Kern River Brewing Co.

Thanks for clarifying Eric! Wife kept trying for a few minutes, but since we leave the office at 6pm, we just left. Then I read the forum and kept trying till 6:40 in the car. Lol. No luck...but I glad I got my 6 in possibly last lottery ever. See you in a week or two! Can't wait to eat some good food and drink some Citra!

 

Typically it's just a normal, be it more busy day at Kern River. Not what you would call a sort of release party. But always a good time and that burger. I love it.

I also recommend anyone going up from L.A. to take the 14 up to the 178 over. Such a better drive than going through the canyon of doom or getting anywhere near Bakersfield.



Man, I'm still bummed it slipped from my fingers in four different instances. The first release that I didn't get the second chance at when losing the lotto. And I've been going up for the release since they did growler fills for it.

I'll still make it up there, it's always a great drive. But yeah, talk about run through the ringer on this one. ouch.

 

I second that on the 14 to 178 route. But if your adventurous then go the Bakersfield route. For those who's going up for the day could then take the safer route down 178 to 14 and back to the City of Angels. If yor still feeling the Citra in you then you might not want to take the 178 route back down to Bakersfield.
Hoping for Class X to be on tap this time.

 

I did a quick day trip by myself through the "canyon of doom." A fun first time experience going up towards Kern... a damn scary ride back down after a few Citras and Class X. I didn't know about taking the 178, but I'll definitely be taking that route this time around

 

I was planning on doing the Trail of 100 giants that weekend but its already closed. Any suggestions in the local area for exploring the forest or hikes?

 

Why is it closed? Was planning on doing it too.

 

I called the park ranger and they said they close it every year on October 31st. Apparently you can still drive up the route that way but can't access the trail.

 

Yep, was closed last year during Citra release. So we walked around the woods a bit then sat down and drank more Shuttle Bunny

 

How busy is it on the first day of bottle pickups? Thinking about going either the 13th or 20th.

 

it will be busy, but still nothing like it was pre-lottery. And even pre-lottery it wasn't too hard to get a table. The staff is usually on it, even when it's busy. We may be going saturday 11/14, only day my wife can make it (hopefully), and I expect that to be the busiest day out of the pickup window. Fridays aren't bad though, last couple of times I went on the first friday and it wasn't bad at all.

 

It's not the worst day you'll ever have. But if possible go on a weekday. We have such a great time there when it's almost only locals. Been doing that for past couple of years

 

I mean, Kern River bad is basically "Oh, that'll be a 20-30 minute wait for a table", So basically below a normal night in L.A. going to a restaurant.

 

Back in the day. . .the last time we lined up at a ridiculous time in the am for bottles. . .when 200+ were lined up before the doors opened on the first Friday it was pretty damn busy. That Friday and Saturday's crowd was crazy but in order. Everybody had a great 2 days at the brewery. Wasn't there for Sunday so I can't say how it was. The last couple of times we went during the lottery weekends were less people, but just as fun. My first visit to KRBC's Citra release I got there 20 minutes before the doors opened and I was the 12th person in line. Must of had 25+ in line when the doors did open. Got 12 bottles and 2 growler fills to bring back to the city. How will it be next year with no lottery? I would think they'd have something special going on for the Citra release weekend. It brings in more $$'s to the brewery and the community. I know I will be back up next year for the release.

@Briesch RRBC is freakin' ridiculiously crazy everyday. But it's still a great place to hang.

What extra special beers will they have on tap during this release? Maybe Class X? Hope we get some kind of notice before the 13th.

 

Ha ha, for some time, the Sunday was the day to go. Especially when it was Super Bowl Sunday. The place would be a ghost town. The times when you can show up just right on time and still be waaay too early are a distant memory. Hopefully next time they'll have some solid amounts so they can distribute it to L.A. and skim off those who drive up.

From what I recall, Class X was a bit a ways of being ready. While I would love that, I don't think it's in the cards.

 

I'm hoping in the future that citra releases are so common that it's nothing special at all. As in...regular lineup.

 

They're going to need to build a huge hop farm