Going to California.

[Dan Dan]

I made the trip to Santa Rosa yesterday especially to visit Russian River Brewing. This is what I found when I got there....

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Was totally devastated. Anyway, have convinced SWMBO that we absolutely must make our way back there on Sunday (she reckons I had a tear in my eye. It worked).
Really loving the craft beer bars around California, and even some of the supermarkets have some pretty awesome beers (just picked up some Alesmith, Arrogant ******* and Clown Shoes). They even sell hops, grain (by lb or bulk - weyermann for example), yeast and all grain equipment at wholesale foods... Awesome!

That just like the time I packed up the family and drove across the country to go to Wally World, only to find it was closed.

 

[neal32]

Neal, visited CA early last year, and as far as breweries go saw San Diego, San Francisco and the surrounding area. Each of the brewery websites will mention if you need to book in advance. And it might be worth checking them out on facebook, a lot of them post info regularly. Green Flash was the only one we booked early based on availabilities on the website, and Stone was the only other one that had limited tour sizes. We turned up to find that the next available tour slot was in a few hours, but they have a really great bistro with a massive bottle list to keep you busy while you wait. Some have tours, some have taprooms/bistros, some have both. Often for $5 you get a tour and a few tasters at the end.

Lost Abbey in SD was one of my favourites. They don’t do tours, but their tasting room was one of the best. Alesmith, Green Flash, Stone, White Labs and Ballast Point are all worth a look in the greater SD area.
North of SF, Moylans, Lagunitas, Russian River and Bear Rebublic are all worth the trip. They all have bistros and taprooms(not sure about Lagunitas, we arrived on a public holiday, so they only had tours of the brewhouse, but that did include tasters). And yes Russian River is well worth the hype. Didn’t go to any of the breweries in SF city, but as jaypes says Monks Kettle is awesome. Massive bottle list and good food but very small and very crowded at peak times. City Beer is another bar/bottle shop worth a visit. There's bar in both SD and SF called Toronado. Didn't make it there, but it was frequently recommended.

You didn’t mention when exactly you’re going to be there. If you’re there in February, then there are a lot of good events at the SF beer week http://www.sfbeerweek.org/ and you would be there in time for the annual release of Pliny the Younger from RRBC http://russianriverbrewing.com/brews/pliny-the-younger/ As zappa mentions, a lot of supermarkets have good craft beer bottle selections. Especially somewhere like Wholefoods.

Good info, I'll be there from the 12th to the 22nd. So I will miss out on the February events and the release of Pliny the Younger I will also ring up about the beer geek tour at SN today, I have a couchsurfing host lined up for Chico so going up there is a definite! It's only a few days away now and am getting pretty exicted. I will be taking photos as well.

 

[Conestoga]

If you like sours, you absolutely have to visit The Bruery.

 

[Bizier]

On top of all the great suggestions here, I'll second:
SN tour, I saw an early iteration of it and it was great.
Toronado, I stayed around the corner in SF and was able to drink RR consecration at happy hour for like $3 or something.

 

[rehab]

http://www.brewerytoursofsandiego.com/dailytours.html or http://www.sandiegobrewtours.com/beer-tours.html could be useful for going to SD if you have a day or night to commit to going on a tour.

 

[JotaPerro]

I have to add this non beer place, http://ilikeikesplace.com/ for anyone going to the bay area. Only had the chance to visit once, but it was the deli best style sandwich I've ever had. There's one close to Russian River too.

 

[Samuel Adams]

I have to add this non beer place, http://ilikeikesplace.com/ for anyone going to the bay area. Only had the chance to visit once, but it was the deli style sandwich I've ever had. There's one close to Russian River too.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Ike's Place :icon_drool2:

 

[Bizier]

And if they're still open, there is a place called Zodiac Goat or similar in Santa Rosa who do actual decent coffee. If you are like me, that is need to know info.

 

[neal32]

