Central Coast Thread (2019)

Just moved away from SLO, but lived there for about 8 years.

As far as bottle shops go, Cali Fresh in Pismo and SLO have great selection and fairly good prices for the area. Look out for when they have their sales, they can be surprising. Bottles & Bins is right across the street from Cali Fresh, but they are a bit pricey. Worth doing a bit of window shopping at least since their selection is solid.

Brewery-wise: Firestone is an obvious choice (I recommend going on their barrel room tour), CCB (IPAs are stellar, as well as their other offerings), Libertine has some good sours and occasionally houses de Garde in their fridge at their SLO location. SLO Brew Rock is a fun location, but I am unimpressed by their beer. Barrelhouse and Tap It are good. 7 Sisters is new and small, but their imperial stout is very tasty when it's offered. Haven't tried too much of their other stuff.

Spike's Pub in SLO has good offerings, and the bartenders are super chill. Hotshots in Pismo is amazing. Amazing taplist and events throughout the year for International Stout Day, their anniversary, and such. Definitely worth the drive from Paso when they have something fun going on.

 

Paso? I highly recommend you discover the WINE in that area ... it’s world class and really beer takes a back seat when it comes to Paso wines ... love me some Turley Zin, highly recommend!

Another option for beer is to make the drive to Monterey and hit Alvarado Street & Fieldwork.

 

Highly recommend Central Coast Brewing (CCB as mentioned above), great beers. And I second Hot Shots in Pismo.

 

I was pretty impressed with Silva brewing in Paso when I last passed through. Nothing really hype worthy but a nice spread of solid to great beers

 

Keep in mind this is based on me having an internship in SLO for one summer as well as going down to visit family in the area, so this list is rather incomplete.

I'll start with the breweries, going down from Paso to around Santa Ynez (because I haven't been to most breweries in Santa Barbara).

Paso:
Firestone Walker: pretty obvious, don't need to explain much
BarrelHouse: Pretty good, they've definitely dialed in their process and make quite a few good beers.
Silva: Helmed by the Chulk Silva (former brewer of Green Flash back in its early 2000s heyday), makes solid beers.
Earth and Fire Brewing: Never been personally
Toro Creek Brewing: Also never been.
Kilokilo Brewing: Just opened recently, so no idea how good they are.

Atascadero:
Dead Oak: Never been
Tent City: Also never been

SLO:
Bang the Drum: Used to do more unique beers. Haven't been too impressed with them, but maybe they've gotten better since I've last went.
Central Coast Brewing: Have dialed in their IPA game, and have moved onto the Haze Game.
SLO Brew: The spot used to be a lot cooler prior to their renovations (they reduced the number of pool tables from 3 to 1). Beer definitely falls on the "watery" side.
Tap It!: Solid, if not unspectacular (at least for me).
7 Sisters: Never had.

Morro Bay:
Libertine: A sour-only brewery, so a lot of it comes down to how well you like sour beers
Three Stacks and a Rock: Never been

Pismo:
Pismo Brewing: Never had it, but have heard less than flattering remarks on their beer.

Arroyo Grande/Grover Beach:
ManRock: Never been, but have heard positive things about it.
Bittersweet: Opened in December of 2018, so I have no idea how good it is.

Nipomo:
Santa Maria Brewing: So unremarkable, I'm amazed they've been expanding as far as they have.

Orcutt:
Naughty Oak: People in Orcutt love going there because it's the only brewery nearby, but that doesn't necessarily make it good.

Santa Ynez:
Figueroa Mountain: Very solid brewery. From my experience, lagers have been their strongest suit.


As for general bars (this I only really know SLO and Santa Maria area):
SLO has Spike's Pub (they have a "Drink Around the World" challenge, where you try beers from different countries), Blast 825 (lots of beers and it's self-pour), Woodstocks (pizza isn't great, but they usually have one or two interesting beer choices on tap), and McCarthy's (quaint Irish pub).

Pismo has HotShots, which has a great taplist and can play as much pool as you want.

Santa Maria....yeah, there's really nothing there, your best bet is the Figueroa Mountain taproom.

Can't really help you with bottle shops, unfortunately.

 

Fig Mtn & Barrelhouse were going to be my $0.02 contribution, so I'll echo @ConorM recs.

 

Most all was covered but to fill in blanks in Atascadero a good bottle shop is El Camino Liquor....Dead Oak makes a nice mix of beers from IPA, to german styles, etc. Tent City is solid KiloKilo has had some good first few beers and often has alvarado guest taps and cans for in house consumption

 

Good timing on the thread, planning a trip to SLO and Paso next month. Think I've got beer covered, but if anyone has suggestions on wine (either wineries or tasting rooms) that would be awesome. So far we have L' Aventure and Field Recordings on the list. I like that Turley zin but I've been told that the winery isn't really "my scene."

cc: @AlexM

 

Should also mention Wild Fields Brewhouse coming soon in Atascadero (just south of Paso). That's owned by Ryan & Jacquelyn Fields who came from Beachwood (he was the guy in charge of Blendery until just recently, but still around for blending) and Pizza Port before that.

 

If you like Turley, I say go for it. Not sure what the issue is ... it’s a beautiful facility, friendly staff, fair prices & outstanding wine. Just Do It

 

Check out Herman Story in Paso. Real big, fruity wines. The tasting room is very casual and the staff is fun and non-pretentious. If you are into natural wines at all then also check out Ambyth Estate in Paso. Lots of Amphora aging, orange wines, etc.

 

#WineAdvocate What are the wineries to skip and do any have a more "exclusive" list? The more pretentious the better as I can probably drink for free. Would like to make time for one, if not two wineries on the Friday before FWIBF.

 

Ambyth Estate sounds like a winner. Thanks!

 

To bump the thread and list the events for Central Coast beer week

Not alot on the list for now but I will definitely be starting the week with CCB's 21st anniversary party and ending with the beer fest in Atascadero

www.centralcoastbrewersguild.com/events?view=calendar&month=03-2019

 

Looking forward to the guild fest on Saturday. I'll be the guy in the "volunteer" shirt–come say hi!

If you want exclusivity, go to Daou. Adelaida is right down the road and they have some top class wine. My personal favorite has been Lone Madrone (across the road; same winemaker as Tablas Creek). Could be the vibe but they have some unique varietals and blends I haven't found elsewhere.

 

For Paso Third Base Market or the Eagle Energy on Golden Hill Rd has got some good items in the past.

 

Going to be flying into SLO next week and staying in Arroyo Grande / Pismo Beach. Any other recs for Arroyo area mostly looking for a brewery or craft bar that lets me do tasters or small pours. Bittersweet seems to have pretty good ratings. Hot Shots has a good tap list too, anyone know if they do smaller pours and any other recommendations?

 

Hot Shots does tasters and updates their menu on untappd often..They have stuff from Central Coast Brewing(Best brewery in SLO County) along with Alvarado St and other goodies...definitely a good spot to hit.......
Just nearby is Boardroom which has good selection as well... Shell Beach Brewhouse in Shell Beach is also a decent spot

In Arroyo Grande Figueroa Mountain has a brewpub with decent food and some good beers that do tasters and beer to go....
for a real good food option in Arroyo Grande check out ember
www.emberwoodfire.com/menu....

I have not been to Bittersweet yet so can't comment.

For bottles your best bets are California Fresh Market in Pismo and Third Base Market and Deli in Grover Beach and if you get a chance to head to Central Coast Brewing in SLO they do tasters and crowlers

Have fun
Cheers