West Coast Brewery Trip

Hey all, I had this posted in general chit chat also but didn't really know where I'd get the best responses so here goes again. For memorial weekend I've been planning a little bit of a brewery road trip heading up the west coast. I'm picking up the SWMBO in LA this morning and then planning on heading north via the 101 and making pit stops at all the necessary hits along the way. We've already done most of San Diego so for the sake of driving were skipping this go round. So far the plan in order is:

The Bruery
Surf Brewing (a little hometown visit to a new shop)
Telegraph Brewing (grab from a bottle shop in Santa Barbara)
Firestone
Anchor Steam
21st Amendment
Lagunitas
Russian River
Bear Republic

Then heading back home depending on whether we want to kick out for boonville, north coast, etc. Anyone know of any must-see stops I'm missing along the way? Got 3 days to kill and plenty of collection space to fill

Looks like an amazing trip most of us could only dream about. Enjoy and take pictures in case you 'forget' a few stops.

When you're in Petaluma for Lagunitas, try and stop at Petaluma market. They have hen house and 101 North brewing. Both are relatively new start ups but put out some solid beers. 101's Heroine IPA is great.

Actually, you should call 101 and see if they offer tours the day you'll be there. They are right across the street from Lagunitas.

The Breuery is a little south of LA, but if you're going to be in the area I would visit Bootleggers too.

The Bruery is more than a little south of LA, it's more like an hour plus. While you're in LA, definitely hit up Golden Road and Eagle Rock. Those would be my can't-miss spots in LA county. Up in the bay, definitely don't miss Drakes.

Yeah I'm pretty familiar with the area, was just generalizing. I figure while I'm down picking up SWMBO in the valley there's no reason to not pop in and take a look around. Plus picking up some loakal red and saison rue (along with whatever goodies they have around) is even more incentive

Did you make a reservation at anchor? They only offer tours by reservation. And they fill up months in advance on weekends... You could also check out speakeasy and magnolia in San Francisco, linden street brewery in Oakland, triple rock in Berkeley... There are others of course...

When you're in Santa Rosa for RR, hit the Coddington Whole Foods. They usually have a great selection in their Taproom and they always have an excellent bottle selection. While you're in Santa Barbara, I've heard really good things about The Brewhouse (though I have not been there).

I would check out speakeasy in sf. They open the brewery up on Friday and Saturday nights and serve from their 'bar'. It's a literally just hanging out in the brewery. Sometimes a taco truck shows up. It's $10 bucks for 2 pints and a glass. Not a bad deal

Definitely stop at Central Coast Brewery in Carpenteria. Right off the 101 and across the traintracks from the sand. Unreal location and really good beer to. Also stop at Central Coast brewing company in San Luis Obispo. Again right off the 101 before you head up the hill to Firestone. Its really small but the bar is in the brewery and they have some really great beer to.

tflew said:

Definitely stop at Central Coast Brewery in Carpenteria. Right off the 101 and across the traintracks from the sand. Unreal location and really good beer to. Also stop at Central Coast brewing company in San Luis Obispo. Again right off the 101 before you head up the hill to Firestone. Its really small but the bar is in the brewery and they have some really great beer to.

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Pretty sure you meant Island Brewing in Carpinteria. Haven't been to that one yet.

And I definitely second Central Coast in SLO. We weren't expecting much and were very impressed.

1. I live in SF, it's true about Anchor -- finally went on my first tour there after having lived here for years, we had to reserve three or four months out for a spot early on at Wednesday afternoon. At the end of the day, a brewery tour's a brewery tour, and most of what's in their taproom is available in any of our fine craft beer bars, so, don't sweat it.

2. On the subject of SF, 21st Amendment, don't go any time near a Giants home game, they're just a few blocks from the ballpark. But, if you've got a car (or are a hardcore public transit geek), check out SpeakEasy -- great local/regional brewery, and they usually have two or three things on that you won't find elsewhere, so, it's worth the rather-annoying trip.

If you've got time in the Bay Area, Drake's across the Bay in San Leandro is also cool.

3. Can I get a ride with you up to Russian River? ...well, OK, not really, but, I love that place, crazy sours you really won't find anywhere else, and they make a mean pizza to boot, you won't be sorry you went.

