California and Southwest Trip - What/Where To Buy?

hi all,

I'm going on a month-long honeymoon/road trip focusing on many national parks in the west. We're the active nature-loving, rock climbing kind of people and that'll be the focus of the trip but what kind of beer nut/home brewer would I be if I didn't sneak in some breweries and bottle shops? We start in San Francisco, make our way to Yosemite and then down the coast to our first beer stop at The Bruery. Then we head into Arizona and Utah for a few weeks before flying home from Las Vegas.

Basically, I'm looking to pick up some stuff and either ship it home or get it into my luggage. Can any of these be grabbed at bottle shops in CA easily?

-SARA
-Modern Times
-Almanac
-Russian River (especially sours)

What else should I focus on grabbing either to bring back or enjoy as we're camping at the various parks?

Appreciate any suggestions!

 

If you go to San Diego, you can get Modern Times right from the tap room. Russian River is about 45 mins north of San Francisco, so you can squeeze Napa Valley wineries in with that leg. Firestone Walker Barrelworks in Buellton, CA is just south of the main brewery in San Luis Obispo. Barrelworks produces some sours. Stone is in North County San Diego, along with Ballast Point and a very nice small brewery called Council Brewing.

 

SF gets Modern Times now (cans, bottles, draft).
City Beer store in SF has a lot of beer.
Bi-rite and Whole Foods will have most on your list too. I have not seen the SARA beer but maybe I missed it.
other bottle shops- Healthy Spirits.

bars: Toronado on Haight. Then walk up to Magnolia for a Kölsch and IPAs, english-style bitters, etc. Barrelhead Brew Pub a few blocks away is a new kid on the block.

Pliny availability can be hit and miss, with bottle limits- except at the brewery.

look for Stone's Enjoy By too.

Rare Barrel in Berkeley for sours. Look for Cascade sours out of Portland.

 

I haven't seen Sante Adairius available for purchase outside of their brewery. If you do end up visiting them, check out their Facebook page ahead of time for a list of current bottle releases and to see what's on tap. Santa Cruz is well worth a stop on your way south out of SF; in addition to SARA, we have Discretion Brewing and New Bohemian Brewery (and others) close by, plus several taprooms that always have some interesting brews on draft.

 

You need to get the sours from Russian River. Worth the extra mileage
Check out El Segundo Brewery in LA.
Ballast Point, Ale Works and Stone in San Diego.
Don't know about Az. But Utah is basically a waste of time for beer. But lots of good climbing in Moab, but I'm sure you know that.

 

If you are going to the bruery take a 2 mile drive to Bottle logic. They have a pretty solid tap list. Oh btw stop by Mr K's liquor. It's 100 yards from the bruery.

 

If you make it up north past Sacramento, check out Sierra Nevada brewpub and brewery in Chico. Totally worth the trip.

 

Try to stop at a Bevmo liquor superstore along your way.
http://www.bevmo.com/StoreLocator
They carry hundreds of different beers and many of them are local to our area.

 

Others have said it, but I'll repeat. Go to Russian River in Santa Rosa. It's the most reliable place to buy Pliny, Blind Pig, and their sours. And it's a restaurant, so you can grab a bite too while sampling a few beers unavailable in bottles.

Modern Times is easy to get anywhere in SoCal at bottle shops. Also look for Hess Brewing. Easy to find in bottle shops, also packaged in cans like Modern Times for easy packing/storage, and very good stuff.

If you can work it, get a reservation (early, reservations fill up quickly) at The Playground in Santa Ana. AMAZING food and great tap list full of local stuff. Right now they have Alpine on tap... Not easy to get!

 

As someone who recently honeymooned in the SF area, I would say a few things. A) definitely hit Russian River if you can, trust me it is worth it. B) If you are going to hit any brewery in the SF city limits, definitely hit up Cellarmaker. Everything that I tried from them was top notch. C) go to toronado if you can, they had an amazing taplist when i was there. Being from KS, there were so many things i wanted to try but needless to say it is worth the trip.

 

I'd try to make it to Beachwood in Long Beach also...

 

I'll second Bottle Logic in Anaheim. Great new brewery.

 

Yes to Bottle Logic.

Between SF and LA there are two locations for Firestone Walker. One off the 101 in Paso Robles, about 30 min in from Hwy 1. It's the big complex with several tap locations on premises including their restaurant. A couple min down the road is a great local place called Barrelhouse Brewery.

Then a few hours further south is Firestone's Buelton barrel storage just called Barrelworks. Barrelworks is their wild and sour project. Awesome stuff! If you skip the Paso location the 1 and 101 meet in Pismo Beach and you can take the 101 to Buelton with no time lost.

PM me if you want some more info!

 

Another vote for Firestone Walker's Barrelworks in Buellton, one of my favorite places on the planet. Not only the home of their sours program but they're always pouring their Proprietor Vintage Series as well, ie: Parabola, Sucaba, Stickee Monkee, etc. Here's a pic I took a couple months ago while there.

 

I've had Some Fieldworks Brewing in Berkeley that were really good. In Orange County I agree you should visit the Bruery, Bottle Logic, and Noble Ale Works. In LA, you should try Mumford Brewing.

 

Guys,
The OP is not only home from his trip by now, but is probably busy bouncing his firstborn on his knee as well.

 

This! You should find a lot of what your looking for in this liquor store. If you're in that area (Anaheim) you need to go to Noble Ale Works (my favorite brewery). A little unknown town that is definitely worth a night stay is Temecula. They have about 12 breweries within a 5 mile radius on one side of the freeway and wine country on the other side. Its awesome.

 

In AZ depends on what you are looking for, whether you are bottle hunting or wanting to check out local breweries.

Ensure you definitely make a stop into Arizona Wilderness Brewing. A couple years ago they were rated the best new brewery in the nation and have kept the pace. They also have a 5 star chef and some awesome food.

If you like video game themed places and want to support a small local brewery (my personal favorite), check in at 8-Bit Aleworks. This is a small operation run by a young local couple and he's rocking out some fantastic beers, including one of the top Session IPA's on Untappd.

If you end up in Flagstaff, make sure you check out Beaver Street Brewing and Mother Road Brewing (Tower Station IPA one of the best in the west).

If you end up in Tuscon, check out Dragoon Brewing and Nimbus Brewing.

If you are doing some bottle hunting, check out Top's Liquor in Tempe. They have a huge selection of rarer beers, whiskeys, and a tasting room. Ground Control in Litchfield Park has a good bottle stock and 30+ beers on tap, a lot of local.

 

If you come to the Los Angeles area, you have to check out the South Bay: http://www.lamag.com/liquidlablog/the-south-bay-is-americas-newest-craft-beer-capital/

So many small breweries all within a short distance from each other.

 

Hahah! No children yet, but yeah this trip happened 18 months ago. Lots of great advice from this thread was used. Made it to The Bruery, Bottle Logic, and a few randoms in the Southwest. I would have hit Firestone (especially Barrelworks), but our schedule didn't allow for it. We're currently in the planning process for a Pacific Northwest trip which will be sure to include De Garde, Russian River, and a few other gems.