I won't bother commenting on the food places where I just had a beer or two, but instead will only include comments on the breweries/brew pubs that did their own beer.
BJ's is one of my go-to places for a good meal and beer. Not much to be said about this.
Solvang Brewing Co is in downtown Solvang. They didn't have several of their standard beers available because they were out of stock. Notably missing was their pale ale and IPA. After doing a sampler of the 5 beers that they had on tap, I then opted for a pint of Green Flash IPA to go with my lunch. I basically felt that none of their beers were worth a second round.
Firestone-Walker on the other hand had some very good beers. Union Jack, Double Jack and Wookie Jack were all awesome. Their new Double DBA is a barley wine and was a bit too strong for me to thoroughly enjoy - just not my style. Other than that though, the rest of their beers were very good.
Big Sur tap house was a little hole in the wall along the highway in Big Sur. They didn't brew there, but they did have a good selection and I found a couple of new beers that I hadn't had and I really liked. Notably was the Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale (a red IPA).
Tuesday morning, we had reservations for taking a tour at Anchor Brewing in SF. They do two tours a day and you must have a reservation. Their tasting room is only open to people on the tours. The tour itself was very informative of the history of Anchor and also touched on their new owners. Their Anchor Steam and Porter are well known beers, but I don't see many of their other beers generally available. All of the beers were good and I wouldn't hesitate to have another. Nice place, nice people and good beers. If you're looking for something fun to do in SF, try this place out, but make sure you get a reservation 6-12 weeks in advance.
Beach Chalet is a small micro brewer on the West side of SF. The visitors center to Golden Gate Park is downstairs and the brewery is upstairs. Several of their beers were Belgians which aren't my favorite style. However, their Saison did surprise me and was very good. Their IPA and chocolate porter were also decent. All their beers were served quite warm, which was a bit surprising.
SLO Brew (originally SLO Brewing Co.) is downtown San Luis Obispo. We were staying just across the hwy at the Madonna Inn, so we cruised up town to find this place. I had already read good reviews about it. A standout beer they had was their Nitro IPA. It is the exact same beer as their normal IPA, but served on nitro instead. I have to say, I really liked it. I just kegged a Pliny clone a week ago and I'm now thinking of splitting off a bit to put on nitro and try it out. All of their beers were quite good and match well with the styles of beers that I like to brew. I truly hope that some day, one of my kids will go to school here so I have a reason to visit!
Complete beer tasting list (Friday to Thursday):
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Bj's. (Oxnard)
- Piranha Pale Ale
- Hop Storm IPA
Union Ale House, Santa Barbara
- Racer5
- Ballast Point IPL
Solvang Brewing Co
- SBC Ivar Honey Blonde
- SBC Raspberry Lager
- SBC Dansk Amber
- SBC 1547 Brown Ale
- SBC Great Dane Pale Ale
- Green Flash IPA
Firestone Walker
- Hefeweizen
- 805
- Pale 31
- DBA
- Union Jack
- Double DBA
- Double Jack
- Wookie Jack
Big Sur Tap House
- Bear Republic, Red Rocket Ale
- Big Sur Golden Ale
- Grand Teton Brewing Co. - Sweet grass APA
Monterey
- Anchor Steam
Santa Cruz Boardwalk
- Redhook ESB
- Sierra Nevada Torpedo
San Francisco
- Prohibition Amber Ale
- Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Anchor Brewing
- Summer Beer
- Mark's Mild
- Steam Beer
- Liberty Ale IPA
- Humming Ale
- Brekle's Brown
- Anchor Porter
Beach Chalet
- VFW Light
- Columbus Pale Ale
- Bavarian-Style Hefeweizen
- Saison Du Chalet De La Plage
- Biere De Garde
- Presidio IPA
- Riptide Red
- Chocolate Porter
SLO Brew, San Luis Obispo
- IPA
- Nitro IPA
- Reggae Red
- Honey Blonde
- Irish Stout
- Blueberry Blonde
- Pale Ale
