Sacramento to Riverside stops

If you have the time, it's absolutely worth the stop.

 

LA County:
1) Golden Road

Orange County:
1) Bottle Logic

2) The Bruery

Riverside County:

1) [Packinghouse Brewing Co.](http://www.pbbeer.com/)

San Bernardino County:

1) [Hangar 24 Brewing](http://www.hangar24brewery.com/)

San Diego County:

1) [Stone Brewing Co.](http://www.stonebrewing.com/)

2) [Ballast Point](http://www.ballastpoint.com/)

3) [Green Flash Brewing Co.](http://www.greenflashbrew.com/)

 

Golden Road????? Uhhh how about Highland Park??

 

Noble in Anaheim also missing. You could park there and walk from Angels stadium and they are a must hit in OC

 

I second Noble if youre at Angel Stadium!

 

Totally agree with the stop to Kern River if you've got the time to spare. Otherwise there's bottle shops along your route that will have some packaged KRBC stuff.

Are you looking for breweries, bottle shops, craft bars, or combinations of all? And are you going South of Riverside?

 

Mr. K's Liquor is a good bottle shop right next to The Bruery. Check out their Instagram: mrksliquor.

 

Don't miss Device in Sacramento.

 

if you don't have time to roll up to Kern River, I'd check Imbibe in Bakersfield as they usually have their packaged stuff.

If you have to pick between Device and Track 7 in Sac, I'd go with Device.

And I'll throw out another vote for Noble and Societe, what stuff of theirs I've had has been delicious. And possibly the easiest treats to send back might be Modern Times, their packaged stuff is all solid and the 4pk 16oz cans are easy to pack/ship and dated on the bottom.

 

Good bottle shop in Riverside is La Bodega. They get good stuff and occasionally Pliny. Skip any brewery based in Riverside though

 

Packinghouse and Wicks both seem to be doing some good beers.

 

on the way down, only firestone walker (the best all around brewery imo, they should have their BA beers for sale if that floats your boat, def on tap) is worth the detour

in the riverside area...
bottleshop - la bodega and maybe house of booze
breweries - ritual (fat hog and big deluxe both won gabf golds this yr) and hangar24 (betty!! and maybe a big beer on tap)

by angels stadium...
bottleshop - mr k's
breweries - noble (awesome pales), bottle logic, bruery (no commentary needed)

north san diego..
bottleshop - el cerrito on the way if your heading there from riverside
breweries - alesmith (speedway! and new location is really nice) stone (great food), ballast point, greenflash (bastard alpine?) and maybe mike hess

if you go further into san diego
breweries - modern times (amazing), societe

 

That's one hell of a detour. Considering their distribution footprint vs. KRBC, their beers are far more likely to be more easily found without a trip to the brewery. One could almost argue KRBC isn't that far out of the way if he's heading to Riverside and drops in via 395. YMMV

 

what at kern river are you looking for? citra isnt avail... just outstanding can be found in shops... the 5 south from sacramento to the 41, you can take 101 into LA and hit locations on way into riverside..... your getting much better beers at firestone

edit.... i just double checked the map, detour to kern is just as inconvenient and its a much better drive down the 101

 

In an effort not to derail the OP's thread I'll respond one more time. Your route is 544 miles according to Google, 99-Kernville-395-Riverside is 515. Plus, the likelihood of getting stuck in Socal traffic is much much less (cause let's be real the 101 isn't always a smooth flowing show). There's plenty of delicious offerings at Kern River beyond Citra, not all of which are packaged. It's about to be the time for their Anniversary beers, and many of those recipes have turned out so well/loved that they make recurring appearances (e.g., Dirty Hippie, 5th Anniversary/Winter Ale). So there's plenty of good stuff, some even in packaged format that your far less likely to find at a bottle shop to make the trip worthwhile. FW, while a very good brewery in their own right, has a much broader distribution footprint. The OP being from out of the state would at least have a chance at getting FW beers without having to go to the brewery, where as the same can't be said for Kern River.

As for the aesthetics of the drive, it really depends if you're a coastal person or a mountains/desert person. I'm the latter, so thus enjoy the drive through the Kern River Canyon and the Joshua Trees in the Mojave to the coast. TETO

 

I've done the drive from Kernville to Riverside a few times. It's a nice trip although very desolate. You'll also drive right by Indian Wells Brewing. I have yet to stop there because of timing issues, so I have no idea if it's worth it.

 

I've yet to be truly impressed by one of their offerings.