OK, in between kiteboarding and getting drunk in Dominican Republic I have drafted up a rough plan for my Californian pilgrimage. 13th-15th Los Angeles. Will visit Eagle Rock Brewery, The Bruery, Beachwood BBQ & Brewery, Angel City Brewery and Golden Road Brewering. In addition will do all the touristy stuff, tossing up whether to do Disneyland or not. On the 15th drive north to Firestonewalker and do the tour at 3.30pm (Still need to book) then after the tour, sit at the brewpub and drink every delicious beer they have. 16th wake up hungover goto Santa Rosa via Lagunitas do the tour at 1pm (Maybe go north to Bear Republic then loop back down,I really enjoy Hop Rod Rye and Racer 5, but we will see how hungover I am and if I want to drive 60 extra miles), then check into a hotel, then onto the big one, Russian River, where I will...wait for it.....drink all there delicious beers (Try all the samplers then start putting back some Plinys). Will be sure to buy some takeaway Pliny's from here as well. 17th, wake up very hungover and begin the trek to Chico, maybe do Bear Republic on the way if I missed it the previous day, booked in for the beer geek tour at 2.30pm, then will do the normal tour after that, then after that.......drink all their delicious beers. 18th Goto San Fran, hopefully do the Anchor brewery tour, then go to a great bar and.......drink all their delicious beer. 19th probably feel like death, contemplate jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, but won't because more breweries await. Drive to San Diego, stay their until the 22nd and do the following breweries : Alesmith, Ballast Point, Lost Abbey, Green Flash, Alpine, Pizza Port, Stone and maybe Modern Times (The dude that runs themadfermentationist.com, excellent website). A lot planned, hopefully I will get to them all. Anything I missed, someone let me know! Also does anyone have any cool ideas for things to ask from generous brewers? Also I plan on bringing back Pliny, Arrogant ******* and maybe some Firestonewalker beers if they are good, anyone have any other suggestions? As for beer glasses, keen to buy a couple of Sierra Nevada I.P.A glasses, a hefe glass and maybe a pint from Russian River. Also the odd t-shirt.

Wow, now I'm getting excited. Have a sick camera, http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cybershot-dsc-rx100-m2, so will try and take a lot of photos, if not too drunk/dead/homeless.

 

[Snowdog]

I'll put in a good word for Speakeasy Ales & Lagers http://goodbeer.com/wordpress/ on Evans Ave in San Francisco. It's a worthy little place.Tours are at 3:30PM Tuesday-to Saturday. Recommend booking but walk-ups are usually accommodated. Try their Double Daddy if you can.

 

[neal32]

Ok, First half of the day here. First pic is of my breakfast on Venice Beach and also the choice of beer I had for breakfast. The 3rd is of the menu at the Venice Ale house. Arrogant ******* was scarily similar to the one I brewed, I think it was the first brew on my 4v Herms, so mine was slightly hoppier and stronger. As a beer, it was excellently brewed if not a little one dimensional, because of the the buttload of Chinook. Very easy drinking. The 2nd was the Ballast Point Scalpin?(Spelling) IPA. Good Balanced IPA, once again, very easy drinking, especially after drinking generic Central/South American beer for 9 months. (Maybe because I overhyped it in my head, I was expecting to be slapped around the head with aroma and flavour, I think my beers have more of both :/) Enjoy the pics. The only problem is staying under the 0.08 BAC level driving to the different places :/

 

[neal32]

Did get comments about my strangeness for taking photos of the beer fridge whilst giggling like a school girl.

 

[rehab]

Get into the Ruination/RuinaTen from Stone with the latter having a bit of Citra chucked in. If you are still alive after going to Venice Beach that is.
I remember going there and actually fearing for my life with some of the characters I came across!

There were only a few needles in the sand..... tickles after a while h34r:

 

[Spiesy]

The music trade show I'm going to LA for has a Stone Brewing Bar at it. Awesome!

 

[gilmoreous]

Check out Lady Face brewery too. Nice beers but the food is excellent and its a bit on its own as you drive out of LA. We stopped for lunch there and enjoyed it. I didn't like Toronado but then I'm not into big Belgian beers. Zeitgeist (in SF) has a good tap selection too. In San Diego check out Monkey Paw too.

 

[zappa]

Made it back to Russian River (Wally World for adults). Worth it in every way!



The sours were definitely the highlight. They only had Supplication and Pliny the Elder bottled, so grabbed myself half dozen supplication.

Also managed to get a beer in at Bear Republic and Lagunitas. If I were to come again, would definitely spend more time at Lagunitas.

Did Sierra Nevada today. Didn't have time to do the beer geek tour, but did do the brewery tour. Well worth it. Amazingly green brewery!

 

[neal32]

OK, did the tour at Firestone Walker today and will upload photos soon. All the beers there were excellent. The tour was good as well. Tomorrow it's Lagunitas and Russian River. Will try and be more vigilant on the photos.

 

[Bizier]

Zeitgeist (in SF) has a good tap selection too.

Zeitgeist is rad.

I still have some matchbooks with soft porn on them that state: Warm Beer, Cold Women.

 

[Spiesy]

"Going back to Cali, strictly for the weather
And the weed hops, stinky green"

 

[neal32]

Waiting for Lagunitas to open now for the tour, then Russian River tonight. Here's some photos from Firestone Walker. Their barleywine was awesome, best beer i've had for a while.