LA, SF, Portland

[LakeErieMonster]

Heading out West for a little vacation. Are there any must-visit breweries in any of the above 3 cities?

 

[broncosmoker]

Flying or driving? How much time in each area? Willingness to travel an hour or two for beer? What part of LA?

Can you narrow some things down? I guess would you be willing to do some traveling to go to say Firestone Walker or Sierra or Stone? Or get out of San Francisco a bit and go to Russian River?

 

[johnmac22]

If you can travel from SF go about an hour north to Santa Rosa (Russian River), Petaluma (Lagunitas), and Healdsburg (Bear Republic). if you like wine there is a plethora of wineries there as well. I grew up here and it is a nice place to see if you can get there. As for Portland...there are a ton of breweries...All I can say is if you get to some of the beer bars look for Barley Brown's or Boneyard. Both are phenomenal.

 

[johnmac22]

Almost forgot that Anchor Brewing is in SF as well...

 

[SFBuff]

I'd recommend signing up for the Anchor tour as soon as possible if you are looking to do that as it is frequently booked full.

 

[LakeErieMonster]

Driving from la to sf. Flying from sf to Portland . About 3 days each. Was planning on Russian River. Never even realized Lagunitas was there. Anchor just slipped my mind entirely

 

[Broham1]

Portland: Breakside (both locations), Cascade, Commons, Deschutes, Gigantic, Hair of the Dog, Hopworks, Upright.

These are a few of my favorites. If you can venture east to Hood River, add Full Sail, Double Mountain, and Pfriem (SO GOOD!) to the list.

 

[insanim8er]

I personally did not enjoy breakside... Horrible experience. Overly priced. So so food. Most beers were out... Really bad service. I'd never go back.

http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/State/Cities/Portland/37.htm

That helps sum it up... Plus you can plan your own routes based off your location.

If you're able to, visit fire on the mountain for some wings and beer. They brew at their NE 57th location in pdx.

 

[Broham1]

That's unfortunate. I've had an excellent time at Breakside every time I've been. They brew great beer, have wonderful pub food (Curry Fried Chicken is amazing!), and great service. Maybe give them another shot?

 

[jammin]

Heading out West for a little vacation. Are there any must-visit breweries in any of the above 3 cities?

Portland - swing by Apex taphouse. probably the best taps in the area. Swing by N.W.I.P.A for growler fills - they usually have Hop Venom on tap which is one of the best DIPA's in the country right now.


When in LA - be sure to hit El Segundo. They also have some killer hoppy beers

 

[ktblunden]

I highly recommend Golden Road in LA. Take the 101 from LA to SF, not the 5. It's a much prettier drive and it'll give you access to great breweries. Surf in Ventura, Institution in Camarillo, Island in Carpinteria, Firestone Walker in Buellton (do not miss this, their Barrelworks has incredible sours and spirits barrel aged stuff). There are a lot of others, but those are the highlights I can think of offhand.

 

[boortzie]

There are a bunch of breweries that have recently opened up in the south bay area of Los Angeles. Definitely visit absolution and monkish. But if you can get down to San Diego that's where some really great stuff is being made.

 

[bmbauer]

If you are driving from LA to SF, when you get off the 5 onto the 580 there is a brand new brewery there called Altamont Beer Works. It's in Livermore, CA. It isn't well known or anything, but its really new and they make some great beers. Especially if you like good hop tasting beers. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Renoun]

I got a pretty incredible growler of a coffee stout sent up to me from Smog City in Torance, Ca. (L.A. suburb). The Bruery is in Orange Co. South of LA but would be a good place to hit if you are interested in barrel aged and sour beers (especially since you could buy tasters rather than expensive 750's).

I'll also second recommendations to drive the central Ca. coast rather than I-5. Booking a tour at Hearst Castle might be a fun break from drinking if you have time. The Monetary Bay Aquarium would be another stop that you should seriously consider.

At some point in your trip you should go taste some really good wine too, there is a big difference between ok red wine and really good red wine. Both the Paso Robles area and Senoma County will present plenty of good opportunities.