Southern California Meet-up 12-27 to 12-30 2009

My work is going to be shut down between Christmas and New Years, so I want to turn those couple days into a mini beer vacation. At the same time I'd love to meet up with some of you guys and gals as well. At this point I have no set agenda, but I'd like to hit as many places as realistic in the alotted time without backtracking much.

As far as locations, I'd like to keep it in Southern California, roughly Santa Barbara to San Diego, but I'd be willing to go a little further. My main goal is to get to the little places I've never been, but ultimately I'm up for anything. Possible brewpubs include (as I scan the back of the Celebrator):

Ventura, LA, and Orange County
Hollister Brewing Co. - Goleta
Huntington Beach Beer Co - Huntington Beach
Ocean Brewing Co. - Laguna Beach
O'Shea Brewing - Laguna Niguel
Belmont Brewing - Long Beach
Newport Beach Brewing Co. - Newport Beach
Hangar 24 - Redlands
Redondo Beach Brewing Co. - Redondo Beach
Left Coast Brewing Co. - San Clemente
Pizza Port - San Clemente
San Pedro Brewing Co. - San Pedro
Santa Barbara Brewing Co. - Santa Barbara
Red Car Brewery - Torrance (My local)
Anacapa Brewing Co. - Ventura

San Diego County
Pizza Port - Carlsbad
Coronado Brewing Co. - Coronado
Stone Brewing - Escondido
La Jolla Brew House - La Jolla
La Jolla Brewery - La Jolla
Breakwater - Oceanside
San Diego Brewing Co. - San Diego
San Marcos Brewery - San Marcos
Pizza Port - Solana Beach
Green Flash Brewing Co. - Vista

Also if we get a few people involved we could possibly arrange a tour of a production brewery:
Craftsman - Pasadena
The Bruery - Placentia
AleSmith - San Diego
Ballast Point - San Diego
Port Brewing - San Marcos

Other possible get together spots:
Father's Office - LA or Santa Monica
Lucky Baldwin's - Pasadena

These are all just ideas. If anyone has recommendations or suggestions please post. I'm up for anything. I just want to get it organized before it's too last minute.

I'm going to be out of town for most of those days but I'd be open for Tues, 12/29.

As for locations, I wouldn't recommend the HB or NB breweries. The food is good but the beer on par with BJ's.

San Diego!!!!!

Totally San Diego, except I'm out of town until the 29th maybe 30th, although I'm not totally sure on the dates yet.

Anyone else interested? I'm completely up for the San Diego area. Maybe I can hit there one day and have another to cruise around the LA/OC area.

I'm in pasadena, but I could probably swing a trip south. Haven't made it to any brewerys/bars on the list except for Lucky Baldwins.

I can't make any commitments right now, but if a tour is arranged of Alesmith or Port brewing I'd be interested.

Rushis said:

I'm in pasadena, but I could probably swing a trip south. Haven't made it to any brewerys/bars on the list except for Lucky Baldwins.

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How is Lucky Baldwins?

http://www.brewerytoursofsandiego.com/

Just sayin'...

Lucky Baldwin's is both awesome and disappointing. They have a good selection of beers, in particular Belgian style stuff, but the serving staff are generally rude, and they don't clean their lines so it's not uncommon to order something and have it taste infected.

I have some friends that go there and swear by the place, but my close circle of friends all prefer to go other places even though Lucky Baldwin's would be the preferred venue under normal circumstances.


Oh also a place in Eagle Rock called Verdugo has a pretty decent list of sours and farmhouse ales (all bottles) and although only maybe 10 taps (?) the selection is always great.

To add to the list:

Eagle Rock Brewing in LA just mashed in their first batch in November, and should have something on tap by that time.

Strand Brewing company is operating out of an industrial park in Torrance, CA. No tasting room but they do make good beer.

I'd love to do a tour of Lost Abbey. If we can get a bunch of us to commit, I'll call and try to arrange it. For me, Monday through Wednesday would be the best, any time those days, Dec. 28-30.

weirdboy said:

To add to the list:

Eagle Rock Brewing in LA just mashed in their first batch in November, and should have something on tap by that time.

Strand Brewing company is operating out of an industrial park in Torrance, CA. No tasting room but they do make good beer.

