San Diego Beer

Nothing is set in stone yet, but I will most likely be making a trip to San Diego in June with the wife and another couple. I'm counting on this community for good beer ideas. This is a trip with no children so we are all up for anything. I've bookmarked La Jolla, Karl Strauss, Pizza Port, Stone, Ballast Point, AleSmith, The Lost Abbey, San Diego Brewing, and Coronado Brewing. We may only be able to visit three to four places so give me your favorites for beer. We are also up for all fun things non-beer related. Any ideas would be appreciated as I've never traveled to California.

You've got to visit the zoo there. One of the best in the world.

bottlebomber said:

You've got to visit the zoo there. One of the best in the world.

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The zoo is definitely on our list. Thanks for the response!

TheWiz said:

Nothing is set in stone yet

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hehehe, I'm amused...

mrgstiffler said:

hehehe, I'm amused...

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I was wondering if anyone would get that!!

Check out hess brewery its a nano brewery that's right around the corner from alesmith

Mission is good to hit up along with Coronado, its close. Great tasting room.

Stone, Lost Abbey(Pizza Port), IronFist, Mother Earth are close to each other.

Ballast Point, AleSmith, Green Flash, Hess, and a couple others are close to each other.

A good day is lunch at Coronado, then over to Mission. Head north up to the Green Flash - Ballast Point Area. Thats a full day and you can do 6+ easy. There is also a Karl Strauss to the west for dinner.

The Stone / Lost Abbey area will be a trip to itself. Best to group those up there together on the same day.

Can you tell I have done this before...

bwiens said:

Mission is good to hit up along with Coronado, its close. Great tasting room.

Stone, Lost Abbey(Pizza Port), IronFist, Mother Earth are close to each other.

Ballast Point, AleSmith, Green Flash, Hess, and a couple others are close to each other.

A good day is lunch at Coronado, then over to Mission. Head north up to the Green Flash - Ballast Point Area. Thats a full day and you can do 6+ easy. There is also a Karl Strauss to the west for dinner.

The Stone / Lost Abbey area will be a trip to itself. Best to group those up there together on the same day.

Can you tell I have done this before...

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Lost Abbey is fantastic, and is close to ironfist as well. I would make sure you stop by ballast point also

x2 for Stone, Pizza Port (the Carlsbad spot was one of my weekly hangouts), Mission and Green Flash. If you're more of a pubcrawler, The Yardhouse in downtown SD & Penny Lane in San Marcos are my recommendations. For non-beer, there's so much stuff to do around SD that it would take a ridiculously long post to list them all, but: surf lessons around Oceanside (there's dozens of surf shops along El Camino Real that offer them and equipment rentals), hike/bike trails are everywhere, Chargers/Padres games depending on the season, and literally hundreds of excellent restaurants up & down the coast with views to die for. If you're big on sushi, you have to visit the Sushi House in Encinitas, specifically request John as your chef, and have him make a Dragon Roll for you. You'll thank me later once you get over the gastronomical elation.

The top three for me:
Pizza Port -- I went to the one in Solana Beach...funky little place, good pizza (and I'm saying this as a former Jersey boy), and tons of beers on tap, both their own and others, including PLINEY when I was there
Stone -- just gotta go there... The facility and grounds are amazing. The foods a bit pricey, but it's worth it...just be sure to show up *plenty* early if you want to get in on the tour
Coranado -- awesome restaurant and beer!

Make sure you book a reservation at stone (I was told that they book up 3 months in advance, even on week days).

I was there in February and we also took a trip to Temecula. Don't expect great wines, and they're too expensive for the quality, but we still had fun tasting and it's really beautiful there.

For me, Stone is at the top of the list, by far. Whip out your AHA card, if you have one, for a 15% discount.

I would try to do the north county San Diego trip. There is stone, port/lost abbey, iron fist, mother earth, and Aztec just opened up as well, if you want to drive a few more miles there is prohibition that opened up as well as backstreet (ok brewery) and then there is breakwater brewery. North county san Diego has really grown it's brew scene in the last few years.

I really recommend Obrien's Pub in Claremont. Run by Tom Nickel a former brewer and "in the loop" with local breweries. You can almost guarantee a solid lineup of beers there.

The best damn beer shop in downtown or bottlecraft next to the airport to stock up on bottles.

lewybrewing said:

I really recommend Obrien's Pub in Claremont.

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+1 on this. It's almost a hole in the wall, but it's so fan-freaking-tastic!

AngerManagement said:

For me, Stone is at the top of the list, by far. Whip out your AHA card, if you have one, for a 15% discount.

