A trip to usa cant wait!!

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lovebrewin

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I I've just booked flights to the USA and I'm heaps excited to check out some of the country's finest brews. I will be on the west coast mostly so I was wondering if any of u local guys could recommend any places to go that would be of interest to a home brewing enthusiast. Lol.
So excited to check the place out! Do Sierra Nevada do brewery tours? Any good craft brewery's on the west coast around SanFrancisco will be in LA too briefly.
 
I I've just booked flights to the USA and I'm heaps excited to check out some of the country's finest brews. I will be on the west coast mostly so I was wondering if any of u local guys could recommend any places to go that would be of interest to a home brewing enthusiast. Lol.
So excited to check the place out! Do Sierra Nevada do brewery tours? Any good craft brewery's on the west coast around SanFrancisco will be in LA too briefly.

Which cities will you be visiting (besides San Francisco)? That will help us give specific advice.
 
Definitely need what city's you will be at. Just for reference Sierra Nevada (located in Chico) is about a 4-5 hour drive from San Fransisco.
 
Here's my list:

Russian River - http://russianriverbrewing.com/ (there will be a wait unless you get there right when they open)
Lagunitas - http://lagunitas.com/# (on the way up / back from Russian River from San Francisco)
Sierra Nevada - http://www.sierranevada.com/ (is a decent drive from San Francisco, but is an amazing place to get beer / lunch)
Anchor - http://www.anchorbrewing.com/ (in SF, hard to get a tour booked)
Heretic - http://hereticbrewing.com/ (Jamil Z's brewery, located in the East Bay Area)
21st Amendment - http://21st-amendment.com/ (also in SF - not my favorite, but might as well if you're in SF)

Down in Southern California the only one I've been to is Stone Brewing Co. which is closer to San Diego - so may be somewhat of a drive depending on what part of LA you'll be in. Hope you have a great trip!
 
So it being a family trip we will be flying into LA driving to San Francisco and staying a few days then we will head across to Las Vegas via sequoia Yosemite visit the Grand Canyon and then have a week to do whatever we want from Vegas on! Prob fly to the east coast to Wilmington then maybe down to Orlando.
 
So it being a family trip we will be flying into LA driving to San Francisco and staying a few days then we will head across to Las Vegas via sequoia Yosemite visit the Grand Canyon and then have a week to do whatever we want from Vegas on! Prob fly to the east coast to Wilmington then maybe down to Orlando.

Nice trip....

Where will you be coming from?
 
Can I ask from where? Just curious.

Around LAX?

I live on the opposite side of LA (east of downtown, airport is west of it) so I know the ones over here. There is a cool pub called Golden Road, a small microbrewery called Eagle Rock. Off the top of my head those are the only ones I know.

If you go to SD, there are a lot of cool places, but it is 2 hours south of LA. Worth it for sure, but maybe not possible for your itinerary.

There are many more microbrews/pubs in LA, I just don't know them very well. I'm always meaning to check them out more, and you have given me a good excuse to do that. I have a couple publications with lists, I can check them out and post again maybe.

When is your trip?
 
I I've just booked flights to the USA and I'm heaps excited to check out some of the country's finest brews. I will be on the west coast mostly so I was wondering if any of u local guys could recommend any places to go that would be of interest to a home brewing enthusiast. Lol.
So excited to check the place out! Do Sierra Nevada do brewery tours? Any good craft brewery's on the west coast around SanFrancisco will be in LA too briefly.

Yes SN does tours every day. If your going to be in Chico at Sierra Nevada you really need to take the 1 hour trip north to Redding and visit the best home brew store in Nor Cal. I think its called Nor Cal Brewing Solutions.. ;)
In Redding we have Fall River Brewing Company's very own little Tap House. KILLER KILLER KILLER beers!! Best beers from a young brewing company I have ever had!
We also have Wild Card Brewing Company here in Redding. Let me know if you do plan to head north from San Francisco I LOVE meeting HBT members in my store!!

Congrats on the trip. Sounds like a great time!

Cheers
Jay
 
smccarter said:
Nice trip.... Where will you be coming from?


We are coming all the way from the land down under!! Australia!
So can't wait.....
 
Sierra Nevada is about a three hour drive from SF. If you come all the way to Chico to check out Sierra Nevada there is a new beer geek tour on Fridays that might make it worth the extra drive.
 
firestone walker is 200 miles south of san Francisco,if your driving to vegas you can head south on highway 101 and take hiway 46 in paso robles t0 58.hell you can even get to yosimte that way too.just cut off 46 on the 41 to fresno.
 
