Lesser Known San Diego Breweries

Don't miss Alpine and Societe.

 

Ale Smith, Modern Times, Hess Brewing, Belching Beaver

 

societe is an absolute must. the others listed above are also great calls. stone's venue in union station is amazing (and I hear escondido is even nicer).

 

+1 to Hess.

 

I wouldn't bother much with Coronado, Mission, Modern Times, or Left Coast.

I would spend my time at Alesmith, Alpine, Pizza Port/Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, Stone, Societe, Ballast Point. That is probably in order of my preference.

Other notables but kind of meh: Hess, Green Flash.

I love drinking san diego beers however they generally all taste the same. There are a few standouts, but almost all SD breweries brew the same american style beers, save for Lost Abbey. In addition to the above list, there are many other berweries that were started primarily to jump on the craft beer profit wagon. You can tell which ones are built to make money and which ones are built to make good beer.

I'm not trying to bash San Diego - i lived there for many years and enjoy my fair share of sculpin, speedway stout, and alpine beers when it finds its way up to me.

 

I didn't get to visit many breweries when I've been in San Diego but if I had the chance again, I'd probably just visit Alpine every day. Mostly because they combine 2 of my favorite things, beer and BBQ.

 

Mother Earth, the space is cool, the place is tiny and they definetly love beer. It looks like you are going to most of the great ones, try to have a meal at Stone.

 

I second Alpine and Societe. I didn't see them on your list. I would personally go to those two before any on your list.

 

Not technically in San Diego, but Rip Current has great stuff. Lupulin Lust is a great IPA!

 

Depending on how long you have you can skip Hess, belching Beaver and Mission. Meh.

SD county is a big ass place so look at a map and group brewery visits by geography.

 

Modern Times is worth visiting even if its solely for their crazy looking tasting room.

 

I'm having a difficult time understanding how people can say Alpine and Societe are missing and then leave out Alesmith. IPAbias...

 

Belching Beaver impressed the shit out of me the only time I visited.

 

True. I add AleSmith to my reply above.

 

I'm surprised how little Rip Current has been mentioned in this thread. A must visit.

 

Intergalactic Brewing! (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32092/)

 

I suspect it isn't getting mention because most San Diegans now consider them to be above the "lesser known" category. These days, when I'm in O'Brien's / Toronado and don't see anything in the "must have this" category, I'll often choose something from Rip Current if they have it.

Certainly, if one is doing Stone Escondido and Lost Abbey, and/or Churchill's Pub, a stop at Rip Current would be worthwhile. At some point this past summer, we were considering buying up Carlsbad / Bressi Ranch / San Elijo Hills, and had that happened I am certain that Rip Current would have been in my primary rotation.

Intergalactic is a good choice, IMHO.

 

well if thats true than why are people mentioning alpine and societe!

monkey paw or benchmark are "lesser known ones" that i would recommend!

 

Reflex.

Seriously, I get your point. Never mind...