ill be in the San Fran/Sacramento region for 3 or 4 days in mid March. my main goal is to visit Russian River and SARA. i dont want this to be a marathon trip where i hit as many spots as possible. id like to sit and enjoy those two places and i know a fare bit of time will be spent driving so i dont want to try to fit to much in. with that in mind, where might i find a spot with a good taplist and some good food along that route or anywhere else in that region. which brewpubs are must visits if you only wanted to do a couple per day? Rare Barrel? also curious about a good bottle shops that might have a decent selection. lastly, if i was in Sacramento, would it be worth my time to drive out to Fifty Fifty and roughly how long would it take?
yeah, thats why im seeking advice. whats possible to do without it being too much? i dont want to be rushing around. hard to tell by looking at a map and without knowing what the roads and traffic is like.
when you go to Russian River, just eat there. the food is excellent. problem solved. 7-8 miles south of there is Beercraft in Rohnert Park, which is an awesome bottle shop with newish growler station/bar in the backroom, and the guys who run the place are cool as hell. ask for Matt also, skipping Cellarmaker in downtown SF (SoMa area) would be a huge mistake. no food there though
appreciate the info. is trying to do Russian River and SARA in one day too much? should i focus on the north end one day and southern end another? ill likely have full days friday, saturday and sunday. possibly thursday if im able to get out there wednesday night.
No way should you do SARA and RR in one day ... they are over 2 hours apart, not to mention the roads getting into SARA are brutal (mountains, crappy highway, windie, etc.) ... honestly, I'd be scared to enjoy beers at SARA and then leave the area, unless you have a DD or something. Basically my hit list for the trip you are describing is as follows: 1) Russian River 2) Cellarmaker (this place rocks) 3) The Rare Barrel 4) SARA I'd spend the day in the Russian River Brewing area ... then combine Cellarmaker and Rare Barrel into one day ... then hit SARA on another day
RR & SARA in the same day is just plain dumb, they're literally the exact opposite direction, both more than an hour+ from SF
thanks, this is exactly what i was looking for. initially i thought visiting RR early in the day for lunch, followed by a drive down the coast to SARA and some dinner somewhere would be cool. this is why i asked though. if i had an extra day and was staying in Sacramento, would it be worth it to check out Fifty Fifty? im assuming that is a 2hr mountainous drive as well? i should add that i will be visiting a friend who has been living in the area off and on for work who is familiar with some of the area but doesnt seek out the craft beer quite on the same level as me. he has been to RR but spends most of his time in the city so i will have a driver that is familiar with downtown Sac and SF but not much outside of the area.
that's a fairly long drive at 1.5+ hours ... not to mention there is probably snow on the roads (that I cannot confirm) ... if it was me personally, I'd stick with breweries in Sacramento (although nothing really exciting there or on the same level as the 4 previously mentioned breweries) ... you could drive an 1.5 hours and hit Faction Brewing, which is fairly close to Rare Barrel.
cool thanks. the plans for this trip are obviously still in the works so i guess ill rely on the reports as the trip gets closer. not even sure if ill be staying in Sac or SF yet. living in Michigan i have no problem with snowy roads but if they are snowy mountain roads id just assume not deal with it.
You have no issues with the snowy roads, but a californian, such as myself, would and would most likely drive at break-neck-granny speeds!
Yep definitely would not try to do both in the same day! Cellarmaker is the obvious stop between those two, and a must stop. I took others advice and grabbed some great BBQ and Lost Abbey Framboise de Amorosa at Aptos St. BBQ near SARA. Eat at RR and get the Lola pizza!
I would always recommend getting to RR 15 minutes before they open (11am) if you want to be guaranteed a seat, especially on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Get there early, have lunch (the pizzas & calzones are excellent) and spend the afternoon. You could then stop in at Lagunitas in Petaluma on the drive down to SF, as you'll be passing right by it. They have a lovely beer garden and good food if you wanted to do dinner there. As mentioned above, TRB & Cellarmaker are must-dos and Faction is also worth a visit and is close to TRB. As with RR, TRB gets very busy so get there early if you want a table. Bottle shops in SF you should visit: City Beer Store, Ales Unlimited & Healthy Spirits.
Google Maps can also be a friend if you're trying to map out what you want to do although it won't tell you how rugged the drive is to certain places like SARA or Fifty Fifty. AlexM has a great plan that I've done before. Russian River to Cellarmaker is about an hour and a half depending on traffic..and you get to cross the Golden Gate bridge to get there. From Cellarmaker you can hit City Beer then a short ride across the Bay Bridge to Rare Barrel. Also know that Rare Barrel is only open Friday thru Sunday. In Sacramento you can hit up Track 7 and if you have time you can also make a trip up to Knee Deep.
yeah ive been on google maps tryin to get an idea for a few days. like you said, tough to gauge what the roads and traffic might be like.
If you're in Sac it would crazy to drive all of the way to Fifty Fifty with all of the great breweries we have local.
fair enough. i thought it might be cool to check out the mountains/lake tahoe and fifty fifty sounds like a cool place. this info is why i came here to ask so i appreciate the reply.
If your'e going for the scenery, by all means do it! I was at Fifty Fifty and Tahoe Mountain this past weekend. Tahoe Mountain had a killer line up and Fifty Fifty was the usual. There are two Mellow Fellow bars in the area and they are a great place to get a beer. Also note that a trip to Fifty Fifty does not get you views of the lake. It will take another 20 minutes of driving.
In March there is a reasonable chance it may snow near Truckee which means you'd need tire chains on your car to make a long drive to Fifty Fifty even longer. If you have any interest in skiing or boarding Truckee is central station for the best ski resorts.l