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Both sound good. I've been working in Pasadena lately, right near Eagle Rock. I'll see if I can stop by and scope it out.

Angel City is also here in Torrance at Alpine Village, also a production facility.

Some time that week I would like to visit every place that is very local to me. The Red Car, Redondo Beach Brewing, San Pedro Brewing, Belmont and if possible the local production facilities like Strand or Angel City.

I'll give it a few more days of bouncing ideas around before I start to make a tentative schedule.

One initial plan is since The Bruery tasting room is open only Fir-Sun, I was planning on going by there on Sunday afternoon on the 27th. Unless they have some special holiday hours that week.

arturo7 said:

How is Lucky Baldwins?

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The previous comments on Lucky Baldwin's are pretty accurate, however I haven't noticed any problems with off flavors associated with tapline maintence. The service can be very slow especially on a busy weekend night. But they have great beer selection and good atmosphere (and great fish and chips).

Eagle Rock Brewery could be a goodtime. Been following their blog for a few months.

Beechwood BBQ in Seal Beach is a place no beer lover should miss. Last time I was there they had a cask of Arrogant Bastard on their hand pump.

Here's a list of beers currently on tap. http://www.beachwoodbbq.com/beer.php

I'm not necessarily suggesting this as a meeting spot. Just giving everyone a heads up.

Stone is a fun place for groups to meet up at, and it is close to Port/lost abbey. I should be driving back from up north on the 29th, but If you guys are meeting up on the 30th I'm sure i could put down a pint or two.

I concur with Beechwood BBQ. Great food and great beer selection.

what? no Fresno locations on your list? You know it's the most happening craft brewery town :cross:

weirdboy said:

I concur with Beechwood BBQ. Great food and great beer selection.

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That place does look like a great place to get together.

By about friday I'm going to start to put together a tentative schedule and then try to narrow down the scope. I'd like to have at least one event each day, Sunday through Wednesday. The one that is roughly confirmed right now is Sunday. I'll be ar The Bruery in Placentia in the afternoon maybe 3 or 4. I'll confirm the time soon, but I'm definitely coming in for some tasting and a growler fill.

Brewsmith said:

That place does look like a great place to get together.

By about friday I'm going to start to put together a tentative schedule and then try to narrow down the scope. I'd like to have at least one event each day, Sunday through Wednesday. The one that is roughly confirmed right now is Sunday. I'll be ar The Bruery in Placentia in the afternoon maybe 3 or 4. I'll confirm the time soon, but I'm definitely coming in for some tasting and a growler fill.

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Aw bust, I'm going to be staying a few miles on there starting Monday evening!

Well, I'm sure something else will happen on monday. The Bruery is only open for the taptroom Fri-Sun.

So I'm starting to put together a rough schedule. This is all just to get us together, talk about brewing, meet new brewers, get to a few new places and have a good time. I'm still open to suggestions and will definitely make accomodations if someone needs to.

The point of this is not to necessarily try to hit everything on the schedule, but to have different locations so that many people can attend from all over Southern California.

Sunday:
Afternoon - The Bruery, Placentia
Tap Room, tasting, growler fills

Evening - ??? Dinner at a brewpub somewhere in OC


Monday:
Afternoon: If we could get a group together, I'd like to arrange a tour at the brand new Eagle Rock Brewery in Los Angeles. They don't have regular hours, you just need to call ahead. If we can get 6 people or so, I'd love to visit that place. It's basically a couple homebrewers, father and son, that are building a dream

Dinner - Beechwood BBQ? This could also be on Sunday

Tuesday and Wednesday:
I want to head down the San Diego way and hit some bigger breweries and maybe a couple brewpubs. The ones that are normally open in the middle of the week are

Stone: Tours at 2 & 6 (later ones are more crowded) - in Escondido
Ballast Point: 12, 2 & 5 in San Diego
Green Flash: By Appointment in Vista

I've never been to Ballast Point or Green Flash so I'd love to hit at least one of these. Stone is a great meeting place because of the facilities.

I'd also like to hit a brewpub or two. Any one of the Pizza Port locations could work. Our other plans could dictate which one.

Any thoughts, suggestions, preferences??? Lets get them hammered out in the next couple days so that we can call ahead if we need to. Feel free to PM me as well. As soon as we have something definate, I'm also going to let the guys at the LHBS, Stein Fillers know as well to see if any of those guys from the shop or club wish to join in.

