San Diego and Vicinity (2023)

alesmith and north park are a must

eppig, harland, and societe are all worth a visit as well

 

- Alesmith

- North Park Brewing Co

- Pure Project: recommend Balboa or North Park, they are pretty close to North Park Brew Co spots so you can walk between them. Their Balboa spot is 2 blocks from NPBC's brand new place.

- Harland: I like the one on Mission Bay, get a burrito from Santanas and walk across the street to sit down and have a beer. It's a personal moment of zen to eat a California Burrito with a nice WC IPA on the bar facing out of the place.

- Bottlecraft: Usually has decent taplists and doubles as a bottle shop. They've got several locations.If you go to the Liberty Station spot you can go to the Stone location there too. Say what you will about Stone beer, I really love the garden there as an aviation geek watching the planes go by.

- Lost Abbey has a new location in mostly-DTSD, but I've never been. I like the one in Cardiff where you can go grab a tri tip sandwich from Seaside Market beforehand.

- Pizza Port is still a favorite for me even if the pizza opinions vary wildly on here. Honestly just find a tap list you like more and go there. I like Carlsbad Village the most personally (there's a Pure Project within walking distance).

You could try Modern Times, but the IPAs have generally gone downhill over the last several years and the pastry stouts are (imo) very hit and miss. North Park has the smallest taplist typically. So for me its between Encinitas or Point Loma unless you're already in North Park doing the aforementioned breweries above. Because its roughly that time of year, I recommend whatever location happens to still have Modem Tones: Vanilla on tap.

 

In North County, Bagby in Oceanside; Burgeon in Carlsbad; Eppig in Vista. My favorite is Eppig because their lagers are outstanding.

 

OP - you might get better recommendations if you tell us what kinds of beer you like/dislike, what part of town you're staying in, whether you have a designated driver, whether you have kids, etc. San Diego is really spread out and has a lot of good beer options.

I like Harland and Santana's but it's on a busy road by some railroad tracks and the 5 freeway, not "on Mission Bay." While it's pretty close to the bay as the crow flies, I don't think you can see the bay from Harland.

 

I've edited this slightly but this pretty straightforward at the moment. I'd suggest you visit the harland location nearby pure project/NPBC as not that too far of a drive and much nicer/spacious. it's somewhat close to poway but much closer to miramar. rancho bernardo is a bit further from it. Good times

 

If you like ramen, menya ultra in clairmont mesa, followed by O'briens would be worthwhile. Put you name on the waitlist thru yelp well ahead of time (1-2 hours usually).

 

Sorry thats a pretty liberal use of "on the bay" as has been pointed out. It's across the freeway from the bay. Still very close but no you cannot see the bay.

Also the suggestion to go to the bigger Harland is a good one. That's just my go-to spot since I don't spend as much time inland as I do on the 5 corridor.

 

Put your name on the wait list and go across the street to Societe.

 

You need to go to North Park Brewing and drink all of the Party Cup they will serve you

 

This is a great call, in addition Eppig has a tasting room in LaJolla now to drink all the cold IPA and hoppy Pils.

 

Eppig is a good place for lagers but I'd definitely recommend the waterfront location in Point Loma, especially for an out-of-towner because it's on the water with great views and for someone staying in OB because it's close by.

 

That, and getting into and out of La Jolla....especially down on Prospect is a nightmare that nobody should have to suffer through.

 

This looks to be the only (current) San Diego/Alesmith related thread - Alesmith is having free shipping from their web site currently (https://shop.alesmith.com/).
I started putting items in the cart, and realized the barrel aged release were 15-20 more than the last time I ordered form them. closed the browser tab & moved on.

 

Nothing weird there. the forged they put put is 40+
the booty ass BAVSS has been 15 . im baffled at the price for beer they charge. have had some member only beers and while good they can fu k off with them prices

 

Glad I found this thread. My family and I will be staying in San Diego next week. Not trying to touch a nerve here, but is Harland’s and North Park Brew Co kid and pet friendly? In my defense, our kids and dog are well behaved!!!!

As far as beer to-go, is Bottlecraft the best bet selection wise?

 

NorthPark Beer Co is kid and pet friendly. They also have an outside seating area (in the north park location, there are 2 locations) in case your dog doesn't get along with any other dog inside. There is really nothing for kids to do at NPBC though.

Harland, the Scripps Ranch location (also multiple locations), is also kid and pet friendly. They too have an outside area setup. Unlike NPBC they have stuff for kids to do with some video games and a billiards table inside.

Bottlecraft would be the best location for beer-to-go. Either the Little Italy location or else the Liberty Public Market location are where I would go. While at Harland in Scripps Ranch, depending on how you would get there, there is a place called SD Wine & Beer on Miramar Rd. I would also recommend this place for beer to go since they also do singles and a discount when you get 6 or more single cans.

 

The Harland at One Paseo is one of the better tasting rooms for kids, IMO. They have a couple arcade games, pool, outdoor seating, fairly spacious, and you can bring in food from a solid selection of restaurants nearby. If they get real bored and are young enough to be entertained by climbing on a big tree trunk thing, you can send them over to that, next to blue bottle coffee.
There's also the "sky deck" across the street which has northern pine and rough draft, and is kind of a cool spot to drink some beers.
The Butchery has a solid bottle/can selection too.

 

@Brent212 @SDReaper

Thank you so much for the comments!! They help a lot. My kiddos hate going to the breweries but they are good about compromising so we all get to do what we want. I assure you there would be no trouble - considering how many people dislike kids/pets in breweries.