NC guy coming to Cali, what will be around?

California is a large state. Might want to be specific.

• BA and Viet were brewery only releases, via BPT. It wont be hanging around.
• Same goes for BT, mostly.
• Pliny is around.
• You should define what Firestone "stuff" you want...

 

Nobody calls it Cali. We have no idea where you're going so we can't offer any help. And it's clear you've done ZERO research based on the list.

 

Firestone- Double Jack DIPA and Union Jack IPA you can find pretty much anywhere. Haven't seen a fresh Double Jack since they started making it regularly. But the bottles are stamped with dates on the neck so make sure you check them. Parabola is really good.. not sure when it comes out next, but I thought it was relatively soon...

Bruery stouts not so easy to find. I mean, other than Black Tuesday, I can't really think of a stout that they bottle. Both Black Tuesday and Alesmith BA Speedway will require an in-person trade... I'm sure someone would drop one for some Wicked Weed sours....

Grab a 6-pack of Pizza Port Swami's IPA on your way through SD (at either bottle shops or at one of the pizza port locations). Delish IPA.

 

If your coming in the I-40 just hit Firestone Walker on the way up. I'd also go through Santa Cruz and hit Sante Adarius Rustic Ales....it'd be worth the slight detour.

 

As you come up the 1 you will pass right by Sante Adairius Rustic Ales (in Capitola, right outside of Santa Cruz) - it is a must stop. They mostly do in-house consumption and growler fills (usually 1 growler fill option - their IPA) with limited bottle releases. Check out their facebook page or instagram for daily boards - that's where they let you know if bottles are available as well (https://www.facebook.com/santeadairius).

When you get into Santa Clara, there are a couple bottle shops that are worth checking out:
(1) Maplewood Market & Liquors (in Campbell) - check out their instagram to see what's new in stock
(2) Bobby's Liquor (in Santa Clara) - awesome selection and you may score a bottle of something you can't find in most other shops
(3) Santa Clara Liquors - these guys have a pretty good selection, usually a bit high on price but worth checking out their selection to decide if you want to pony up the extra couple bucks.

Since you are making the long drive anyway, I think it would be well worth the 50 min additional drive and head into SF to visit Cellarmaker - again no bottle releases but they fill growlers and generally have at least 3-4 fill options. Just had their Imperial Stout (Blammo!) and a Nelson-heavy DIPA (Highway to the Danker Zone) this past weekend and both were top notch beers.

I am sure others can chime in with other SJ/SF spots but this should give you a good start.

 

I-40 puts you a bit out of range of "easily" getting any BA/Vietnamese Speedway unless the wonderful friends of "north of san diego" have a bottle, then as others have suggested an IP trade would have to occur. Since I am basing all of this off of "most of the bottles are in San Diegan hands" (which likely is not the case, but lets pretend for this scenario).

The others on your list should be relatively easy to obtain sans Black Tuesday.

Pliney would still be tough but since you will be here for a bit then I doubt there would be an issue accidentally running into it. Based on your destination of Santa Clara though, RR would be about a 2 hour drive away (I think, my northern california geography is shitty at best) and you could always grab pliney and blind pig there.

 

I call it Cali

 

Definitely hit Barrelworks in Buellton on your way up the coast for Firestone bottles/tasting, also consider heading into San Francisco for Cellarmaker beers on draft/growler fill. Also possibly check out Lagunitas in Petaluma.

If you're into Sours check out Libertine Pub in Morro Bay.

 

The firestone "Stuff" would easily be taken care of with a trip to Barrelworks. I would just shoot for doing a couple of IP trades along the way since a lot of what you listed is in a lot of different hands, but won't be able to be found on the shelf.

 

Oh also, once you hit the Bay Area, I think it gets pretty easy to find Pliny on the shelf? Whole Foods are usually a good bet.

 

Bring Wicked Weed, make friends.

 

Do not go to Santa Clara Liquors, unless you like to support shitty businesses that charge too much and don't care about customers. Lots of good beer spots in downtown San Jose, check out Good Karma, Kelly's Liquors, ISO Beers, Original Gravity, Clandestine Brewing, and others.

 

since you're already driving so much, why not drop by Russian River? About 2 hours north of Santa Clara

 

If you are going up pch, the 1, its maybe 1 hour out of the way, to jump on the 46 and hit firestone. In case you drive by barrel works and they are closed.

 

LL Cool J calls it Cali.

 

Since you're already driving out here, why don't you just tour the whole United States?

 

If you can hit the ~3 hr time frame after delivery (Weds/Thurs, depending on where in the city), it's gettable (2 bottles per person). Whole Foods (or even Bi-Rite) is definitely a better bet than the bottle shops, which sell out almost instantly.