Hey CA BAers! I'm currently visiting Irvine from Ohio and I need some input on local beers to check out or any particular bottles I should be on the look out for. I plan on hitting Lost Abbey, Stone, and The Bruery over the weekend. Are there any breweries I might not have heard of that I definitely need to check out? Any particular beers that are bottled that I should try to find while out here? I'd appreciate any help!
If you are going to the bruery you can hit up Mr. Ks which is a great shop and on the main road right in front of the Bruery. You will be able to find just about every beer accept for Noble that is sold in Southern California. You might want to go to Noble as well.
Well in Orange County alone you have Noble Ale Works and Bottle Logic in Anaheim as well as Pizza Port's San Clemente location. You could also head over to Seal or Long Beach and hit up Beachwood.
I was thinking about swinging over there. Is the selection better than Whole Foods? Anything in particular I should look for? Especially in regards to stouts/porters since I can manage to sit on those a bit longer.
WF is worth a stop but if time is a factor, make Hi-Times (my favorite selection) and Mr. K's your first priority for bottle shops. Mr. K's is a no-brainer being that it is a few feet away from The Bruery. Noble Aleworks is less than 10 minutes from The Bruery and is definitely worth checking out, especially this weekend as they have 3 varieties of their highly sought after Showers series- a series of single-hopped DIPAs. Also, Naughty Sauce is a must-try on their taplist! If you have time, check out Bottlelogic as well but if you can only hit 2 of the 3 Anaheim-area breweries, I would suggest Noble and The Bruery. Being that you will be venturing down to Stone/Lost Abbey, it is worth checking out a pizza port location on the way. San Clemente would probably be your best bet because it will be on the way to the 78 Freeway. Grab a slice of pizza for the road and try some of their IPAs. Swamis, Kook and Barney are all great. The bistro at Stone Escondido has great food. I would suggest getting there on the early side and buy your tour tickets first as they sell out quickly. Sorry for rambling lol Have fun, be safe and enjoy your time in Southern California! Cheers!
First off, I'm sorry to hear that. Irvine's a great place to raise a family, but boring to visit. Second, it's a bit of a wasteland for bottle shops. The closest decent ones would be Hi Times and Korker Liquor (small selection, but some random good stuff) in Costa Mesa/Newport if you're staying off the 405. If you're off the 5, then you've got Bradley's in Tustin (bit in the expensive side). Off the 55 you've got Whole Foods (pretty good selection/beers on tap/food) and Wine Exchange (also a bit on the expensive side). Expanding outward, Mr. K's is probably the widest selection of beers in OC, and it literally in front of the Bruery. Within a 3 minute drive from the Bruery you've also got Noble Ale and Bottle Logic, so you could make a day of Anaheim. Down in SD, I'd recommend stopping at Modern Times, although their Point Lona location is closed on Sunday for members only, their other location is open. Pizza Port in Carlsbad (which you'll be driving right by) has a decent bottle shop and is a couple of blocks away from Texas Wine and Spirits (good selection, but pricey).
If you're going to visit The Bruery for sure I say stick to the cluster in the Anaheim area. Bruery, Bottle Logic and Noble are within 10 minutes of driving from one another.
Whole Foods is good but Hi-Times will be better. A few things that come to mind that you might not have access to in Ohio: · Anything from Firestone Walker that is in a box (Velvet Merkin or Stickee Monkee might still be around) · Fifty Fifty Eclipse · Midnight Sun Berserker · Hair of the Dog Adam · Hangar 24 Pugachevs Cobra · Any of the small bottle Lost Abbey offerings
