My first visit to LA

Hi all,
Just hopping on this thread for similar reasons. I'm visiting LA from Aus for the first time and wanted to check if anyone had recommendations near West Hollywood?

Ideally looking for IPAs/sours/saisons/stouts - we're driving out from West Hollywood up through Big Sur so looking to get some solid options from bottle shops to stock for the drive as well as any good recommendations for food/drinks?

Also, staying in WH am I completely screwed if I want to get to Torrance? I'd ideally love to hit up Monkish, Smog City etc but not keen on 2hrs in a taxi to do so.

So far what I'm thinking is possible/reasonable is Surly Goat / Blue Palms, and hopefully Southland Beer, but any tips are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

where did you end up staying? I can't stand a cliff hanger

 

how long are you staying in West Hollywood? you can easily drive down to Torrance from there, if you have free time

DTLA is not terribly far East. should head that way and hit Modern Times and Highland Park in Chinatown. Hit up Sunset Beer Co on way out for stocking up

are you planning on hitting breweries on the way up to Big Sur? Barrelworks is a must stop

 

Haha I actually ended up getting lunch and some cans at beachwood sb then tried to hit MT and HPB but got overwhelmed trying to navigate dtla on a Saturday night so just grabbed cans at HPB and drove up to stay in camarillo since I was heading north. I think I'm gonna try the Anaheim stay next time

 

These guys are exclusively sour, but IMO worthy of a visit:
https://www.celladorales.com/

Also the aforementioned HPB & MT for broad range done well.

 

This is the correct answer, re: two separate days. When you go to Beachwood, the BBQ chicken nachos are non-negotiable.

 

I can confirm, this was some of the best bbq I've had and definitely the best that wasn't home made on the west coast

 

There's a Residence Inn and some other chain hotels by me in Anaheim Hills which is close to GC, BL, Bruery, Brewery X, the rest of em. 15 min from Santa Ana stuff too. Agreed with other posters that I would not stay in Santa Ana.

 

We're in West Hollywood just for 2 nights, then coming back to LA at the end of our trip (but not sure where yet). Thanks for the recommendations, will do my best to hit them up.

Definitely planning on stopping but hadn't seen barrelworks - added to the itinerary! We were also going to check out Alvarado St and Fieldwork at Monterey.

This place looks great too, thanks heaps.

Appreciate everyone's advice!

 

If you're going as far north as Monterey, are you also going further? If so, you should definitely check out Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola (~40mins from Monterey). I'd recommend them over any of the places on your list so far.

 

I'd like to check out SARA but not sure we'll make it that far as we're splitting off to Yosemite, I've only heard amazing things though so going to try make it happen.

Cheers again!

 

If a trip to the San Fernando Valley to go to Cellador isn't feasible but you're in Downtown LA, I would check out Dry River Brewing in the Arts District. I'm not a sour guy but I thought Dry River was comparable to Cellador.

 

This is very good advice.

 

Anyone a fan of LA ale works? 15 minutes from monkish, have great WCIPA and abundance of Hazys

 

I grew up in LA. I left about 25 years ago, but I still go back to visit family. My dad is in Manhattan Beach, about 15 minutes from Torrance, and my mom is in Calabasas, about 10 minutes from Agoura. I have nothing to add to this thread, since there was no craft beer scene when I was still around, but I want to thanks everyone for giving me something to look for when I'm back in town. I go down about every 1-2 months, and now I have something to look forward too.

 

Hey guys, hate to invade the thread, but I'll be visiting Cali from TX this February for a mini-vacation/family visit. We're flying into Oakland, staying in Concord. Plan to explore San Fran and surrounding areas. Then we plan to drive HWY 1 past Big Sur to LA and fly out.

I have a mini beer itinerary for LA, I know Bottle Logic, Modern Times and possibly Monkish is a must visit. I'll also be looking for a few great bottle shops to ship some goods back home. Anybody have any recommendations for bottle shops/breweries? Could anybody recommend the best area in LA to stay that's close to nightlife and nice bars/restaurants (beer centric or not). I'm considering downtown... not sure.

As for to drive past Big Sur, I seen barrelworks mentioned above, I'll add that to my list. SARA also has my interest.

Finally, the Bay Area is an area I really don't have much beer related stuff planned. I know Russian River would probably be on my list. Any other recommendations for breweries/bottle shops?

Thanks

 

All y'all visiting really need to not skip Highland Park Brewery.

 

Definitely make an effort to get to SARA. There is also Alvarado Street a little further south. Way down when you rejoin the 101 you can stop at one of Firestone Walkers locations. Also be ready to not be able to take hwy 1 the whole way because of landslides. In the bay area itself, is recommend fieldwork in Berkley.

 

I planned on taking hwy 1 from Monterey to San Luis Obispo. Landslides? Where would I find updates on this? I'm also thinking of making a pitstop in Santa Barbara, definitely gonna check out the modern times location there. Any other recs for that area appreciated.

 

How many days in OC/LA area? Monks is pretty much in the middle of Bottle Logic and Modern Times DTLA (& Highland Park Chinatown). If you have limited time in the SoCal area maybe you want to be in the Long Beach/Lakewood area? Highland Park to Bottle Logic is a long drive. Especially in traffic. It doesn’t matter what day of the week these days, traffic on the 405 and 5 between the OC & LA is a drag man. So if your looking at Modern Times(Highland Park), Monks and Bottle Logic and have 3-4 days in SoCal then you might want to stay nearby Monks area which you’d be in the middle of the mix. You could do one day in DTLA hitting up MT, Highland Park, Mikkeller and Mumford. I’m seeing less and less mention of Mumford here. But those are the must 4 DTLA stops to hit up. On the 2nd day you could do Monks, Smog City, Beachwood BBQ & Brewery in Long Beach and Brouwerji West (San Pedro). Another place near the Long Beach airport is Bottlecraft (LBX the Hanger). Great selection of beers on tap and lots of good food to choose from. Day 3, Bottle Logic, Brewery X, the Bruery, Green Cheek, and for bottle shop hit up Mr K’s next door to the Bruery. Those would be my recs. Others can chime in here and there on their recs.