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Dang, I just went to Stone twice, alesmith, and ballast point this past month...forgot to pull out the AHA card.

In addition to what is mentioned here, here are some smaller breweries and few other places you may want to consider:

1. Lightning (Poway): makes a great Pilsner, and is currently brewing a more traditional German lager which should be ready in June. Also has some fine barrel aged stuff. Porter is great as well.

2. New English Brewing: Recently opened their tasting room near the Coaster station in Sorrento Valley. More English style beers - they have a 4.5% ABV, session IPA (most San Diegans will scream in horror ), as well as a really great ESB and Brown Ale.

3. Rough Draft (in Miramar, close to Alesmith etc): Haven't tasted their beers yet, but have heard really things about the IPAs. Also opened recently.

4. Monkey's Paw (near Downtown): Again - recently opened, haven't tasted, but heard good things. They also carry other local beers on tap and their food is very good as well.

5. Alpine (in Alpine, ~30min drive from SD): Cool little tasting room and brewpub (great ribs and onion rings). If you like IPAs, don't miss the Nelson (rye-IPA made with Sauvignon hops), and Duet.


For brewpubs and beer-focused restaurants:

Lots of places along the 30th Ave:

1. Tiger! Tiger! Great selection of beers, nice atmosphere. Farm-to-table dining (food is delicious but pricey)

2. Crazee Burger: Around the corner from Tiger, they carry some esoteric stuff like Ostrich/Kangaroo/Alligator burger. Decent beer selection.

3. Toronado - always seem to have a great selection of IPAs from all over. Last Sunday they had Pliny and 90min!

4. Ritual Tavern

5. Whistlestop

6. Hamilton's Tavern

In other areas of town:

1. O'Brien's: already mentioned by someone. Beer selection is awesome, food is good as well. Also a lot of Asian restaurants around, if you want to try some authentic ethnic food.

2. The Local habit (Hillcrest): Usually has 10-12 local craft beers on tap. Farm-to-table dining.

3. George's at the Cove Ocean Terrace (La Jolla): Rooftop dining with some of the finest views. Very decent selection of beers on tap as well. Don't miss this.


Have fun here!

Find the most hole-in-the-wall Mexican eatery you can and order the carne asada burrito. I lived in SD for 7 years and every time I visit that's one of the first things I do. Amazing.

Looks like we are definitely going. Thanks for all the ideas! Looks like the craft beer scene is definitely great out there.

I'm actually planning a trip to SD this summer too... going to SF and SD. Were going to San Diego solely for the beer/food and zoo. Any recommendations on what area of the city is best to stay if we'd like to walk to some of the pubs and breweries that you guys have mentioned?

Just got back from the trip and wanted to post some thoughts.....Stone was amazing! The beers were first class, but reserve your table several hours in advance as it was over a two hour wait when we arrived. The beer garden was awesome and well worth the trip. Be prepared to wait in line for a ticket to the brewery tour. I didn't get the chance to tour most of the breweries on my list, but I did make it to the Pacific Beach Ale House. It was an awesome sports bar-ish atmosphere with great beers and good food. Karl Strauss is not located on Santa Fe St. so don't go there. They are actually there but didn't offer any tours as they had moved a block over during a transformation of the brewery. This place was only a brewery and not a brewpub. I did get a chance to drink two beers out of the Strauss lineup and they were OK, but not exceptional. I brought several 22oz.-ers home and have yet to try any. Too many beers/pubs/breweries to try during a week in San Diego. This place is awesome and we were at the mercy of friends during our stay so it wasn't a beercation on any level. I did drink more mexican beers than I ever have and loved every minute of it!

The San Diego Zoo was just like any other zoo I have visited so I wasn't very impressed (we didn't have any kids; only adults). It is huge so bring your walking shoes! The USS Midway was awesome for you history buffs. They have a good assortment of aircraft and helos on the top deck and I learned that I am too tall to serve on an aircraft carrier. I recommend you get a tour of both the north and south ports from a "tour boat". There was some good information I learned from the tour guides. I was able to partake in some deep sea fishing thanks to some local friends who owned a boat (take some Dramamine!) Last but not least, Petco Park was fantastic! Texas beat San Diego, but that was a given (ask the locals). You have to get some Filippi's Pizza while at the park! I love pizza and the portion was ballpark sized.

I go to SD every couple of months, but I usually just end up at bars in PB or OB, instead of actually doing anything constructive. I've always wanted to do the zoo, but your description isn't too promising. Did you go to the wild animal park?

Oh... Beer. I'll try Stone next time i'm there.

Pizza Port has a brew pub in OB