Lesse.... pretty much any Whole Foods you pass near will have an excellent bottle selection. You might also check out City Beer Store in SF -- they're the wine bar business model transposed to craft beer, tons of bottles you can drink there or take home, knowledgable staff who will help you pick, and 15 tap handles if you get thirsty while you mull over your options. Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa also has a great bottle selection, but they're definitely more of the "big warehouse full of booze" kind of place.

Marin and Moylan's are another couple breweries between SF and Santa Rosa, etc. ... they do solid work, I wouldn't skip Lagu or Russian River to hit them, but if you've got them time, they're worth looking into.

feinbera said:

1. I live in SF, it's true about Anchor -- finally went on my first tour there after having lived here for years, we had to reserve three or four months out for a spot early on at Wednesday afternoon. At the end of the day, a brewery tour's a brewery tour, and most of what's in their taproom is available in any of our fine craft beer bars, so, don't sweat it.

2. On the subject of SF, 21st Amendment, don't go any time near a Giants home game, they're just a few blocks from the ballpark. But, if you've got a car (or are a hardcore public transit geek), check out SpeakEasy -- great local/regional brewery, and they usually have two or three things on that you won't find elsewhere, so, it's worth the rather-annoying trip.

If you've got time in the Bay Area, Drake's across the Bay in San Leandro is also cool.

3. Can I get a ride with you up to Russian River? ...well, OK, not really, but, I love that place, crazy sours you really won't find anywhere else, and they make a mean pizza to boot, you won't be sorry you went.

Lesse.... pretty much any Whole Foods you pass near will have an excellent bottle selection. You might also check out City Beer Store in SF -- they're the wine bar business model transposed to craft beer, tons of bottles you can drink there or take home, knowledgable staff who will help you pick, and 15 tap handles if you get thirsty while you mull over your options. Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa also has a great bottle selection, but they're definitely more of the "big warehouse full of booze" kind of place.

Marin and Moylan's are another couple breweries between SF and Santa Rosa, etc. ... they do solid work, I wouldn't skip Lagu or Russian River to hit them, but if you've got them time, they're worth looking into.

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+1 about drakes. Love that place

uhh sierra nevada in chico. I hear they have beer that is only available in their taproom. i wish i had the time to head up there and check it out.

Leubega said:

Hey all, I had this posted in general chit chat also but didn't really know where I'd get the best responses so here goes again. For memorial weekend I've been planning a little bit of a brewery road trip heading up the west coast. I'm picking up the SWMBO in LA this morning and then planning on heading north via the 101 and making pit stops at all the necessary hits along the way. We've already done most of San Diego so for the sake of driving were skipping this go round. So far the plan in order is:

The Bruery
Surf Brewing (a little hometown visit to a new shop)
Telegraph Brewing (grab from a bottle shop in Santa Barbara)
Firestone
Anchor Steam
21st Amendment
Lagunitas
Russian River
Bear Republic

Then heading back home depending on whether we want to kick out for boonville, north coast, etc. Anyone know of any must-see stops I'm missing along the way? Got 3 days to kill and plenty of collection space to fill

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Sounds like a fun trip--being from Santa Barbara, I can tell you that the Telegraph Brewery is in a warehouse area (that is if you decide not to get something from the bottle shop) which if they are open they do tastings--kinda lackluster.

Check out Hollister Brewing in Goleta. Its in a shopping center, and they don't have bottles to take, but they make some very good beer. I recently heard that the main brewer from Port Brewing started working up there.

You have 2 options for Firestone-- they have the Taproom in Buellton (about 30 min north of SB on 101) where you can get beer and food (its Firestone's Restaurant--good food) and then the main brewery in Paso if you want to check out the brewery. The tours are sporadic and it was ok when I went a few years back. This was before they recently expanded so report back on how you like it. They make a beer called "805" which is only distributed in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties--its not bad. But definitely see if you can get some of those exotic bombers--Buellton had a good selection when I was there last summer.

Oh an you will love the Anchor tour! That was probably the best brewery tour I have been on.

If you are that far north, may as well go to Sierra Nevada?

Have fun! Enjoy!

