The Beer Thread • Page 128

Cellarmaker is an absolute must in San Francisco. Rare Barrel and Fieldwork as well if you're going to be on the Berkeley side.

In LA, Monkish, Phantom Carriage and Smog City are all right near each other and all really good.

 

Not usually a sour fan, but I can do them. Most other beers I'm good with at least trying, though generally do not like stouts and saisons. I'm in Delaware so I 'grew up' on Dogfish, but I don't need hop heavy beers to enjoy...just used to them haha. I tend to like 'darker' beers that don't taste 'dark', aka don't taste like stouts. Like I tend to love oktoberfest and 'fall' beers, and some winter beers like Sams Winter Lager, and christmas beers that are dark but not dark tasting.

 

Tampa Bay Beer Week is getting started down here. We went to our favorite bar's anniversary party over the weekend to start things off and I fell into a pretty nice little bottle share as well as some great taps. I can't do too much because I have a baby at home, but I'm trying to load up on the Cycle M-F bottles and some other things. A buddy of mine is also going to sell me some Hunahpu at cost since I can't do the event, so that's pretty cool. Meanwhile I'm just happy we got Surly distribution as of this week and Total Wine has some Last Snow in stock too.

 

OK, here are my thoughts from the top of my head. San Fran is the only area I haven't spent time at the breweries in, but everything else I can back up from personal experience.

Buellton (just north of Santa Barbara)
Firestone Walker - Barrelworks: The Buellton location of Firestone Walker is definitely the best of the three, they have an entire sction of the brewery called Barrelworks dedicated to the barrel aging process and wild/sour ales. Even someone who isn't huge on sours, there is a ton there to be excited about.

Los Angeles/Long Beach area
Smog City - From what it sounds like you like, this could end up being a favorite. Definitely the biggest grower in the South Bay area, they have a really solid core lineup of beers and consistently have another 5-10 rotating drafts of more experiemental stuff. Best part is that they are walking distance from....
Monkish - Right near Smog City, they were previously focused on Belgian beers and experimenting with them. Recently they have found fame in the IPA car world and constantly have lines out the door for their can releases. They usually have 2-3 IPAs on draft and around 5-10 otherwise. Definitely worth stopping by these two spots together

Phantom Carraige - All sours, all the time. Definitely a great spot, but if sours aren't your bag you might want to skip it, they are a bit more inland anyway.
Beachwood - Constantly winning "best brewery" in LA, they're also a BBQ spot if you want to get some beer and food together. They also added a new sour brewery around the corner called Beachwood Blendery, I personally spend way more time there, but they are both good spots
The Bruery - My all time favorite, hands down, I go there all the time. They are a bit south of LA, in a city called Placentia, right near Disneyland. They also added a second brewrey last year called Bruery Terreux to focus on their sours. Both locations carry both brands, and Terreux is way less crowded. Check out the current tap list for an idea of what they make. This brewery honestly spoils me beer-wise and I truly don't think anywhere else comes close to their consistent quality and creativity. Tap list example (The Bruery | Tasting Room List)

San Diego area
Stone - Go to the Escondido location if at all possible, it is the most beautiful brewery you'll go to. A huge location, amazing outdoor seating, and great beer. It's a bit inland and out of the way of main SD, but it's worth it. Also they have great food.
The Lost Abbey/Port Brewing - If you make it to Escondido, stop by The Lost Abbey/Port, they are two brands of the same brewery, and it's kida a hidden gem down there
Modern Times - There are multiple locations of Moder Times, but they are a must-visit in SD, definitely one of the bigger breweries these days and for great reasons.
Ballast Point - Same as above, there are multiple locations (including one in Long Beach, right on the water) and worth checking out, they always have a huge tap list with a ton of interesting things

Uhh, that came out longer than I expected haha. Let me know if there are any questions

 

Man, I want some Fieldwork and Monkish beer so bad.

 

pretty sure the Surly thing is Total Wine's Brewery Direct like they did with Alesmith a couple of months ago. And Ska Brewing, too.

 

Moonraker Brewing in Auburn CA just got ranked by Ratebeer as one of the best new breweries in the world. Not sure where it's at in correlation of where you'll be. Their Zulu Haze was tasty.

Also Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola makes some really good beer.

 

Yeah, I didn't mention them since they're a ways out of the city, but Russian River and Sante Adarius are both worth the 60-90 minute trips away that they are.

 

Yeah I didn't know if he's driving up and down the coast or not.

 

In the country wide road trip, we will be traveling north-to-south down the california coast, and then going over to Vegas and Grand Canynon, if that helps anyone out

 

Barrelworks is soooo good. Definitely make Firestone in Buellton a stop.

 

I'm in Delaware too. It's funny because I feel like Dogfish definitely helped get alot of the people I know (including me) into the whole craft beer scene. I was just talking to a friend the other day about how it helped us get into it, but we all rarely drink Dogfish anymore, outside of going to Firefly lol.

 

I'll be traveling down to Miami in 2 weeks and am looking for beer recommendations! I hear J. Wakefield's is a can't miss. Any other breweries worth stop into while I'm down there?

 

Funky Buddah and Civil Society in South Florida. Not sure how willing you are to travel outside of Miami though.

 

i second these. Funky Buddha is in Oakland Park, which is basically Ft Lauderdale. Civil Society is a bit further north in Jupiter. Walking Tree Brewery in Vero Beach just won some awards for their beers in the Best Florida Beer competition (Strong Ale, Imperial Stout, Best Small Brewery, and Best Beer In Florida). Haven't had their stuff yet, but they just signed a distro deal for central Florida.

 

I've heard very good things about 3 Sons Brewing as well, although like Funky Buddha I think it's closer to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Just found this crazy thing at my local shop, no idea what this will taste like



"We blended together a blonde Brettanomyces-fermented ale aged in both oak barrels and foedres, then added California-grown blueberries and blackberries. After maturing, we dry-hopped the beer with reckless amounts of Citra, Mosaic, El Dorado, Simcoe, Galaxy, Nugget, and Sterling hops for a trippy, tropical-dank aroma. Pair this with freshly-picked herb salads, smoked meats and 2AM Al Pastor tacos."

 

NoDa Hop Drop and Roll is so gooooood

 

This sounds amazing.

 

My brain is having a tough time computing the berry sour plus SO MANY hops, haha. I'll report back!

 

Thanks for the rec. Ill look into them. I know alot of cities are within reasonable driving distance from Miami in South Florida. So as long as their worth it, I'll def make the drive!

 

Awesome, thanks! Fort isn't too far out, so as long as their worth it...I'm on it!

 

Two days till Hunahpu's Day...

 

So jealous. First time in 4 years I'm not going. My husband flies out tomorrow, they have a big share with a bunch of people tomorrow night too. I need to avoid social media lol.

 

I'm in love with this year's Dogfish Head Beer to drink music to.