Visiting California

So you are spending a couple of weeks along the California coast or California in general? San Francisco? LA/OC? San Diego? Death Valley?

 

Mikkeller bar has some nice beers while your up there. Seems like down south is where I see the real amazing craft stores like craftbeerkings and a few others

 

Yeah you’re really going to have to narrow it down – California is gigantic. San Diego to San Francisco is an 800 km drive.

 

Do people from everywhere else in the country really get this mistaken about the size of California, or is it that they have no idea where the cities are located in relation to each other?

 

To be fair, he's from Australia. But you would think someone would look at a map before asking this sort of thing.

 

Based on how broad this question is, I suggest you stop at all of them.

 

Oh, yeah. Leeroy: the distance between San Francisco and San Diego is comparable to the distance between Sydney and Melbourne, so you are covering a huge area. Give us your itinerary, and people can point you at good stores in each locale.

 

Or search here for previous post about Cali trip.

 

For the SF Bay Area check this out: www.beerbybart.com a great listing of what's around. North bay musts are Russian River, Lagunitas, Bear Republic & Bottle Barn for singles. A gajillion of breweries have popped up in the North bay recently, way to many to list here. East bay I'd say Drake's, Triple Rock and the new Sierra Torpedo tap room (tasters & growlers only) are good bets as well as well as the Trappist. Beer Rev for singles.

Lots of threads here on SF ( not San Fran please). Good luck & have fun!

 

While in SanFran, Toronado & Zeitgeist is a must stop. In the same area is Monks Kettle. City Beer is not much further. Drive along PCH (#1) is a very scenic drive from SanFran to LA. I would take the 101 to Firestone Walker and then hit Ladyface Alehouse in Agoura Hills. Depending how long in LA/OC area. Smog City, El Segundo Brewing Co, Naja's & Beachwood BBQ & Brewing (growler fills) in Long Beach is a must. Then get back on Ocean Blvd south to Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach and check out their awesome bottle list. And yes they also have some great beers on tap. Check out their hop cam to see what serving at the time. Whole Foods in Long Beach (very near Beachwood Seal Beach) has a good selection of beers as well as the Whole Foods in El Segundo. Ask for Josh at the Long Beach WF's. He does get Pliny in once every few weeks or so. If you are looking for Pliny to take with you on your Cali adventure, then I would head up north while your in SanFran to Santa Rosa and go straight to the source, Russian River brewing Co. I believe right now they have a 6 bottle limit per person per day. With the both of you, you should have enough in the cooler for the drive south to LA and Sun Diego. Back to LA/OC area. After Beachwood you have The Bruery, Bootleggers, Noble Ale and a few others all in the same area. For bottles in the LA area you also have HiTimes in Costa Mesa, Whole Foods, Total Wine, Liquor Warehouse and Mr Kegs all in Huntington Beach (doable after a stop in Beachwood Seal Beach). Heading south after LA/OC you have Pizza Port San Clemente & Carlsbad. Once your in sunny San Diego your in a whole new world of beers! And it's growing by the minute. I'll let the San Diego beer geeks take over from here. But my recommendations would be Alpine (30 minutes east from downtown San Diego, Societe, Modern Times(new), Ballast Point, Green Flash & Mission. Theres a bunch of new ones like Rip Current, Lattitude 33, Belching Beaver, etc, etc.

I know I left out a lot of other great places to check out. So others will fill you in. But if you do a search here on Cali trip then I'm sure you will find a wealth of info. Good luck.

By the way, when are you visiting Cali? Month, day?

 

If you are driving from SF to LA, then you have to stop here:

http://www.firestonebeer.com/barrelworks

Note that the pub is open 7 days, but the special barrel room is not.

 

firestone in paso robles california, along the 101 freeway.

 

Maybe don't call it SF, either. Maybe call it Silicon Valley. Friscoans love that.

 

Call it whatever you want. I'll call it SanFran, NorCal, etc, etc. Who cares?

 

ppffft!

 

Totally. And LA and the OC are the same damn thing, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.