If you come up to Sonoma County(60mi north of SF) you can hit Bear Republic, Lagunitas and Russian River all in an afternoon.

RR opens at 11 and tends to get really busy after 3-4.
 
Definitely need what city's you will be at. Just for reference Sierra Nevada (located in Chico) is about a 4-5 hour drive from San Fransisco.

SF to Chico in 4 hours is pretty easy, and 3.5 can be done without much speeding, though it depends where you're at in SF. SN brewery tours tend to fill up pretty well, so booking in advance is wise. It's a great tour, about 50% beer, 50% enviro. If you eat there, the beer cheese appetizer is a must. If you're thinking of staying the night because of the drive, you could look into going on a night when they've got a show in the Big Room - the bands can be hit or miss, but it's fun either way.
 
If you're going to be in the greater LA area for a couple of days then golden road brewery, eaglerock brewery and angel city brewery are all doable. You could hit 'em all in one day if you wanted. Golden road has a full family friendly restaurant, eagle rock is just a tap room with food trucks and I think angle city is the same ( I haven't been there yet, eek!)

Naja's Place in Redondo beach isn't a brewery but has a ton different beers from all over the world.

I'm in Pasadena. I'll be glad to answer any questions about the area,if I can.
 
How long are you in Los Angeles?

What kind of places do you want - family friendly, beer places, pubs, bars?

Are you staying near LAX?
 
Sierra Nevada is about a three hour drive from SF. If you come all the way to Chico to check out Sierra Nevada there is a new beer geek tour on Fridays that might make it worth the extra drive.

What is this beer geek tour that you speak of? I will be home for thanksgiving and this sounds like something I would be interested in haha.
They really need to bring back pale bock!
 
Remember to drive on the right side of the road, synonymous with correct side.

Actually I live in England right now, and am digging driving the wrong side. ::mug::

Cheers
 
Jaybird said:
Yes SN does tours every day. If your going to be in Chico at Sierra Nevada you really need to take the 1 hour trip north to Redding and visit the best home brew store in Nor Cal. I think its called Nor Cal Brewing Solutions.. ;) In Redding we have Fall River Brewing Company's very own little Tap House. KILLER KILLER KILLER beers!! Best beers from a young brewing company I have ever had! We also have Wild Card Brewing Company here in Redding. Let me know if you do plan to head north from San Francisco I LOVE meeting HBT members in my store!! Congrats on the trip. Sounds like a great time! Cheers Jay


Really would love to book a tour with Sierra Nevada then whip up to your shop nor cal
brewing solutions and meet up! Does anyone do brewing day classes round your area?
 
If you're going to be in the greater LA area for a couple of days then golden road brewery, eaglerock brewery and angel city brewery are all doable. You could hit 'em all in one day if you wanted. Golden road has a full family friendly restaurant, eagle rock is just a tap room with food trucks and I think angle city is the same ( I haven't been there yet, eek!)

Naja's Place in Redondo beach isn't a brewery but has a ton different beers from all over the world.

I'm in Pasadena. I'll be glad to answer any questions about the area,if I can.

Golden Road is an excellent stop, Eagle Rock's website says absolutely no one under 21, so if there are kids that's a no go.
 
So I've got an updated list of where we are going to be and it seems things have changed a bit lol..

Is there any good craft breweries round these areas?

Wilmington North Carolina
Orlando Florida
Wooster Ohio
New York City
Las Vegas
LA
Sanfransico
Lincoln Alabama

List in no particular order haha
 
Are you driving up and down the East Coast? Dogfish Head is in Milton, DE (my home state!), which is on the way between North Carolina and NYC.

And San Diego (lots of good stuff here) is really not that far from Los Angeles, depending on day of week and time of day you decide to brave that drive.

And if you are driving LA to SF, as someone said the Firestone Walker brewery is in Paso Robles (along with quite a few surprisingly good wineries in that area)

BTW, if you are interested in wineries, my brother-in-law is a sommelier and wine buyer and he books tours for wine country in both Paso and Napa, lemme know what you like and I'll get you a list of vineyards to hit.
 
I see Lincoln, AL and Orlando on the list... if you're driving that route will you go through Atlanta?

If so we have quite a few breweries here to hit up and two world-class beer bars, Brick Store Pub and Porter Beer Bar. I think Porter is currently rated best beer bar in the country on RateBeer.com right now, it is awesome.

