Favorite San Diego Brewery

[brahn]

We're going down to San Diego for a few days next week for our anniversary and the wife suggested a stop at a brewery on the way down. I don't think I'll be able to turn the anniversary trip into a brewery tour, so I'm probably limited to one on the way down and maybe something near downtown where we're staying.

So, for those of you who have visited a few, what's your favorite brewery to visit in San Diego? I've only been to Stone, which is awesome, but I want to check out someplace new.

[bwarbiany]

Does she drink beer?

I know Luke H is very partial to Modern Times... I seem to see him visiting there quite a bit on G+. I haven't been, but the beers I've tasted from them have been very good.

Obviously Pizza Port Carlsbad is an easy stop on the way down. It's just off the 5 at Carlsbad Village Dr. It's the largest tap list of the three original locations (I haven't been to the Ocean Beach or Bressi Ranch ones yet). It can be good as you have their beers plus guest taps.

Culture Brewing Company in Solana Beach was good when I visited, Green Flash is always good (but doesn't open until 3 PM on weekdays), and I recently found Hess Brewing, which was cool and had good beer.

If you want to mix it with a meal, I'd say Pizza Port. If it's just beer and you want ambiance, Green Flash is a pretty cool place. Culture is cool but very small, and Hess (at least the northern / Mira Mesa area location) is NOT ambiance -- think the days at the Bruery before they had half their stuff installed!

I still haven't been to White Labs, which frankly is more of a "homebrewer geek" type visit than something I'd take the wife to, but I definitely want to check it out.

[maltbarley]

I didn't care much for for my visit to White Labs, but I was very impressed with the beer at Green Flash.

[lexuschris]

I stopped at AleSmith tasting room once, and it was much like the Bruery in the old days. Drinking some tasty beers in a warehouse. Not sure if it has changed much.

I've been wanting to try Stone's new Liberty Station location down by the airport... haven't been there yet, but it looked pretty cool.. I think Don made it there recently.. perhaps he can chime in!
--LexusChris

[brahn]

She doesn't drink beer, but she does drive.

It looks like Modern Times and the Stone Liberty Station are fairly close to where we'll be staying, and so is Coronado. I'll see if I can work a few of these in, but I'm not sure how much brewery touring she's going to want to do.

I agree about White Labs, I'd like to check it out sometime, but it's not high up on my list and not really something I'd want to drag the wife to.

We'll be heading down on Sunday, and Green Flash opens at noon, so that might work for us. I'll see if she'd prefer Pizza Port, that's a good option too.

I may see if we can swing by someplace on the way back and pick up a growler or two as well.

[bwarbiany]

I may see if we can swing by someplace on the way back and pick up a growler or two as well.

If you need to borrow any growlers, I've got about three Pizza Port growlers, a Green Flash growler, and a couple 1L Hess growlers...

I did leave Karl Strauss off the list -- they have a couple locations near the 5 as well, and good food. I have a growler from there as well if you'd like to borrow it.

[backhousebrew]

My wife and her sister really liked Liberty Station. The food was great and we really enjoyed the atmosphere. It's a little hard to find but well worth the search.
You could also try one of the well known pubs if you want to try a few local brews at one stop.
Hamiltons or The Blind Lady both have a wide selection of local brews. They both have a very "local" feel to them.
Have Fun!

[BrewMasterBrad]

I miss working in SD. Green Flash was always one of my favorite stops. And if you're going to stop at Green Flash, you might as well stop at Ale Smith since it is only a few minutes away. If you stop at Green Flash, pick me up a new 1L growler. Mine broke. Tell Melissa it's your anniversary gift for me.

White Labs is interesting, but definitely only for the beer geeks. The beers are horrible, but it is educational.

I never made it to the Stone Liberty Station location, but if it's anything like the Escondido location then it is probably pretty amazing. There is a Slaters 50/50 not too far from Liberty Station, just saying. Stone also has a company store/tasting room in Oceanside that is very nice and has a great beer garden for sitting and relaxing.

Karl Strauss has really good food and acceptable beer.

If you are feeling adventurous, check out The Lion's Share. It's near the Seaport Village trolley station. They always have some interesting specials on the menu (wild boar, kangaroo) and they have a really decent beer and wine selection.

[brahn]

Thanks for all the tips, we'll have to see how many of these I can work into the schedule while we're down there.

[gromitdj]

If you're looking for a burger, I'd skip Slaters 50/50 since you can get that in Orange county. Go to Hodad's. It's an awesome burger! Not sure about their beer list, however.

And go a little early, or there is going to be a line.

http://www.hodadies.com/locations/

[lexuschris]

(Dang! Now I want to make a trek to San Diego! All of this sounds like a fun roadtrip!)

--LexusChris

[Maltose Parrot]

My Pops lives in El Cajon. After a typical visit, I will leave his place and head over to Alpine. From there, there are several routes you can take to hit most of the more popular places. Alpine Beer Company also has a diner, good eats!

ROAD TRIP!

[BrewMasterBrad]

If you're looking for a burger, I'd skip Slaters 50/50 since you can get that in Orange county. Go to Hodad's. It's an awesome burger! Not sure about their beer list, however.

And go a little early, or there is going to be a line.

http://www.hodadies.com/locations/

I need to try that place. I saw it on some TV show and it looks awesome.

[gromitdj]

I need to try that place. I saw it on some TV show and it looks awesome.

It was on Diner's, Drive-In's, and Dives. I didn't see the episode before a buddy took me there. It won't disappoint. The Double must have weighed about 3 pounds. I was smart and ordered the single.

[brahn]

Just got back, we hit up Green Flash on the way down and Hess on our way back. We sampled a bunch of really good beers at Green Flash. I liked their tasting room, it's a cool setup. Hess was also really cool, you kind of walk over the brewhouse on your way to the tasting room so you can get a good look at everything. I only had 2 samples there and grabbed a growler since we were trying to get home, but the beers I had were good.

We also tried a couple gastropubs in the downtown/gaslamp area. Neighborhood had great food and a good beer list. I grabbed some Enjoy By 02.14.14 there, but only a couple of local taps which was disappointing. The beer list was good, just not much that we don't see here all the time. It would have been nice to see Societe, Modern Times, Hess, etc.

Craft & Commerce was ok, I certainly wouldn't go out of my way. Food was good, I have the same complaint about the tap list as at Neighborhood. I heard numerous times about how San Diego is a "beer city" but it was tough to find many of the local beers on tap outside of Stone, Alesmith and Port. They did have a couple Societe beers on tap so I had those and they were tasty.