Top 5 breweries in Cali?

Maybe you should've considered a brewery or two from SD??

 

It's hard enough picking at top four within 10 miles of my house.

 

Beachwood
Bruery
Alesmith
Firestone Walker
Sierra Nevada

 

I think they were kidding (I actually like what I've tried from belching beaver). Either way, all of those are in SD County and Strauss and Rough draft are in SD proper.

 

golden road
noble Aleworks
Eagle rock brewing
The Lab brewing
wolf creek brewing

 

Kern river
Alpine
Russian river
The bruery
Lagunitas

Last one on my list is my guilty pleasure bewery haha.

 

Although some make 1 or 2 really great ones, I feel the top must have a wide range of excellent beers and styles:

Sierra Nevada
Firestone Walker
The Bruery
Ballast Point
Russian River

 

Pizza Port
Lost Abbey
Stone
Green Flash
Pliny

 

Cali is twice the size of most states (if not larger) and there are like 70 breweries in San Diego alone. Shouldn't we get a Top 10?

 

More like top 10 in the North and top 10 in the South. Fifty Fifty hasn't even been mentioned (I think) and they have amazing stouts.

 

fifty fifty makes one amazing beer, a couple above average bees, a couple below average beers, and a crapload of mediocre beers. I generally like fifty fifty, but they wouldn't be in the top 25 CA breweries.

 

Lots to choose from, but I think mine are:

Russian River
Alpine
Firestone
Societe
Kern

 

all depends on the criteria.

top 5 breweries (quality, range, and availability):
1: Russian River
2: Firestone Walker
3: Stone
4: Lagunitas
5: Port/Lost Abbey

my favorite top 5 (picking my fav 1-3 beers and ignoring everything else):
1: Russian River
2: Bruery
3: Alpine
4: Drake's
5: Sante Adairus or Alesmith

Honorable mention (I'd probably rank higher if I had more access to):
Beechwood
Societe
Pizza Port

 

1. Beachwood
2. Societe
3. Rip Current
4. Modern Times
5. Belching Beaver

 

Since the criteria is pretty lose, my 5 favorite CA breweries (unranked):
Sierra Nevada
Russian River
Alpine
AleSmith
Stone

List looks similar to most others.

FW is definitely deserving, but I'll admit I only first tried their stuff within the past year... And haven't had much.

I also enjoy Societe and Almanac brews better than Stone at the moment, but bumped the latter ahead for being around longer more than anything. I think these two are top 5 worthy if a year or two down the road they are doing shit as well as they are now.

 

It sells very well. I dont know what you're talking about

 

alpine
Bruery
beachwood {go here weekly}
RR
Port/lost abbey

 

idiots buy beer too, GR is garbage, glad they got a new brewer but keep that terd canned n sealed

 

And Alpine can barely bottle beer worth a shit but people buy that too.

I didn't say GR is good, just that its been selling very well. And I must admit its gotten much better lately.

 

Budweiser easily out sells golden road, the mountains are cold, you are good to go. ammiright?