Going to San Diego - brewpubs?

[MaxStout]

We'll be spending a week in San Diego in Feb., staying with my sister-in-law in Santee. I've heard a few new micros have popped up in Santee, and wanted to get some opinions.

Last year we hit a bunch up around Miramar and North County - Ballast Point, White Labs, Stone, Societe. Also El Cajon Brewing (now closed, I heard).

I'll only have time to hit a few, so what are some of the best bets? What breweries are worth driving into the city to visit?

 

[milldoggy]

Check out monkey paw, it is in shankville, but a cool little brewpub.

 

[plasmator]

That's an easy one - visit the White Labs tasting room! Check their website for details

 

[jperry]

Look up these ones: Hamilton's Tavern has awesome beers, and many other great spots on, or near, 30th St. such as Stone Brewing Company Store, Mike Hess Brewing(near 30th St.), and many more. Modern Times Beer, is an awesome new brewery, near the sports arena Blvd. Green Flash, Societe, Alesmith, Helm's, Mother Earth. There are a few places near the beach too, like Newport Pizza, and Pizza Port.

Near Santee, there's Manzanita Brewing Co. Near La Mesa, Hoffer's (Cigar Bar), West Coast Barbecue and Brew, K'n'B(in Del Cerro). Also, there are quite a few good bottle shops around.

Lots of others too...

 

[wtfDean]

not brewpubs, but my local beer bars were

-Toronado
-Small Bar
-Hamiltons +1

honestly san diego isn't a city of brewpubs, it's a city of commercial craft breweries. and by city, i mean county, so you have to drive a bit to hit a lot of them.

the most accessible brewery to downtown san diego is Mission Brewery across the parking lot from Petco (the padre's stadium). then there's Pizza Port in Ocean Beach (aka Port Brewing affiliated with Lost Abbey) which actually is a brewpub. Lightning, Green Flash, Ballast Point and Alesmith (along with a few others i'm forgetting) are all in business park dominated northern SD kind of near each other. go find Mira Mesa and you'll find a bunch of breweries.

 

[colhep67]

I have always wanted to go to Stone Brewing. Love their beers!

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[DLR1987]

Definitely Stone. It's my Disneyland
Also:
Green Flash
Lost Abbey
Pizza Port
Alpine Brewing
Beachwood Brewing
Alesmith
Coronado

PS there are two Stone World Bistros, one in Escondido and 1 at Liberty Station. I haven't been to LS, but the one in Escondido is fantastic. The food isn't cheap, but it is also very delicious. It's also really nice to walk around the huge garden with a tulip of their IRS. Cheers!

 

[Conman13]

Hamiltons
Small Bar
Toronado
Monkey Paw


AleSmith is a must
Lost Abbey is a must
Stone is one of the coolest breweries ever to visit.
PizzaPort in OceanBeach - amazing, while you're at it hit up South Beach Bar & Grille for some beer and fish tacos.

 

[wtfDean]

the Liberty Station Stone Bistro (which is actually in Point Loma, if you're looking for it) is crazy huge and definitely worth checking out. biggest outdoor restaurant in SD. you'll see when you get there.

 

[babyjake]

You guys are all forgetting a must have. Helms Brewing Co. Off of the 163. Right by Societe. But like the rest said, Stone is a must, Hamiltons is a must, monkey paw (Hamiltons and monkey paw are the same owners so you pick which one is closest), Tiger Tiger is a good spot, Tornado, Belching beaver ( belching beaver, tornado, and tiger tiger are all with in walking distance of each other. Lots of hipsters. beware.), Hess brewing, greenflash, and i think those are all of my favorites. Hope you have a great time in sunny san diego!

 

[619Brewer]

Manzanitas is in Santee. They have a great tasting room. Also, they were selling 22 oz bomber cases for $6 lol. I picked up 6 or so of them myself.

You should definitely hit up Brewers circle.

Ballast Point, Green Flash, Alesmith and one other that I can't think of now.

Also, White Labs is very close to all of those. Bring in 10 used vials and get one free! That's an interesting place to go to their tasting room. They usually have the same beer (wort) but each batch was fermented with a different yeast so you can taste the difference given all else was equal. It's pretty amazing stuff and quite the education.

 

[wtfDean]

Blind Lady Ale House (BLAH)

 

[coreythomas5]

There's also a pretty new brewery in Santee called BNS. It's by the drive in off Hwy67. Haven't been personally but have heard good things. +1 on Manzanita in Santee as well. I really like their beer.


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[HumboldtBrewer]

Alpine Beer Company. Best IIPA & IPA around, better than Pliny...seriously!

 

[tagz]

If I was going I would hit White Labs and Modern Times. The latter has had a lot of help from Michael Tonsmiere, a home brewer who writes the mad fermentationist blog.

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

If you're just looking to drink beer, any of these listed would do you well. If you're looking to learn something about beer and brewing, White Labs is definitely the place to go to. They have maybe 3-5 different worts, each fermented with 4-6 different yeasts, so you can try a Stout brewed with Hefewizen yeast or an IPA brewed with belgian yeast or whatever they're messing with, but what's nice is you can try a bunch of different samples where literally the only difference is the yeast - you can learn a lot in a short period of time. I had a lot of fun as a homebrewer when I was there. Stone is the place to go if you just want to drink. Alpine - I thought most of their beers tasted like crap, sorry.

 

[FatNerdBrewing]

Stone and Green Flash breweries are both phenomenal places to visit and hit the tap rooms. Also, I would recommend eating a meal at Stone. Their food is absolutely amazing.

 

[babyjake]

There's also a pretty new brewery in Santee called BNS. It's by the drive in off Hwy67. Haven't been personally but have heard good things. +1 on Manzanita in Santee as well. I really like their beer.


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Yes BNS is an awesome place. Really friendly and knowledgeable staff.

But like I said Helms!!!!


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[sandyeggoxj]

Rough Draft has been impressing me lately. I had a "Hop Therapy" last night. Stone, Pizza Port, Ballast Point, Coronado are the classics. But swing by Mission. They are great too. Mission makes one of my favorite IPAs. And they sell a 32oz can of their IIPA. That is ridiculous.

 

[MaxStout]

Thanks for all the replies. Now I just have the task or narrowing it all down to 4 or 5 that I can fit into my schedule when I'm out there.

I went to Stone last year (ate there and took the tour, too), and tried several side-by-side comparisons at White Labs. S.D. is a great brew town. Looking forward to hitting a few more this time.

 

[Conman13]

Alesmith and GreenFlash are not far from each other. I'd definitely recommend Lost Abbey too.

 

[danzak]

Alpine hands down. Great food and great beer! Worth the trip.


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[wtfDean]

except that alpine is way out in the middle of nowhere