Road Trip - LAX --> SFO

Smog City, 10min walk from Monkish.

Fieldwork, 15min drive from Almanac.

 

If you're taking 101, get sandwiches at High Street Deli in San Luis Obispo... Freaking amazing sandwiches

 

If you’re staying in Monterey then Alvarado Street is walking distance from Fieldwork

 

Regarding your Firestone stop ... just want to make sure it’s the Barrelworks location in Buelton ... still on your route, but way better than the Paso Robles location in terms of BA Stouts & Wild Ales / Sours

 

Also in paso is Silva brewing, seems like the retirement gig for an og brewer from green flash. Nothing flashy buy really enjoyable beers

 

I 2nd Barrelworks. one of the most amazing tap lists anywhere. if you're in Solvang around breakfast time go to Paula's Pancake House for some danish style pancakes

 

OP, my wife and I did a similar trip back in the summer of 2016, LA to Seattle. Our timing was a little more crunched where we didn't do more than 2 nights anywhere along the trip. We mostly stayed on the 1 and 101. Saw some beautiful places and hit up a handful of breweries since that wasn't the primary focus.

Highland Park at the Hermosillo. Cool spot before they opened other location(s).

FW Barrelworks in Buelton. Love this spot. Always a very solid list - one offs and vintage box beers on draft. We tend to hit it up when we're back my wife's hometown, Santa Barbara.

Sante Adairius is can't miss and for me was the only spot I had to hit on this trip and remains one of the best brewery visits I've had to this day. This was the Capitola spot, pre-Santa Cruz portal.

Cellarmaker is worth it too. They tend to a large varied tap list as well. It was a gorgeous time being the summer so being able to enjoy a 64 oz. growler in Dolores Park was a pretty awesome drinking experience.

We also did Russian River, Santa Rosa, since our trip continued north. I think it's worth a stop. My wife was at the wheel this stretch so sampling through both sides of the board was pretty sweet.

Sounds like an awesome trip and it will be. Also seems like you'll have a little more casual time frame than we did-some days driving 5-6 hours. Either way, enjoy!

 

Definitely make it a priority. That said, check the location that works best for you as I think they offer different things - different draft lists, onsite bottles, guest taps, etc. I think that is more the newer spot in Santa Cruz, which is only minutes away from Capitola, but wasn't an option for us back in 2016.

 

There's also modern times in Santa Barbara

 

SARA (Sante Adarius Rustic Ales), as mentioned, has two spots. The original location (and production facility) is in Capitola. Rustic and low-key and no food. The new location up the road in Santa Cruz is bigger, more taps, more bottles and food as well. The SC site also has some guest taps and lots of guest bottles. While in SC, if are into NE IPA styles, check out Humble Sea which is up and coming.

Alvarado St. is a must while in Monterey.

Cellarmaker also has two locations in SF. The original, on Howard St., is just a taproom (and is the production facility). Big tap list. The other location on Mission St. has food (particularly excellent Detroit-style pizza). SF has tons of great beer bars which you can get from the other threads.

 

Damn. Would of loved to do a IP trade at LAX. But I'm leaving for Sin City that Sunday morning. I would of brought some good stuff from OC area that you might miss out on while your in LA.

 

And when you make the stop to have those great sandwiches at High St, you should check out a nice little trifecta of breweries......Central Coast Brewing and 2 new but great addtions to the area that you could bring the sandwiches to.

There does not Exist www.theredoesnotexist.com (previous brewer at Firestone)
Liquid Gravity www.liquidgravitybrewing.com (previously head brewer at Central Coast brewing)

 

Going to second the Humble Sea recommendation since you’ll be at SARA anyways ... fantastic hazies from Humble Sea lately

 

Modern Times is a must stop if you like stouts but doing a good job with IPAs (DDH Finally Open in LA is amazing). You have 3 options, Downtown LA, Santa Barbara (which is the least busy of locations, so they have the best stuff on tap) and Oakland (which just broke records for sales). Humble Sea just came out of nowhere they have more collabs with top tier breweries than anyone else in the Greater Bay Area.

FT: MT Stouts

Here is what i what my itinerary would look like:

LA - Monkish, Highland Park
OC- Green Cheek, Bottle Logic - These are not in OC but about 1 hour out are Homage and Kings
SB/Oxnard - MT, Casa Agria
Monterey - Alvarado Street and Fieldwork
Santa Cruz - Humble Sea and Sante Adarius
Bay Area - Cellarmaker, Modern Times, The Rare Barrel, Fieldwork

 

If you are hitting Cellarmaker, I recommend stopping by City Beer Store as well.

If you are at Almanac, you are a few minutes drive from Modern Times Oakland (and The Good Hop).

Sante usually has 5-6 to go bottles available, so bring a second suitcase.