Breweries in Orange, CA Area

[CKelly]

I'm heading down to Orange, CA tomorrow and obviously want to be drinking beer while I'm there so I was wondering if anyone knew some of the good breweries in that area.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Where in Orange, will you have a car (or Uber), what does your schedule look like?

In downtown Orange you will find Haven Gastropub. Great place for a meal and some brews, but not quite a brewery. I think they have Pasadena location which brews beer, and it might be on tap, but if you go to Haven you're really there for their tap list.

Nearby, you've got Old Orange Brewing Company, which I don't understand to be all that good.

A little farther away, you have Valiant and Noble Ale Works, both are good. A bit farther south/southeast you'll find The Good Beer company (where I haven't been, but my homebrew club buddies like), and Tustin Brewing Company, which has good food, good beer, and good guest beers.

Heading farther north (only really want to do this if you have a car) is The Bruery in Placentia, and then the Anaheim area has quite a few, with Bottle Logic being one of the best of the bunch. Those two are near each other. I believe Bottle Logic doesn't open their tasting room until 4, although it might be earlier on a Friday.

Between all those, you definitely have options.

 

[CKelly]

Where in Orange, will you have a car (or Uber), what does your schedule look like?

In downtown Orange you will find Haven Gastropub. Great place for a meal and some brews, but not quite a brewery. I think they have Pasadena location which brews beer, and it might be on tap, but if you go to Haven you're really there for their tap list.

Nearby, you've got Old Orange Brewing Company, which I don't understand to be all that good.

A little farther away, you have Valiant and Noble Ale Works, both are good. A bit farther south/southeast you'll find The Good Beer company (where I haven't been, but my homebrew club buddies like), and Tustin Brewing Company, which has good food, good beer, and good guest beers.

Heading farther north (only really want to do this if you have a car) is The Bruery in Placentia, and then the Anaheim area has quite a few, with Bottle Logic being one of the best of the bunch. Those two are near each other. I believe Bottle Logic doesn't open their tasting room until 4, although it might be earlier on a Friday.

Between all those, you definitely have options.

Awesome, thanks a bunch! I will have a car so I'll probably end up exploring those that are a little farther out. Will report back with my findings and opinions!

 

[christyle]

Absolutely have to hit the Bruery if you like sours/wilds/stouts

Noble is my second fave of the area but can be hit or miss for me, some are awesome and others really didnt do it for me. if they have Naughty Sauce you HAVE to go try it. If you want to go, go early, the ducks game will fill that place past bursting.

Valiant is far underrated, I think they make some good stuff, but are a bit tough to find snaked into their complex behind the concrete place.

Bottle Logic has never done it for me, don't like much of their stuff except the occasional stout, but others seem to like it.

Bootleggers is a few miles west in Fullerton and again, never has done it for me. I highly recommend a sandwich from Roscoes about a block away (not the chicken and waffles place).

OOB is next to my buddy's shop and we rarely go, the brewer gets no creative freedom and their beers suffer, he checked out awhile ago I think.

There's another, less talked about spot, called Phantom ales as well. It's not bad.

Tons of good places in the area, all very close to each other.

 

[CKelly]

Absolutely have to hit the Bruery if you like sours/wilds/stouts

Noble is my second fave of the area but can be hit or miss for me, some are awesome and others really didnt do it for me. if they have Naughty Sauce you HAVE to go try it. If you want to go, go early, the ducks game will fill that place past bursting.

Valiant is far underrated, I think they make some good stuff, but are a bit tough to find snaked into their complex behind the concrete place.

Bottle Logic has never done it for me, don't like much of their stuff except the occasional stout, but others seem to like it.

Bootleggers is a few miles west in Fullerton and again, never has done it for me. I highly recommend a sandwich from Roscoes about a block away (not the chicken and waffles place).

OOB is next to my buddy's shop and we rarely go, the brewer gets no creative freedom and their beers suffer, he checked out awhile ago I think.

There's another, less talked about spot, called Phantom ales as well. It's not bad.

Tons of good places in the area, all very close to each other.

I'll definitely plan on going to The Bruery then! Guess I'll have to check out Roscoes too. Thanks!

 

[christyle]

Go to Roscoes hungry...

Their Rueben is the best, as well as the Titan. They have a few good beers on tap as well.

Bruery is the best deal going, with tasters from $1-2 for their average stuff, and $3.50 for their special beers that get up to about 17%. They have outgrown their space (hence the second brewery they're opening soon), so it can get really full.

PM if you need any other tips, I live nearby and go to them all fairly often.

 

[microbusbrewery]

+1 for The Bruery and Noble Ale Works. I grew up in Fullerton and I'm also heading down for the next week or so. The Bruery is just plain awesome. Noble is a close second especially if they have any of their Showers series IPAs on. Naughty Sauce is the beer that changed my mind about coffee beers...before that, I'd never had one that I loved. I like Bottle Logic too; they're solid but at the same time they don't have any "must try beers"...at least not the same for me as TB or NAW. All three are pretty close together though, I think about a $6 uber ride if I remember correctly.

I'd skip Bootleggers though. Not bad, but not that great.

TAPS Fish House is also in the area (Brea). They used to be awesome, but I haven't been in since Victor Novak went to Golden Road. Evan Price from Noble also brewed at TAPS for a while.

Oh and +1 for Haven, my nephew used to be a chef there. If you like good food and good beer, it's worth a stop. A couple other worthwhile places, Slaters 50/50 (home of the 50% ground beef, 50% ground bacon burger); last time we were in town they had a Russian River Tap Takeover. Also, Anaheim Packing House - kind of a gourmet food court and there's a beer bar that usually has some really nice local/California beers on tap.

 

[christyle]

So, how'd it go?

 

[CKelly]

So, how'd it go?

I unfortunately didn't have as much time to check out breweries as I thought but I did make a couple good stops.

Haven's Gastropub (after an hour and fifteen minute wait) had one of the most diverse and unique taplists I'd ever seen. I ordered a pint of Pliny the Elder, but unfortunately nothing else as this pint was $9. That being said, the food was fantastic and I'm certain almost everyone will find something they like or have never had on the taplist.

The only brewery I actually made it to was Noble Ale Works as it was reasonably close to where I was staying. They did have Naughty Sauce on tap so I gave that a try. Definitely one of the more interesting beers I've ever had - a little strong on the coffee flavors, but overall, really liked it. And since there were some 17 beers on tap, I ended up getting a flight as well. Really enjoyed their session IPA Nose Candy and the Galaxy Showers (part of the showers series).

Finally, a cool place in the circle was Provisions. They have a bunch of beer on tap (at those Orange, CA premium prices) and bottle galore.

I wish I could have spent more time exploring the breweries around there, but feel pretty please with what I did end up having! Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[christyle]

Good to hear. Nose candy took home a Bronze in the Session IPA category at GABF this year, but I still don't think i've had it. Their showers series has had some real winners, for sure. El Dorado Showers was INSANE to me, loved it.

Beer bars get pretty pricey for sure, that's why I mostly stick to the breweries. Most are fairly reasonably priced.