Going to San Diego, which brewery should I go to?

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bzwyatt

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I am going to SD area for the weekend, today. Only staying 'til Sunday. I found like 6 microbrews within 15 miles of where we are staying. Stone is 20 miles away. Should I try to do a tour there? I went on a tour at Red Hook, it was a lot of fun, so even though I think I'd prefer a smaller place, the tour at Stone would probably be cool (if I can get in).

Is Pizza Port any good?
Any other place that is good? I'm going to be in Solana Beach.
 
Yes, you should definitely go to Stone. Halfway between Stone (Escondido) and Solana Beach there are a few really good breweries, from south to north: Stumblefoot, Iron Fist, Mother Earth and Port/Lost Abbey. Also right near Iron Fist is Latitude 33 which I hear is very good but I haven't been. To the south you should check out Green Flash and Society.
Pizza Port makes great pizza and has a very good beer lineup, plus it's just a cool place to hang outside. Gets packed though.
 
Ballast Point is a must. It's about 20-25 minutes south of Stone. Alesmith, Hess, Green Flash, White Labs, St. Archer(new), intergalactic(new), and rough draft are all within 10 minutes of Ballast Point as well.

If you only want to stay in North County, I would go to Belching Beaver, Port/lost abbey, Latitude 33, and Pizza Port. Like lpdjshaw said, pizza port is sweet because they have bomb pizza and great beers.
 
Well, went to Stone today, super busy and going back tomorrow. Stopped at Stumblefoot, had a great afternoon. Went to Pizza Port in Carlsbad for dinner; pizza was great and their Carlsbad Chronic was good. Thanks for the info guys!
 
I've heard great things about Offbeat brewing as well. They are just down the street from Stone, could be worth checking out!
 
Tour at Stone was cool. It is a really cool place. Had an Iron Fist beer while I was there, it was good. Stumblefoot was cool, Pizza Port had great pizza, good beer. I like SD!
 
Yeah, I am thinking of getting some friends to go again sometime soon. The place we stayed has more space and is in a great location, great price (a friend's vacation condo). This was just a last-minute thing, so I'm glad I got a few breweries in. But planning a little 'tour' of spots nearby would be awesome.

I was surprised but when we got home last night I didn't feel like any beer! My wife is pregnant so I had all her tasters at Stone and a lot at Stumblefoot. It wasn't the volume really, but the variety of full-flavored beers going down pretty quick, I just had enough. But that has never happened for me - not wanting any more beer.

Great trip, thanks for the tips!
 
OK, I'm headed to San Diego for 7 days starting Saturday. Keep the brewery suggestions flowing if you would. I'm staying in gaslight Saturday night, La Jolla the next two and then who knows...
 
Everything listed above still stands. You can pretty much start driving in any direction and hit some awesome breweries.

I would hit up Alesmith, Societe and Hess on one day. i prefer Alesmith the most, but Societe has some very fine beers.
 
The Regal Beagle is a pretty cool beer bar. Stone is awesome, I am not a huge fan of their mass releases, but the specials and guest list (imported rare bottles) are incredible, good food, good atmosphere.
 
I used to live in Encinitas and got into home brewing because of my love of Pizza Port… so I always highly recommend them. The Monterey Pizza and a Shark Bite is my "death row" meal.
 
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