If Atlanta is part of your trip and you can give me the dates you'll be coming through I can give you more info. If timing works out and you're in the area I'll even buy you a pint!
 
BTW, if you are interested in wineries, my brother-in-law is a sommelier and wine buyer and he books tours for wine country in both Paso and Napa, lemme know what you like and I'll get you a list of vineyards to hit.

I'd be interested in that list. We make it to Paso every so often.
 
So it being a family trip we will be flying into LA driving to San Francisco and staying a few days then we will head across to Las Vegas via sequoia Yosemite visit the Grand Canyon and then have a week to do whatever we want from Vegas on! Prob fly to the east coast to Wilmington then maybe down to Orlando.

Come to Colorado. Amazing views for the family and awesome beer for you
 
So I've got an updated list of where we are going to be and it seems things have changed a bit lol..

Is there any good craft breweries round these areas?

Wilmington North Carolina
Orlando Florida
Wooster Ohio
New York City
Las Vegas
LA
Sanfransico
Lincoln Alabama

List in no particular order haha

If you're in Vegas, go to Todd English P.U.B. It's part of City Center. You'll need to make reservations well in advance. They have a good selection of cask ale there. Food is excellent too.

Also - Wooster, OH is about an hour from Great Lakes Brewery. One of my favorites. You should be there for Nosferatu season. The food is excellent as well.
 
Hey
Leaving the land down under for America Friday morning.
Just wondering has anyone been to the JAFB Brewery in Wooster Ohio im going to be in the area and was hoping to check it out. Whats it like? Looks pretty good to me from the website.
 
Hey
Leaving the land down under for America Friday morning.
Just wondering has anyone been to the JAFB Brewery in Wooster Ohio I'm going to be in the area and was hoping to check it out. Whats it like? Looks pretty good to me from the website.

JAFB is a cool little place definitely worth checking out. If you're going to be in Wooster I would also recommend (even more than JAFB tbh) Hoppin Frog which is in Akron (about 20-30 minutes from Wooster. They have fantastic beer and great food. They've been consistently rated as one of the top breweries in the world by ratebeer.com. Let me know if you want any other information as there are a lot of good breweries within an hour of Wooster, OH.
 
Sweet so i will check them both out staph79 and prob head up to great lakes too.
I will be in new york Orlando San Fransisco LA and Vegas. any other suggestions/recommendations, Heretic Brewing looks alright in San Fransisco. Is anchor brewing a more mainstream/commercial sort of brewery?
 
on your way to Las Vegas, don't hesitate to stop in Flagstaff, Arizona. there are some GABF gold and silver award winners there.. Lumberyard brewing! also, Mother Road, Wanderlust, and Historic. just south of Flagstaff is the amazing geology found in Sedona.. Oak Creek brewing will whet your palate as you hike america's most interesting desert trails.
out of Flag on your way to L.V. is Kingman, AZ - home of Black Bridge brewing. In Lake Havasu City, you'll find Mudshark, Barley Bros and College Street. Vegas has 2 breweries, Tenaya Creek and another that slips my mind.
 
Sweet so i will check them both out staph79 and prob head up to great lakes too.
I will be in new york Orlando San Fransisco LA and Vegas. any other suggestions/recommendations, Heretic Brewing looks alright in San Fransisco. Is anchor brewing a more mainstream/commercial sort of brewery?

NYC has Brooklyn Brewing, but I didn't see much of that in my recent trip there. In fact, NYC didn't look like much of a beer town to me.

Orlando isn't either. Sad, I live here in FL and I can't think of any breweries near Orlando. But Tampa's Cigar City is fantastic, and you might find their beers in Orlando.

Anchor will probably be impossible to tour without advance reservations. But you could drink there. 21st Ammendment would be a fine brewery to get a beer in SF, and if you can get outside of town you'll fine some of the best breweries in the country (Russian River in Santa Rosa!).
 
iirc, 21st amendment is only a tasting room. they brew their beer on borrowed equipment in Minnesota.
 
Thanks heaps for the suggestions guys! Definitely no shortage of places to visit. I will post up the ones I get to and my thoughts in the coming weeks thanks again. Can't wait for the beers to flow!!!!


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lovebrewin: the usa has close to or more than 3000 breweries. we're not done yet. many of the homebrewers on this forum will have a commercial brewery in the future. fingers crossed to their success!
 
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