Sacramento Duck Hunt/Brewery Tours

Hey yall

Ill be driving up to Sacramento next weekend for a little duck hunting with a friend of mine and we decided we might as well hit some breweries. Planning on Russian River and Lagunitas...anything else in the area/on the way that we should hit. Planning on staying in Sac town friday night and camping before the hunt in the east bay area. I dont really want to get as far up as Bear Republic so any suggestions around that area or between Sacramento and LA?

Thanks

So not fair. I have no suggestions, but if I lived in Cali I surely wouldn't need much of an excuse to visit any of those breweries listed aswellaslikeahundredorsomore. Plus all the other kind reasons to visit the northern part of the state. Must be rough driving all the way from Pasedena to NoCal.

Budweiser in Fairfield......

Bronco1500 said:

Budweiser in Fairfield......

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Probably too far to drive.

haha I spent the last four years in STL so i got more than enough budweiser. I realized firestone walker is right off the 101 so i figured i might as well stop there too.

So you have many choices weather you are in bay area or sac ...I would def hit Rubicon Brewing in sac http://www.rubiconbrewing.com/ ...... on hwy 101 heading to north about 10 miles before Laguanits is Moylans in Novato http://www.moylans.com/site/pages/home/index.php ... Hope you realize Santa Rosa is pretty far north if your going to sac , but also around the corner from Russian River Brewing is 3rd street ale house http://thirdstreetaleworks.com/....All in all pretty ambitious trip for a long weekend ...Bag the ducks and just do breweries ...More than enuff to fill a long weekend with breweries in the east bay , north bay and sf...

thanks for the input...i realize santa rosa is a bit out of the way but I figure theres not many times I'm going to be up in this area and pliny on tap at russian river seems pretty hard to pass up. Thanks for the other breweries though I will be sure to try and stop by. Also can't pass up the duck hunting...happened to get drawn so i figure no reason not to. By the way welcome to hbt luv2putt

Thanks !!! I make regular trips to Santa Rosa for PLINY !!!! Feel very fortunate to ab able to do this any time I want !!!!!

tflew said:

Hey yall

Ill be driving up to Sacramento next weekend for a little duck hunting with a friend of mine and we decided we might as well hit some breweries. Planning on Russian River and Lagunitas...anything else in the area/on the way that we should hit. Planning on staying in Sac town friday night and camping before the hunt in the east bay area. I dont really want to get as far up as Bear Republic so any suggestions around that area or between Sacramento and LA?

Thanks

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Birds and brews, that's an awesome idea for a trip!

I'd like to try something similar in Colorado.

Definitely hit up Rubicon if you are going to be in Scrotumento ( I grew up there so I can call it that =),

This is a list of beer places recommended by a friend who lives in Sac and is a food and wine reporter for the local news paper. I've never been to any of them but I trust his opinion " Track 7, Knee Deep, American River Brewing, Loomis Basin, Boneshaker in Rocklin (which also serves food and other beers) "

Also Auburn ale house, but thats about 40min east of sac in the foothills.

Wow, you have lots of options ahead of you for beer tasting between Pasadena and Sacto. Since you said you drew a rezzi in the East Bay I'm guessing you drew a hunt for Grizzly Island (note: your reservation at Grizz is just a ticket in and the number you drew doesn't really mean an awful lot since that wildlife area fills on a first come first serve basis.....basically whoever with a rezzi lines up first gets in first). Sounds like you are coming or going on 101 and that stop in Paso Robles at Firestone Walker is a good call. If you were going up earlier I would say stop in at Heretic Brewing in Pittburg since they give tours on Wednesdays and Thursdays (Very tasty beer....I just brought some back to the Midwest in my suitcase 2 weeks ago). If you are staying in Sac, then Rubicon is probably a good stop.....whether you stop at any others in Sac will probably depend on how much time you have to waste and how much you want to actually hunt the next morning. If you are going as far as Santa Rosa for the Pliny you might as well drive the extra 15 minutes up to Healdsburg for Bear Republic.

Definitely go to Rubicon. They serve Monkey Knife Fight. Glynn Phillips, the owner has been very helpful to us in opening up our Brewery. You should also try Track 7. They are in an industrial area in Sacramento.

Indianhead_Brewer said:

Wow, you have lots of options ahead of you for beer tasting between Pasadena and Sacto. Since you said you drew a rezzi in the East Bay I'm guessing you drew a hunt for Grizzly Island (note: your reservation at Grizz is just a ticket in and the number you drew doesn't really mean an awful lot since that wildlife area fills on a first come first serve basis.....basically whoever with a rezzi lines up first gets in first). Sounds like you are coming or going on 101 and that stop in Paso Robles at Firestone Walker is a good call. If you were going up earlier I would say stop in at Heretic Brewing in Pittburg since they give tours on Wednesdays and Thursdays (Very tasty beer....I just brought some back to the Midwest in my suitcase 2 weeks ago). If you are staying in Sac, then Rubicon is probably a good stop.....whether you stop at any others in Sac will probably depend on how much time you have to waste and how much you want to actually hunt the next morning. If you are going as far as Santa Rosa for the Pliny you might as well drive the extra 15 minutes up to Healdsburg for Bear Republic.