When you're heading north from Santa Barbara stop off in Buellton at the Firestone taproom (not the Paso brewery although that's good as well) a few months ago they opened their BarrelWorks Tap Room.

They store all their barrel project beers for the Anniversary ales and special releases. Plus all the crazy experiment stuff and wild ales. On a recent visit they had Ruffus, Ruffus w/ Bret, Lil Opal, Sticky Monkey(15.2 Barleywine used in the Anniv blends), their SloAmbic, and Parabola 12&13 to name a few.

This weekend they are offering 11 through 16 Anniversary incredible. As an added geek out there are QR Codes on all the barrels that tell you dates, what's in the barrel, and what it was inoculated with. Last time I came across a barrel they brewed with Mikkeller around last years beerfest. You walk in through the Barrel Room. A truly great experience.

ktblunden said:

And I definitely second Central Coast in SLO. We weren't expecting much and were very impressed.

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Should also mention if you decide to hit Central Coast in SLO go to the Splash Cafe across the street for lunch. Some of the best clam chowder I've ever had.

ktblunden said:

Pretty sure you meant Island Brewing in Carpinteria. Haven't been to that one yet.

And I definitely second Central Coast in SLO. We weren't expecting much and were very impressed.

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I stumbled on Island Brewing while I was camping at Carpinteria this past winter. It's a great location with a view of the ocean. Being in town and right off the freeway, it would make a great lunch break on your drive up the coast. Some pretty darn tasty beers as well!

daksin said:

The Bruery is more than a little south of LA, it's more like an hour plus. While you're in LA, definitely hit up Golden Road and Eagle Rock. Those would be my can't-miss spots in LA county. Up in the bay, definitely don't miss Drakes.

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I agree, Golden Road and Eagle Rock have great beer!!

So we just are getting around to the Bruery for a nice bottle perusing. After that it's north to Ventura for quick trip to Surf Brewing. I'm from Ventura actually so I'm pretty familiar with the area. We're definitely gonna stop off at Island in carpinteria, sounds amazing. I know telegraph is in a kind of janky area, I was just looking to find a shop where o can pick up their white ale. I was debating between the two firestone places; the buellton one is worth it then??

Also, splash is awesome. Can't believe I forgot about their chowder bowls.

As for SF, we already have the reservations for Anchor but I think were gonna skip 21st since I've been a handful of times for giants games. Instead were gonna do a trip out to drakes, I love their IPA and forgot how close they are.

I already had the first kink in the trip, got a flat and had to stop in Bakersfield to pick up a new tire. Normally I'd dread the place but I managed to find a bottle shop
called Imbibe (nice little place) right off of the 99. I was hoping to find some Kern River Citra DIPA but apparently Kyle isn't bottling anymore and its only on draft and growlers up at Lake Isabella. Managed to pick up some of their Just Outstanding IPA and a bottle of 2011 Sophie. Not too shabby...

Thanks for the suggestions guys and keep 'em coming!

Just drank a bottle of the loakal red last night- very impressed. It's nice to have such an unusual beer that clocks in under 7%. A little too oaky, for me, but really a great beer. It would take age incredibly- consider picking up an extra bottle to lay down. Good call- A21 is great, but if you've already been, it'd be cool to see some new places.

You should toss up a map of your progress and the breweries you've been to!

Tracked down a place to crash just outside of buellton for the night. Day one was definitely a success. Began at the Bruery in placentia around 2, got to surf brewing in Ventura at 6, island brewing in carpinteria ( which was an AWESOME suggestion). Trying to find the place was definitely interesting, took a few to realize you had to sneak behind the building but their starry night stout and big island DIPA were more than worth it. And finally finished up with an extra late dinner at Brewhouse in Santa Barbara. The brew was just ok for the most part but the food, atmosphere and excellent music more than covered up for any lacking areas. Pictures of all are to come as day two starts tomorrow: looks like firestone, central coast, drake, and speakeasy are on tap for tomorrow. Thanks again for all the suggestions!

Finally made it back home to Davis this morning after a long day on the road yesterday. Left Buellton in time to make it to Pismo beach for some Splash cafe clam chowder. Parked right up the street and stumbled on a brewery right next to the car. Can't really remember the name but the beer was equally forgettable. However we did also find an excellent liquor store with a perfect selection of CA breweries.