I'ld definately be down for the eagle rock excursions. Could probably swing the Bruery on Sunday.

Met a friend at Beechwood BBQ for lunch today. They are seriously loaded up on the heavy winter beers right now. They had a hefeweizen, a pilsner, and everything else was dark and rich.

Ok, lets see if we can get a roll call of who could possibly to go Eagle Rock Brewing on Monday, December 28. It will have to be in the middle of the day during normal business hours. If there's at least a small group of us, I'll call them on monday to see if we can get that arranged.

damn you guys are far away.

I'll be at the Bruery in Placentia this afternoon. I'm going to try to shoot for 3:30. I'll be coming from a gig in Santa Ana, so I'm no exactly sure when I'll get there.

I'll be at Disney on Ice this afternoon, not sure how long that is or what time it finishes. How long do you think you'll be there?

If anything is going on in SD in the evenings this week I can probably make it. I took last week off and am working this week Usually out by 4:30 and I work in North County, so I can make it to Stone, Lost Abbey, Green Flash, etc. with relative ease.

So it looks like I'm getting there a little earlier like about 3:00. I'll be there for a while, at least an hour. I'm a bit over dressed for a brewery in a blue shirt and tie.

Got another 35 mins before I leave the Pond, so it looks like I will miss you

So I was at the Bruery today from about 3 to after 5pm. I was surprised how many people were there on a Sunday afternoon. The place keeps growing and growing. There are barrels stacked to the ceiling and they have several new brews out right now. I tried their [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Rugbrød which is a rye brown ale. It was fantastic. A bigger body that a normal brown ale at around 8% ABV with a little spice from the rye and some belgan character from their yeast. I also had the Humulus XPA, a hoppy Belgian pale ale - a west coast Pale Ale with Belgian yeast. I also met a great guy, Mike, who was also a homebrewer. I chatted with him for quite a while. I'll let you guys know if I'm over that way again because the Bruery is a great place to try some great beers.
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Hey guys I will be in the SD area January 11th-16th. Putting my down payment on my condo while I am out there and also have a few job interviews. Other than that I will be out and about in many different breweries. Let me know if you want to meet up any where. I am going to hit up Ballast point and Green Flash for sure as well as Stone and Karl Strauss. Plus many many more. Send me a email or a PM if you are interested in metting a for a few pints.

[email protected]

I'll have to check my schedule at that time, but if I'm free, I'll try to make it out then.

As far as this week, I think Tuesday would be a good day, at least for me to make it down to the SD area. As of right now I plan to hit Ballast Point about noon for the 12:00 tour, and then take my time getting up to Stone for the 6:00 one. I know a few people were interested in those places, let me know if you can make it for one of those.

Brewsmith said:

I'll have to check my schedule at that time, but if I'm free, I'll try to make it out then.

As far as this week, I think Tuesday would be a good day, at least for me to make it down to the SD area. As of right now I plan to hit Ballast Point about noon for the 12:00 tour, and then take my time getting up to Stone for the 6:00 one. I know a few people were interested in those places, let me know if you can make it for one of those.

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Not 100% sure what I've got Tuesday night, but if it's clear then I'll hit up the 6pm tour with you.

Brewsmith said:

So I was at the Bruery today from about 3 to after 5pm. I was surprised how many people were there on a Sunday afternoon.

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It was packed yesterday around 2pm. Was there for about an hour with SWMBO. Unique atmosphere with great beer. Picked up a growler of the XPA. Next time I head down there I will have to remember to place an order for brew supplies. Didn't realize their brew store was internet only.

Well again I will be there Jan 11th-16th. I am going to hit up many different spots.
Give me a shout if you are down for a pint or two.

[email protected]

I'm going to get to Ballast Point as soon as I can. I don't know if I'll make the 12 tour. If not I'll catch you guys after the tour. I know I'm good for getting to Stone on time. The tours at Stone can fill up, so be sure to get there early, maybe by 5:30.

My cousin, her kids, and my sister + fiancee decided to drive down to SD for the day... and I've got to go to dinner with them BOO!

Anyone going to Stone on January 11th?

BrianTheBrewer said:

Anyone going to Stone on January 11th?

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I've not planned to yet, but I might be persuaded.