First Cali Beer Trip, HELP!

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by GimmeGumballHead, May 16, 2013.

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  1. GimmeGumballHead

    GimmeGumballHead Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2010 Illinois

    Hey Guys,

    I'm making my first trip to Cali in a long time, and more importantly, the first time since I've become a ridiculous beer freak. SO, can anyone give me any strong recommendations on bottle shops, breweries, brew pubs, and restaurants to hit up, I really want to taste some limited stuff and land some bottles of sours/saisons/west coast IPAs that I can't get in Chicago.

    Here is my itinerary that revolves around a wedding, sadly:

    Thursday August 8th, flying into LA in the early evening.
    Friday - driving down to Santa Ana/San Clemente, no plans until 5 or 6pm
    Saturday - we will still be in the Santa Ana/San Clemente area (the wedding is at like 5 or 6, so we won't be traveling in the morning and have all day to run around and what not)
    Sunday - Probably going down to San Diego and staying there for the night
    Monday - Flying out of San Diego in the afternoon

    Any tips are GREATLY appreciated. I was most likely going to hit up Stone and a pizza port restaraunt, but if you know of any spots where I can enjoy beer and my date can enjoy wine and food, that would be HUGE. I have a rental car, and have no problem venturing 30 - 60 minutes from the areas I mentioned. My only no-can-do is probably drive north of LA... sadly.

    THANKS IN ADVANCE!
     
    #1 GimmeGumballHead, May 16, 2013
  2. Absolut

    Absolut Maven (1,353) Sep 19, 2011 California

    In the LA area, Boneyard Bistro, Blue Palm, and Surly Goat are great for beer selection. Boneyard also has great food, but is on the spendy side. Boneyard also has decent wine list.

    confused by SantaAna (orange)/ (Barbara) which is up north.
    San Diego- sheesh, depending on where you are you've got Port, Ballast Point, Stone etc etc.
     
    #2 Absolut, May 16, 2013
  3. nsheehan

    nsheehan Savant (1,206) Jul 3, 2011 Texas
    Trader

    Having lived near Santa Barbara, I am a little confused on why you put Santa Ana/Barbara. Sb is north of la.
    Anyway, the socal BAs will take care of you better than I can. Expect this thread to get moved to regional threads. Cheers!
    Inb4 Bruery is near Santa Ana.
     
    #3 nsheehan, May 16, 2013
  4. Absolut

    Absolut Maven (1,353) Sep 19, 2011 California

    LETS GO GAUCHOS!!!!!
     
    #4 Absolut, May 16, 2013
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  5. fredmugs

    fredmugs Initiate (0) Aug 11, 2012 Indiana

    Santa Barbara is over an hour north of LAX. FYI

    If you're looking for what you can't get in Chicago then I would go to Alpine. It's maybe 30 minutes east of San Diego. You should also got to Ballast Point and have fresh Sculpin because apparently it starts to fade in about 5 days.

    Holiday Wine cellars has a nice selection online and they are near Stone I believe. If you drive to Alpine Beverages4Less is in Santee and that's just noth of El Cajon and kinda on the way.
     
    #5 fredmugs, May 16, 2013
  6. GimmeGumballHead

    GimmeGumballHead Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2010 Illinois

    Thanks for the error! I corrected. San CLEMENTE. My bad. :slight_smile:
     
    #6 GimmeGumballHead, May 16, 2013
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  7. GimmeGumballHead

    GimmeGumballHead Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2010 Illinois

    ALSO, if anyone is looking to do any IP trades, I might be willing to travel with a few bombers of chicago and surrounding area only releases (IE: Pipeworks, Half Acre, Revolution, New GLarus, Three Floyds etc.)
     
    #7 GimmeGumballHead, May 16, 2013
  8. BdubleEdubleRUN

    BdubleEdubleRUN Initiate (0) Jul 28, 2009 California

    Hollingsheads in Orange always has a good taplist, bottles to go and a pretty good reuben.

    Billy's in San Clemente is the go to for a reuben in the area and is walking distance from pizza port san clemente.
     
    #8 BdubleEdubleRUN, May 16, 2013
    MarkIntihar, ehammond1 and GimmeGumballHead like this.
  9. Dchlocal

    Dchlocal Initiate (0) Jun 1, 2011 California

    Pizza port in San clemente. Hit up lost abbey and stone in Escondido. Bruery is in placentia about 10 min from Santa Ana. Alesmith is down in the San Diego area as well. Those you should heck out for sure. Look up maps and stuff to see what you can do but I highly suggest those.
     
    #9 Dchlocal, May 16, 2013
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  10. cgentzkow

    cgentzkow Initiate (0) Aug 5, 2009 California

    Thurs - if you're in la hit up el segundo brew co
    Fri - see if Beachwood Long Beach is on your way. By far the most exciting beer scene in south LA. Stearns liquor in long beach is an awesome bottle shop.
    Fri/sat - Santa Ana and San Clemente are pretty far from each other. While in Santa Ana hit up the Bruery, Bootleggers, Tustin brew co and/or Taps brea (also catch in Anaheim) for breweries. Hollingshead, Bradley's, bevmo, and total wine for bottle shops. I find pizza port is the go to spot for San Clemente but there are probably others.
    Sunday/mon - welcome to beer heaven. SD has so many options it just depends where you are staying. Stone is the Disneyland of breweries but there are so many great ones. Alpine is a must, imo, but its a bit out of the way. Alesmith, balast, and societe are all great. Pick up one of the beer newspapers in most craft beer bars. Also check out the taphunter app. The options in sd are endless...
     
    #10 cgentzkow, May 17, 2013
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  11. tx_beer_man

    tx_beer_man Pundit (902) Jan 22, 2013 Texas
    Trader

    When I was in LA, the Beverage Warehouse and El Segundo Whole Foods were stellar.

    Father's Office is a must go bar!
     
    #11 tx_beer_man, May 17, 2013
  12. davemont

    davemont Initiate (0) Feb 20, 2008 California

    Thu - whatever the LA BAs suggest. Father's Office is very cool.
    Fri/Sat - Beachwood by all means, Bootlegger's, Bruery; High Times and/or Total Wine in Tustin for bottles, San Clemente Pizza Port
    Sun/Mon - depends on where you're staying and what you're into. A trip to Alpine for lunch and buying beers would be a highlight, but you could also stay further North. North-based: Stone, Churchill's, Lost Abbey, Holiday Wine Cellar.
    Less North: Society, Ballast Point, Green Flash, Alesmith, O'Brien's. Further in town: Toronado, Hamiltons, Blind Lady, etc. By August the Stone Liberty Station location will be open, and there's Pizza Port OB. (All of the Pizza Ports are good stops, and Carlsbad (with a bottleshop) and Solana Beach both have lots of SoCal beach vibe and great in-house beers.)
     
    #12 davemont, May 17, 2013
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