I'm making the drive from the Inland Empire to Big Sur. Are there any good spots to stop that aren't too far from the 1 that might have some beers that I wouldn't be able to find this far south. Will have a 1year old with me so breweries or brewpubs might be hard, but suggestions for any good bottle shops with some local beers would be appreciated.
Can go up to Firestone Walker in Paso Robles too, and then cut over to Cambria. I did that last year, and still plenty pretty.
Wades Wines, on the same road as The Lab & Ladyface. Otherwise I second the stops at Figeroa & the FW tap room in Buelton. Other stops, along the way to SLO are Island brewing in carpinteria, & Hollister in Goleta.
and if you do opt for this route rather than just going to FW in Buelton since it's on the way, then you might want to think about a more scenic route from Paso to Cambria. It's a small road called Santa Rosa Creek Road that runs sort of paralel to teh big road there (46 i think). Well this is a gorgeous rode along side a creek, snaking in and out of woods, going up mountains and down canyons. Completely peaceful and will be the best ride of your entire trip. If you can take your roof off even better. Stop often, kill the engine and space out. Near the end of the road you'll find a farmhouse shop. They grow great berries and make sick pies, must stop. They specialize in Ollalieberry. YUM. The drive is long and slow and so gorgeous, with maybe 3 car encounters the whole way. Also in Big Sur you must find Pfeiffer beach. Feel free to comeback and thank me for both of these later on. Sorry this wasn't more beer related.
Did you have a good experience there? I thought their beer was underwhelming, and two of them quite honestly sucked. Brewing and scale-up issues when they were new, I'm sure, but definitely not worth the detour unless you're going to be in Cambria anyways. The Cambria Ale house is a much better place to stop and grab some beer and bottles.
I've actually never been. I was just naming the one place I knew that hadn't been named. That's some seriously wild, desolate country along one there. Beautiful, but really, really middle of nowhere.
Yeah I went there a month after they opened. A good jump-off if you do the Hearst tour. Hopefully CBC's beer is better now than it was, but at least the Ale House carries bottles of KRBC (Isabella Blonde and Class V last time I was there).
The Maiden Publick House is Big Sur actually has a very good beer selection and is a must-stop once you get there. There are a few brewery stops in SLO (SLO Brew, Central Coast Brewing, Creekside Brewing, Tap It), a couple good beer bar/pubs (Spikes and Eureka Burger), and a nice beer bar right on the water in Morro Bay (The Libertine Pub). If you take 101 to Paso and go to Firestone Walker (which you should seriously do. Not even an option not to), there's also a new nano brewery in atascadero called Molly Pitcher.
