I'll be spending a good amount of time in the placerville area for work and am looking for suggestions regarding beer, food, hikes, and any other good times. Thanks in advance!
Placerville proper is pretty barren, beer-wise. The Hangtown Grill used to be a fun hangout, but has gone out of business. Your best bet for beer is a trip to Auburn, about 25 (slow) miles away, where you'll find Knee Deep and Moonraker.
There is a new place in Diamond Springs that opened about 2 months ago. Only a few minutes from Placerville. Solid Ground Brewing. Getting good reviews locally. https://twitter.com/solidbrewing Jack Russel and Placerville Brewing Company in the town of Placerville are just average. As mentioned by JayOR above, Auburn is a slow windy road (Highway 49) away from Placerville. But if you have a day off, worth it to go to Knee Deep, Moonraker and Crooked Lane. There is also a brewery in Cool on the way. Also if you have a day off, 50+ Breweries about 45 minuets away in Sacramento County. Directory here: https://www.beersinsac.com/sacramento-brewery-directory/ Map here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...ll=38.746952493061634,-121.36058590000005&z=8
I'll concur with the above posts that Placerville itself isn't really a big beer spot. I stopped into Soild Ground a couple weeks ago or a quick pint and to check the place out and was impressed. Can't comment on Placerville Brewing, never been there. El Dorado Brewing is a neat little hole in the wall spot in Diamond Springs with some good beers, and the owner is almost always behind the bar and willing to talk story all afternoon. If you feel like heading south on 49 about 25-30 minutes, Amador Brewing is a good local spot down in Plymouth. If you want to go a little further, Sutter Creek Provisions in downtown Sutter Creek is a great taproom and bottleshop that also has live music most weekends. If you happen to like wine, there are a LOT of good wineries within firing range. There are quite a few options for trails in the area. I live up here in the foothills, feel free to drop me a PM and I'd be happy to give you some suggestions.
As Jasonmason notes if you are into wine there are some great wineries around Placerville. My top recs would be Holly's Hill, Sierra Vista, Cedarville (apt. required but easy) and Crystal Basin. Info on most wineries here http://eldoradowines.org/
I was at Solid Ground today and sampled the American Helles and Pilsner which were both spot on the classic style, yet fresh. The Rye IPA was also good with a hearty rye backbone and fresh hop finish. The place does have a kitchen and although I did not sample the fare, the sliders looked quite tasty. http://solidgroundbrewing.com/
