San Diego - 3 Nights only

A few options, in descending order from best to more skippable:
1) North Park - TigerTiger, Rip Current, Toronado, North Park Beer Co. You can add in Belching Beaver, Ritual, or Waypoint Public to that little cluster as time permits.
2) Pt Loma/Ocean Beach - Bottlecraft Liberty Station, Stone Liberty Station, Modern Times, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, Newport Pizza & Ale House. OB Noodle House also usually has good taps (both locations), as does Raglan Public House.
3) Little Italy - Pretty much just Bottlecraft Little Italy and Ballast Point Little Italy, but they're within a block of each other and there are lots of good food options as well.
4) Kearny Mesa - Societe, Council, O'Brien's.
5) Mira Mesa - Alesmith and Ballast Point plus whatever smaller breweries look interesting to you. It's the furthest away and Alesmith is the only really worthwhile stop here.

 

This would be my #1 priority ... beauty of it is that it's a very cheap Uber and once you are there, everything is within a very short walking distance. Definitely your biggest bang for the buck.

That said ...@Xul ... would you add Fall Brewing into the mix of these North Park stops as it is also within walking distance of all the others???

 

I won't speak for Xul but after having a few of their beers I would personally put them on the skippable side of places in the area. I haven't really found any of their beers (granted I have only tried I think 7 different ones) as stand outs where I couldn't find something better of the same style.

However, if you have never been it is worth a stop. All places are worth a stop so that a personal opinion can be formed.

 

Modern Times is also in North Park. I'd suggest North Park for one night because for me Modern Times and Rip Current are two of the best breweries in San Diego. Both are tasting room locations.

 

In the context of his question - roughly five hours per night - no, I wouldn't say Fall makes the cut. I could easily spend those five hours at just Rip Current and Toronado, and both Tiger Tiger and NPBC are great stops as well. I think Fall makes some very solid beers, but I can't justify recommending them to someone with limited time that wants highlights.

I left MT off the North Park evening for two reasons - 1) I like the brewery in Pt Loma more than the tasting room in NP, and there's enough other stuff in NP that it's worth pushing MT into another night to pair with Pizza Port OB.

Meh. If you find yourself with time, grab a few tasters, but Modern Times + Pizza Port OB should pretty much full up your evening.

 

Might be biased cause I live there, but another vote for North Park. You can literally take one Uber there and back and walk the rest of the time and still hit a bunch of places. I don't think you could say that for anywhere else.

 

Depends on how far you want to walk....hehehe...but I have done the Miramar / Mira Mesa crawl from I-15 -> Rough Draft. It was a long day and legs hurt the following morning, but worth it.

 

Yeah, I guess it's not unreasonably far to do that walk. That said, when I'm up there I'm usually not leaving Alesmith.

 

I have to make Alesmith my last or else 2nd to last stop of the day. Too many times I have been invited to head on over to Toronado to meet up with a couple buddies. Pass by Alesmith and think that I'll just go in for a quick speedway. 4-5 speedways and 3 hours later I am trying to plan my route back home to make sure I swing by Rigobertos for a burrito. =P

 

I think Fall is over rated

 

I recommend taking uber to Balast Point in Little Italy and then it's a short ride to North Park. Hit up Toronado and Rip Current

 

I rather like Fall myself, but that may be as much for the indie rock vibe. (If you name a pilsner after a Hot Snakes song, I will love you forever.)

 

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@Xul - Great selection however I'm a little biased since I live in North Park

@BigTuna612 - If you can add Modern Times & Mike Hess to your list that would be solid. A fantastic place to also check out would be Thorn Street Brewing. It's less than a 5 minute Uber but worth it in my eyes. I live in North Park so my usual route is:

Thorn Street, Modern Times, Mike Hess, Rip Current, Belching Beaver, and Poor House just for the vibe and to hang with the beer tenders.

TigerTiger and Toronado was recently voted one of the top beer bars in 'Murica in Draft Magazine. If you start to feel confident after a few brews from Toronado go next store to Red Wings and sign up for some Karaoke

Everyone's recommendations were amazing and I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time none the less.

 

This is the first time I have seen anyone recommend this place, even though only slightly and not really recommend for their beer.

In case the OP does decide to cruise here though, do note it is cash-only and a bit on the pricier side for what they are offering (at least this is what it was the last time I was there, which has been many many many months ago).

The view is nice, but that is usually about it.

 

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@SDReaper - I was waiting for someone to call me out on that suggestions, haha. It's a nice starting or ending point when it comes to visiting the other locations and the local breweries in the area. (I live very close to this brewery hence the starting & ending point) Almost has a Cheers like environment, would you say?

Annnd, check this out - they recently stepped up their paying method and now take cards.

 

I'd call you out on a different brewery, especially since there are some many good options close by: Hess's brewery is really, really nice - but I've found their beer to be absurdly back. Last time I was there I wasn't able to finish a single taster. Which again, is too bad, because the space is awesome.

 

Cards are good. Mostly because I don't really carry cash nor ever want to pay the crazy atm fees down there.

And yeah, starting and ending, I totally get that. Mine is Alesmith. But usually I start there, and eventually decide to not really go anywhere else usually due to the over consumption of speedway so not sure I can say I end there since I never really left to begin with. =P