alpine. Stone and Alpine are probably equidistant from San Diego central, in opposite directions, but both worth it. You can do the others (with maybe something else close by added) rather easily.
