Heading up to Santa Rosa & Chico area to visit Russian River, Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada. Any other pubs/breweries that you guys recommend? Will be also visiting Paso Robles too. Suggestions?
if you go to paso robles, firestone walker brewery is a must. bear republic is 15 min north of russian river. if you happen to be in the oakland area, i always like to stop by beer revolution. it's not a brewery, but it has a ton of good microbrews on tap.
I don't think I'd consider Chico and Santa Rosa to be in the same area, but you should look into Moylan's/Marin Brewing as well.
Chico is a long drive from Santa Rosa, a couple hours at least. When in Chico check out Butte Creek Brewery, if they are still around.
butte creek brewery closed in chico a few years back. they are now brewed under contract by Mendocino
I know SF has speakeasy brewpub and the dancing bear brewpub. Also I believe Anchor Brewery is in the city as well. I went to the dancing bear and had their vanilla bean lager and it blew my mind! Very tasty stuff, I was a little too hung over at the time to progress and try all their in house brews.
Thank you. That one had me throughly puzzled. 'cause I don't remember seeing this guy around town... well, maybe during Bay To Breakers...
me and a buddy are doing the same thing starting next weekend for a week. i was just about to post asking for any bars or places to hit up along the way besides FW, RR, lagunitas, and sierra nevada. any advice is greatly accepted.
If you do hit Oakland then drive another 15-20 minutes to Berkeley for Triple Rock & Jupiter (part of the Drake's triangle).
We just got back from a beer/wine weekend down there. In addition to the usual suspects, we really enjoyed dinner at Flavor Bistro (a block or two away from RR). Not only was the food great, but they have several offerings from Moonlight on tap. Another interesting stop was the Whole Foods at Coddingtown in Santa Rosa. There is a taproom inside the store with plenty of good stuff (think they have 20 taps). We grabbed some sushi from the deli, sat down with a couple of pints and had a great time. Well worth checking out.
You should definitely stop at Lagunitas--it's just off 101 in Petaluma, so you'll be passing right by it on your way to RR. There are a couple other good breweries on 101 you might consider: Moylan's and Bear Republic. But definitely do Lagunitas. In the Bay Area, I would do Drake's and Beer Revolution. Just a word of caution: as others have said, Chico is a long way from Santa Rosa. I would say it's at least a four hour drive, if there's no traffic, and 101 is frequently pretty jammed up. I probably wouldn't try to do them in the same day. You might consider stopping in Sacramento, which is about two hours south of Chico on your way, maybe stop in at Rubicon and/or Track 7, make Chico/Sac one day and then Lagunitas/RR and whatever else you can squeeze in in that area another day. Santa Rosa's about two hours from Sac. FW is way down in Paso Robles, which will take you most of the day to get there from the Bay Area, I'd say five hour drive. It's a big state....
Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa if you want to pick up bottles. Whole foods Coddingtown. Toad in the Hole. If you'll be in Santa Rosa on a Tuesday night, give Third St Aleworks a try. It's $2.50 pint night on Tuesdays.
Toad in the Hole is playing the Euro Championships so if you find yourself in town in the late morning it is worth the stop to see the atmosphere. Especially if you'll be in town during Germany-Netherlands. Hey litheum, make it over to Russian River one of these Tuesday nights after Aleworks. I think I've missed two Tuesdays so far this year, although I'm going to miss the next two after tonight. I usually make it over there around 8 or 9 and will probably be the only person named Balm sitting at the bar. Ask a bartender if I'm there and they'll point you in my direction.
Knee deep brewery in lincoln,ca is in the middle of Russian river and Sierra nevada. They brew some good stuff.
