Hello, I know it is asked/posted quite often, but I am looking for some thoughts and opinions on an upcoming trip to San Diego we are planning. We booked a flight to arrive on a Friday evening and leaving Monday morning, so we will have late Friday, all day Saturday and Sunday. I spent some time researching a bit on my own, but I'd love to get some thoughts from local BA folks. We are generally style agnostic, but love a good traditional/lager focused brewery. However, really open to any styles. Quality/Interesting Brews is the priority, with some reverence visits thrown in for the OGs. We typically stick to breweries/brewpubs/taprooms only, not beer bars/bottle shops. As far as distance, we would be willing to hit anything between San Diego and Oceanside, as we intend to hit some stops in Vista, as well as Escondido. I don't see quite as much heading East (Mcilhenney seemed to keep popping up), but open if there is cause to head that way. Part of the planning/research will dictate where we end up staying (leaning towards downtown San Diego/North Park, but this could change if there are better options logistically). Recommendations welcome. We will rent a car to hit the breweries we need to drive to earlier in the day, and park to walk/uber around to more centrally located ones in the evening. I'd really appreciate any feedback/thoughts on the "DO NOT MISS". Also, what styles may be their area of focus/specialty. I also noticed many breweries have multiple locations, so if there is one location that you have stronger feelings towards, I think that's really helpful. I estimate we have capacity to hit between 25-30 breweries. Any help is sincerely appreciated.
I'd say you're 10 years too late , but ALESMITH PURE PROJECT PIZZA PORT LOST ABBEY GOAL BALLAST POINT And coffee at Mostra SD is pretty dead nowadays in most people's opinion, but they still have good stuff.
It’s not dead. The hype bros have moved on and I’m pretty okay with that. Societe, Pizza Port and McIlhenney are still flying the west coast IPA flag proudly. Pure Project, North Park, Goal and Seek if you want some hype adjacent stuff. Barley & Sword, Deft, Gravity Heights and Taproom beer are fairly under the radar. Go to O’Briens.
Just an FYI to the prior two posters making recs for current places to visit… GOAL closed several months ago. At North Park, we are for sure swinging the West Coast IPA flag proudly… we release at least one every week, sometimes 2. It’s my favorite style to brew.
North Park brewing has great wc and hazys, societe for their WC, Alesmith for their barrel aged beers, pure project for hazys but they got a wide variety. Fall has nice wc and lagers, eppig has a nice little tasting room on the water with some good lagers. Stone not really for their beers but their tap rooms and beer gardens are very nice. Burgeon has some good wc and hazys. Pizza Port for their pizza and classic beer styles. in Oceanside green cheek is a must. They do pretty much everything well, wc, hazys, lagers, seltzers. They are my top brewery in socal. SD isn’t what it used to be but still has some good places to check out.
Mike Hess is going to be a hard skip from what I am seeing on Reddit beer forums, but appreciate the recommendation.
Forgot about that because I've been spending all my money at North Park lately. The Fidens takeover was straight fire.
Pizza Port (I like the Solana Beach one for the vibes but the Carlsbad one has better pizza....not sure if actually true or not or if I am just usually more intoxicated at the Carlsbad location that all the food tastes better) McIlhenney if you can make it out there North Park...just go Alesmith....I'm quite the homer so I will always recommend here, plus it is nice to have their barrel-aged beers constantly on draft with them occasionally throwing on an older keg. And like above....just go to O'Brien's (just don't park in the parking lot there, find street parking about a block or two away by the bus depot).
I’m a local because I live down the street, and also because the place is great. To me, O’Brien’s has the closest feel to a British pub. Not in looks or anything like that. It just has a neighborhood feel to it. On top of that, all the workers are really cool and helpful. I don’t think that I will ever earn a personal mug, but a Raul can dream. All said, my only two, make that three, gripes are that they use cold, refrigerated shaker pints, and they pour the beers to the very top of the glass leaving no head. Honestly though, the place is just a cool spot.
I live in Escondido, so most of these are North County spots, but dig all of them Breweries Burgeon Black Plague Green Cheek (the food is worth stopping for too) Weir Beer (Beers are decent and the seltzers are actually a blast to try) Lost Abbey Belching Beaver Fall Others Holiday Wine Cellar (Only spot worth stopping in Escondido for beer to go. You can drink in there too, but there is a corkage, and they have a 8 dollar beer tasting on Fridays from 530-8) Churchills (Amazing tap list and solid food) Bottlecraft (One in north park too, but I kind of like the Oside one better) OBriens (Good tap list, and solid food) Cork and Craft (Food is awesome, and they are the home of Abnormal Brewing) Copper Kings Burgers (Solid tap list and the burgers are fine?) I still enjoy going to Ballast in Miramar for a couple pints, and this will be the last chance this year to go, since they are shuttering the restaurant the end of the this year. More nostalgia for me, but did have a fresh Swingin Friar the other night and it was nice. Down in North Park, I would spend the majority of my beer time at Fall and get a burger from The Friendly. Harland is worth a stop in South Park. Nice looking building at the beers are good. Panama 66 in Balboa Park is well worth the stop if you plan on going to Balboa for the day. BLIND LADY ALE HOUSE. Just go.
Also, hotel wise, DTSD is pretty expensive. I would usually say stay at The Lafayette in North Park, but that has gotten out of control expensive. Personally, if you plan to just Uber a bunch of places, or drive and don't mind staying a bit outside of things, Mission Valley / hotel circle is fine. If you want something nicer, check out any of the hotels on the water in Mission Bay. Or, The Pearl in Point Loma is awesome. North County is beautiful to stay in, but a bit of a drive.
