A few days in Sonoma Valley

Not close (it's actually 3 hours or so South), but you should try to get down to Sante Adairius right outside of Santa Cruz.

Especially if this isn't a regular trip for you.

 

Well... There isn't a lot brewery wise right in Sonoma. Napa and Sonoma are kinda rough for beer.

Closest to there is probably Carneros Brewing. It's not good. Other close ones are Napa Smith, Napa Point, neither outstanding.

Your best bet is Lagunitas and 101 North in Petaluma, Russian River (obviously), Fogbelt in SR. Then up to Bear Republic in Healdsberg. Going the other direction, but it's 45 minutes, is Heretic in Fairfield. Rare Barrel is in Berkeley, but if you want Bay Area breweries, that's a totally different question.

Best closest bottle shop is Beer Craft in Rhonert Park. Other than that your best bet is the Whole Foods in Sonoma.

 

Yep, not much beer in Sonoma itself, plenty if you drive out to Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg.

You know there was a big earthquake in Sonoma a couple days ago, right? A lot of the wineries got hit very hard. If you are planning to visit wineries, you should definitely call around and see who's open for business and who's still cleaning up.

 

Moylan's is about 1/2 hour away from Sonoma With Marin Brewing about 20 minutes south of there. There's all kinds of breweries popped up in Petaluma. When will you be in the area? The Petaluma River Beerfest is the 13th.

 

Has anyone been to the Calistago Inn? It was a brewery/B&B I noticed that didn't look too far from Sonoma

 

Restaurant right on the Sonoma Square, "The Girl and the Fig" has Pliny on tap and AMAZING food.

I HIGHLY recommend it. Make a reservation.

 

Go to Hopmonk and Olde Sonoma Public House. Both in Sonoma and both a good time.

http://oldesonomapub.com/
http://www.hopmonk.com/

When are you going? Sonoma Springs will be reopened in a couple of weeks.

 

I'm prescribing RR and 20 wineries

 

Exactimundo. Going to Sonoma to look for beer is like looking for wine in Munich. I mean, I'm a beer guy, but if I was from out of state, I'd be hitting the wineries, with a side trip to RR.

 

Although they probably have couple of decent Rieslings and Gerwurstraminererladlhaers

 

Pinot and Zin country there. A few breweries but yeah it's Sonoma, one of the most beautiful high-end wine regions of the world. Take advantage of it.

 

i was there in April, they had about 5 beers on tap and their oatmeal stout was actually really really good but it was the only one of the 5 that stood out.

 

Hold up, what's with all this about Sonoma having nothing beerwise? Sonoma Springs makes great beer, and there are two good beer bars in town - Hopmonk, which has its own line of house beers in addition to a selection of regional standouts, and Old Sonoma Public House, which has a great regional list.

UPDATE on that - I see a note on Sonoma Springs that they are STILL closed for remodeling, which is weird because they were supposed to be open back in November at their new location. Guess things got out of control. Hopmonk and Old Sonoma PH, while not breweries, have great tap lists. And having a house Kellerbier in the beer garden on a Sunday afternoon at Hopmonks is one of life's sweeter pleasures.

 

Go to St Francis winery if you like zinfandel, they have a GREAT food and wine pairing

 

I know this is beer advocate but going to Sonoma at end of September and looking for a few wineries to hit up

 

That's like saying "Hey, I'm going to the library, can you recommend a book or two?"

 

That's what I am finding out. Was just wondering to narrow it down

 

What's wrong with that?