Headed up to San Luis afterwards to make a pitstop at Central Coast Brewing Co. Kudos to the recommendation; the beer was excellent and Jim the owner was awesome. They had a great bourbon stout, excellent Tripel, and a really interesting Chai Ale that we wish we could have taken a bottle of with us.

Next up was Firestone where we got to snag some Parabola, Succaba, Walker's reserve, and an excellent oaked DBA served out of a nitro. It was pretty packed for the holiday weekend so we had our tastings and hit the road. We ended up taking the 1 north since my co-pilot hadn't ever traveled the coastline. The scenery was gorgeous as always but it really smashed our chances by adding on about 3 hours to the trip.

We ended up skipping our SF stopover to save them for another date (only an hour or so away) and jetted up to pick up some Lagunitas to quench the thirst. It was equally packed so we didnt stay too long in order to save time for farther north but made plans for a tour in a few weeks.

After that we skipped RR to make it to Bear Republic (which was closing a good two hours earlier). Nothing crazy on tap, just had a few pints of some fresh Racer 5 and grabbed a couple bottle of Red Rocket.

The grand finale was definitely Russian River. We got there are 10:30 at night and it was SLAMMED inside; the host however got us to a table within about 15. Immediately put in an order for a Supplication and the SWMBO snagged a CA taster of all their non-sours. All I have to say is WOW! My first experience there and everything was fantastic. Two hours later, a pizza, and a few tulips of Supp, Defenestration, and Salvation and we were crashed for the quick trip back home to Davis. Definitely going to be making it there more often though.

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys, those little bottle shops came in perfectly. Schwag picture coming up soon.

Supplication, Consecration, and 4x Pliny the Elder from Russian River
Just Outstanding IPA from Kern River Brewing
Saison Rue from The Bruery
2011 Sofie
Stone 12.12.12 Vertical Epic
IPA from Tap It Brewing in San Luis
Starry Night Stout and Island Pale Ale from Island Brewing Co. in Carpinteria
County Line Rye PA from Surf Brewing in Ventura
Summer Saison from Green Flash
Catch 23 Rye and the Tripel from Central Coast Brewing
2013 Parabola and 16th Anniversary Ale from Firestone

Not Pictured:
Loakal Red from the Bruery
Galaxy White IPA from Anchorage Brewing

Leubega said:

Tracked down a place to crash just outside of buellton for the night. Day one was definitely a success. Began at the Bruery in placentia around 2, got to surf brewing in Ventura at 6, island brewing in carpinteria ( which was an AWESOME suggestion). Trying to find the place was definitely interesting, took a few to realize you had to sneak behind the building but their starry night stout and big island DIPA were more than worth it. And finally finished up with an extra late dinner at Brewhouse in Santa Barbara. The brew was just ok for the most part but the food, atmosphere and excellent music more than covered up for any lacking areas. Pictures of all are to come as day two starts tomorrow: looks like firestone, central coast, drake, and speakeasy are on tap for tomorrow. Thanks again for all the suggestions!

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We are planning our next RV trip to Pismo in a few weeks. Looks like the wifey is taking the wheel after lunch in Carpinteria. How far is Island brewing from El Capitan?

El Capitan State Beach road?? I'd say about 30-40 minutes since that is a little past Isla Vista and Island Brewing is about dead center of Carp. Definitely recommend going though, we were more than pleasantly surprised with the atmosphere and definitely with the brew. The missus had the Big Island Imperial PA
And I had the jubilee ale, both very solid

Leubega said:

El Capitan State Beach road?? I'd say about 30-40 minutes since that is a little past Isla Vista and Island Brewing is about dead center of Carp. Definitely recommend going though, we were more than pleasantly surprised with the atmosphere and definitely with the brew. The missus had the Big Island Imperial PA
And I had the jubilee ale, both very solid

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I'll be there in a couple weeks. I was hoping it would be closer to the campgrounds. Still going to stop in for a pint...or two.

It's a little inland, but Rubicon IPA in Sacramento is one of my all time favorites. Sierra Nevada in Chico has a lot of beers on tap that they don't bottle, and 21st Amendment is always good (but like the previous poster said-don't go there on a SF Giants game-night).