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Yup Grizz Island it is. The meaningless number on my reservation was pretty bad anyways so I think the first come first serve will end up working out better anyways. I plan on just camping out the night before and hopefully end up with a good spot.

Ruhstaller is a must. Knee Deep is a good one near Sac as well. Sierra Nevada is about 90 minutes away...opposite direction from the bay though.

I'd stop at Firestone Walker in Paso Robles if you're headed up the coast. If you're coming up I-5 or 99 (inland), Lengthwise in Bakersfield is pretty good.

Lockdown in Folsom is a good stop. Its right in Old Town, about 25 miles from Sac proper. And literally right across the street is Samuel Hornes. An great little tap room. Lots of local stuff to try. Well worth a night out in Old Town Folsom.

If you are going to Russian River you might as well head another couple minutes north and hit Bear Republic.

Also, if you are in Santa Rosa anyway to visit Russian River, I highly recommend, and I know this is going to sound crazy, Whole Foods. Not a brewery per se, but one of the better craft beer bars in the area is located in the back of Whole Foods, and run by a homebrewer. They sell homebrew supplies there, and they even give you an AHA membership discount at the bar. And they always have an amazing selection of local beers there.

Thanks everyone for the info on where to go...it was an awesome trip and we ended up making it to 6 breweries. Heres a list of the beers we got our hands on...

Rubicon: Monkey Knife fight, IPA, Amber, Rosebud Strong Ale, Maggie Brown Ale and their special release cask conditioned IPA

Russian River: They had this awesome sampler where they pour a glass of everything they had on tap...all 17 beers. Heres what we had...O.V.L. Stout, Aud Blonde, Great Beer/Great Wine, Happy Hops, Russian River Porter, Row 2, Hill 56,Blind Pig I.P.A., Pliny the Elder, Redemption, Little White Lie, Perdition, Benediction, Supplication, Damnation, Temptation, Salvation, Consecration.

Lagunitas: Pale Ale, IPA, Censored, Maximus, Little Sumpin, Hop stoopid, Gnarly Wine, Imperial Stout, Gueuze, farmhouse, Lil Sumpin Wild, Brow Shugga, Fusion 10, Wetdog, Daytime


Firestone Walker: Taphouse IPA, DBA, Woolley, Double Jack, Taphouse Brown, Pale 31, walker Reserve, Union Jack, 805, Hef, Unfiltered DBA, DBA, Velvet Merlin, Oaktoberfest, 2012 Reginald Brett, 2012 Sucaba.

Hollister Brewing Company: I'm so witty, Pilfers Pale, Wet hop red, Pocket Full, Hippie Kicker, Hip hop double, Sand Sessions Pale, Pumpkin Saison, Sharp Cookie, The J

Island Brewing Co: Unfiltered Blackbird Porter, Nightsail, Island IPA, Avocado Honey Ale, Fresh Hop Harvest ale, Paradise Pale Ale.

We picked up a few growlers along the way and got tours at Firestone and Island. If anyone goes to firestone make sure to check out what they have on tap in the restaurant and in the brewery across the street. The brewery has some more options than the restaurant. At Island when we got caught peeking back at the brewery the manager asked if we wanted to go back and take a look. He showed us around and spent some time with us talking about their beer. Awesome spot in Carpenteria right across the train tracks from the beach.

Man , sounds like an awesome trip ...I love Russian River and Laguanitas feel very fortunate to be able to hit these and Bear Republic any time I choose, not to mention San Francisco and the east Bay .... But I would say the same if I lived in San Diego - Green Flash and Stone ...Portland /Eugene -Ninkasi and too many breweries to mention .... Whaty Im really saying is we are all very fortunate to live on the West Coast where the best IPA'S RESIDE...and some of the best breweries in the states .and before you flame Ive traveled most of the US !! And yes Im biased ...by the hops that is ...Brad

Did you get any ducks?

Ended up bringing 4 home...unfortunatly missed an unbelievable amount of shots. However on a good note managed to trade some homebrew for information on where to hunt...at least im doing something right

Yeah atleast you know where to go next trip. Sounds like you need some target practice though.

If you're hunting public land, talk to the park rangers or the game wardens @ the park they can usually tell you about some good spots or where they see game.