Los Angeles recommendations

Skip Golden Boring Road.
Glaring omissions are: El Segundo Brewing; Beachwood Brewing; Modern Times downtown LA (Dankness DOJO) and Monkish.

 

I'd say downtown is a good spot for the beer / foodie combo. amazing food spots and, now, a good amount of breweries. you'll also be close to union station in case you want to train it out to other spots. Torrance has more breweries but less food spots, and less going on, arguably

The York is not really worth putting on that list.

should also add Modern Times Dankness Dojo, Mikkeller DTLA, Highland Park Brewery Chinatown. I 2nd skipping Golden Road. Angel City and Eagle Rock are skippable.

should really get also get a list of the Torrance area breweries though, and go there

Wally's is waaaaay the hell far north. are you going to have a car?

If you don't have business or anything and are planning a 5 day trip I would think about splitting it up and also going to San Diego or Orange County

 

Two worth visiting that I have not seen mentioned yet are:

• Smog City
• Firestone Propogator

 

Drop Wally's, replace with Bill's. Would also drop Wurstkuche and Blue Palms; if you really have to drink a beer in Hollywood, I'd stretch it to West Hollywood and go to Surly Goat. Firestone Walker Venice is more than worth the trip. And, has been said, don't miss Beachwood if you can make it out that far.

Would echo the sentiment that staying downtown is a great option these days, especially with the Ace and Nomad within walking distance of many great beer spots. (And the Nomad's restaurant is killer, if pricey.)

 

RB? Really? Does anyone still use them since they (secretly) sold out?

Anyways...

Breweries / Brewpubs:
Hermosillo Club / Highland Park – RB: 87 / BA: 87 / CS: 87 (or see Highland Park Chinatown, which is closer to the other places listed here)
Mumford Brewing – RB: 81 / BA: 84 / CS: 83
Dry River Brewing – RB: 76 / BA: 81 / CS: 79
Modern Times DTLA (aka: Dankness Dojo) (Mikkeller DTLA is 2blks away and has excellent food)
ADD: Monkish & Smog City (around the corner from each other) and a trip to OC if you have time. Add El Segundo if you like IPAs (plus it's just a cool place to enjoy a beer).
NOTES: I left Dry River because you'd already be downtown, but it pales (IMO, anyway) compared to the spots above. Tons of other breweries in the area but the ones above have the best beer. Removed Angel City and Arts District because although they are cool spots to hang out in, the beer is subpar at both. Eagle Rock is not a "destination" brewery.


Bars / Eateries:
Mohawk Bend – RB: 97 / BA: 88 / CS: 93
Verdugo Bar – RB: 88 / BA: 86 / CS: 87
Beer Belly L.A. – RB: 84 / BA: 83 / CS: 84
Barbara's At The Brewery – RB: 76 / BA: 88 / CS: 82
Far Bar – RB: 81 / BA: 83 / CS: 82
Mikkeller DTLA – RB: 73 / BA: 88 / CS: 81
NOTES: Add Beachwood as already stated. Removed other stuff that would be a waste of time if you're time is limited.


Stores:
ADD: Vendome Beverly Hills if you're anywhere near the area
Sunset Beer Company – RB: 81 / BA: 90 / CS: 86
Ramirez Liquor – RB: 78 / BA: 90 / CS: 84
NOTES: Wally's sucks since they put a giant humidor in where all the refrigerated cases used to be. Skip it. Also, go to Beverage Warehouse only if you like room temperature IPAs that have been sitting out a long time.

 

The atmosphere at Golden Road can be enjoyable as long as you don't mind shitty beer. Casual beer drinkers don't mind shitty beer because they don't realize it's shitty, but they have a good time there nonetheless.

 

Golden Road was bought out by Anheuser-Busch and their beers are pretty boring. Half the times I've been there they've poured directly from cans, which you can get at almost any gas station and grocery store.

Angel City is also really not worth going to outside of the actual building is nice. Their beer is atrocious though. Mumford is right by and a lot better.

My personal favorites:

Highland Park Brewery
Highland Park Brewery Chinatown
Cellador Ales (brewery not currently open but they'll do events every now and then and sometimes you can find their bottles around, plus you can order bottles and get them shipped)
Mikkeller DTLA
Modern Times Dankness Dojo
Mumford Brewing
Dry River Brewing / Indie Brewing (right next to each other)
Beachwood BBQ & Brewing
Monkish Brewing
Phantom Carriage (their place is awesome, beers are average)
Smog City
The Brewery at Abigaile

Beer Belly
Southland Beer
Glendale Tap
The Federal
Lucky Baldwin's
Tony's Darts Away
Mohawk Bend
Spring St. Bar
Verdugo Bar

Sunset Beer Company
Vendome Toluca Lake
Vendome Beverly Hills
Handy Market
Craft Beer Cellar

 

The first rule of Handy Market is . . . DO NOT TALK ABOUT HANDY MARKET!

 

Did I say Handy Market? I meant... Total Wine & More...

 

One thing to keep in mind is Los Angeles is more of a region, consisting on multiple cities, rather than a single centralized city with suburbs. The city itself is very large and oddly shaped. You will find places outside the city that are closer than places in the city.

And if you don't have a car, there's always Uber to/from a train station.

 

I work in Burbank and frequent unsaid place. I miss the days when it used to be my little secret (it felt like it anyway)

 

**takes out beer notebook and scribbles Handjob Market in it**

 

Any time i'm in downtown my first choices are Modern times and Highland Park china town. Mikkeller has a nice tap list but is expensive. Mumford is good as well. If you get out of downtown torrance has Monkish and Smog City which are both very good and right next to each other. If you're in LA 5 days you have to go to OC at least 1 day. The Bruery, Bottle Logic, Noble, Green Cheek, and Karl Strauss are all within a few minutes of each other and better than most LA breweries. Don't know about bottle shops in LA but theres a great one right next to original Bruery that will rival the best bottle shops we have in southern california.

 

Angel City along with Arts District (DTLA) is very busy with their local fan boys and girls. I will say this, the place is nice. But terrible beers. I cant say anything about Golden Road as I went to the og location before they sold out. I'm sure these guys are very popular with their fans and wanna be craft beer fans.

 

K&L Wines has some good stuff if you're in Hollywood.

 

I'd keep an eye out for Brouwerij West cans at any of the bottle shops too. Solid IPAs and their pilsner Popfuji is awesome, though not sure if that can be found outside of the brewery. It's a bit of a trekk, but if you make it out to the Torrance or Long Beach spots I think you could justify a trip