What to taste in Santa Barbara/SLO/Lompoc/Pismo/Morro Bay

maltbarley · Post by **maltbarley** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:25 pm

Rather than be part of the club brew, I'll be tooling up the coast this weekend. I'm sure we'll hit some wineries, but I'd like to keep it balanced. Does anyone know of any "must see" brewpubs or breweries in these areas?

I have checked out Beer Advocate and there really doesn't appear to be much.

bwarbiany · Post by **bwarbiany** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:38 pm

Firestone Walker is the only real brewery I know up in those parts...

lars · Post by **lars** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:49 pm

There is a BOP/contract brew house on Chorro St. (?) in downtown SLO. The guys there were pretty cool. I went in there about three years ago and ended up spending a few hours shootin the shit and drinking their beer. When I told them I was a homebrewer they broke out the good shit!

craigsdickson · Post by **craigsdickson** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:56 pm

I visited Firstone in Buellton - they have a bar and also a restaurant at that location. The restaurant was closed at the time we were there, but it looked somewhat upscale, something SWMBO might not be offended by.

There is SLO Brewing in San Luis.

There was also a beer bar in SLO called Spikes last time I was there.

craigsdickson · Post by **craigsdickson** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:11 pm

SWMBO (who went to college in SLO) says there is another beer bar called the Frog & Peach that is reasonable.

Also, there is Morro Bay Brewing Co, but has limited hours in the winter (tourist based area) so call ahead.

stephen · Post by **stephen** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 10:19 am

I realize this post is too late to help you this weekend but if you're ever up here again do not pass Santa Maria Brewing by. It is easy to do since it's right on the 101 just over the bride heading north out of Santa Maria-and a short left on 166. Funky old place that brews great beer and the proprietors will talk beer all day long.

dhempy · Post by **dhempy** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 11:39 am

Welcome Stephen!

Don't be a stranger ... are you a homebrewer? We hope to see you around this board again!

My nephew is attending SLO .. I'll have to get his perspective for the next visitor (now that he is of drinking age!)

Dan

stephen · Post by **stephen** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:58 pm

Yep, I'm a homebrewski. Found you guys on the CHA site amongst those who will be at the SoCalFest. Though I was born and raised in O.C. many, many years ago and lived there until '88, I still have a fondness for the county. I am now a member of the San Luis Obispo Brewers (SLOBs) and am enjoying it immensely. I will enjoy seeing you all the the Lake Casitas event. I see that a few of you live in Tustin. I graduated from there in '69 and my brother still goes down in that area to conduct business.

Happy Quaffs.

backyard brewer · Post by **backyard brewer** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:31 pm

Welcome aboard! Please enjoy the site, we're still putting it back together after a bad crash. (By 'we' I mean Brent) Anyway, we have users from all over the place and club members from as far as Bozeman, MT that fly the BrewCommune club flag.

maltbarley · Post by **maltbarley** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:15 am

Stephen, Thank for the heads up, but I missed it. I'll have to check that out next time.

I did get to Morro Bay Brewing Co...I wasn't that impressed. The Pale Ale was ok, but the Apricot Pale was too hoppy and the Brown Ale didn't smell right.

I did notice that nearly every place that served beer had Firestone on tap. I also noticed that some had clean lines and others were not so clean. There were also some ineteresting bottle selections available. One example was having La Fin Du Monde with lunch at a tea house looking place in Cambria.

Saturday, after a few wineries, we did end up at the Firestone brewery, and they had a very delicious 13%ABV RIS called Parabola. I wanted to bring some back but they were only serving small glasses and no growlers. Apparently, this was one of the ingredients in the 11th.

On the way back down, we stopped at the Firestone Tap Room in Buellton. It's a pretty nice place but basically serves the standard Firestone and Humbolt brews. The food is quite nice and I highly recommend the chili.

stephen · Post by **stephen** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:29 am

Yep, Firestone's big up here, obviously. They're sort of a source of information for our brewclub. In fact, if you are ever up here again, Maltbarley, stop in at our LBHS where the SLOBs hang out and shoot the zymurgy.