Brit visiting CA - good beer outlets?

A drinking acquaintance of mine is visiting the US West Coast on a bus tour soon, and would like some suggestions as to good beer bars and brewpubs to visit. He's a keen and knowledgable drinker of British cask beer but doesn't know much about US craft brews. He was surprised to learn there'll be lots of good beer to drink! This is one of those 'if it's Tuesday it must be San Diego' sort of tours so suggestions shouldn't be too far off the beaten track.

His itinerary is

LA San Diego Tijuana (!) Scottsdale Flagstaff Las Vegas Fresno SF

All info gratefully received - he's not an internet user so I'll print off responses and pass them on.

TIA, Paul

-- Paul Sherwin Consulting

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Reply to
Paul Sherwin
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OBrien's in San Diego is a must -- it's at the corner of Convoy and Opportunity, not too far from downtown -- there are about 20 taps which usually feature west coast craft brews and a few belgians -- the bottled beer selection is excellent. It's an enjoyable atmosphere with big, comfortable chairs and good food although a side trip to just about any of the asian eateries in walking distance is a good idea -- my personal recommendations would be Pho Convoy (directly across convoy st. - Vietnamese) or the Dumpling Inn (across Convoy and about 100 yards south

-- Chinese) -- both are places we go regularly. If I only had time to go to one bar in San Diego to sample West Coast beers, OBrien's would be it as they usually have most of the world class award winning beers from Oggi's, Pizza Port, Alesmith, Russian River, Alpine, etc. on draft.

Bill

Paul Sherwin ( snipped-for-privacy@paulsherwin.co.uk) wrote: : A drinking acquaintance of mine is visiting the US West Coast on a bus : tour soon, and would like some suggestions as to good beer bars and : brewpubs to visit. He's a keen and knowledgable drinker of British : cask beer but doesn't know much about US craft brews. He was surprised : to learn there'll be lots of good beer to drink! This is one of those : 'if it's Tuesday it must be San Diego' sort of tours so suggestions : shouldn't be too far off the beaten track. : : His itinerary is : : LA : San Diego : Tijuana (!) : Scottsdale : Flagstaff : Las Vegas : Fresno : SF : : All info gratefully received - he's not an internet user so I'll print : off responses and pass them on. : : TIA, Paul : : -- : Paul Sherwin Consulting

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Reply to
Bill Benzel

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This is the only microbrewery I know of there:

Cerveceria Tijuana Tel (664) 638 8662 Fax (664) 684 8287 Blvd. Fundadores #2951, Col. Juarez

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It's also the only TJ brewery involved in the 10th annual San Diego Festival of Beer on Friday the 24th:

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(links to 50 brewers involved)

Reply to
Slobby Don

In Fresno, your best bet is Sequoia Brewing Company on Olive Ave. From Highway 99, take Olive exit, go east a couple of miles.

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Reply to
JD Foster

If he is lucky enough to be in San Francisco on October 16, check out the beer festival on the historic WWII Liberty ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien. They will have beer from every SF brew pub. See

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If it's not Oct 16 still check it out. The site has addresses of all SF brew pubs. Enjoy!

Reply to
Martin Wefald

Well, everything in southern California is at risk of being off the beaten track, since the track itself is so spread out.

In LA, top destinations are Father's Office and The Library Ale House in Santa Monica, Lucky Baldwins in Pasadena, Cafe Boogaloo in Hermosa Beach. All have a pretty extensive American beer selection (ranging from roughly

20-40 taps), and all have very good drinking atmospheres. Lucky Baldwins is most likely to remind him of home (the proprieter is an expat Brit); the Library and Father's Office are more modern and semi-trendy feeling.

Oddly enough, there's also a really good beer selection at the Four Points Sheraton at LAX.

-Steve

Reply to
Steve Jackson

Steve Jackson ( snipped-for-privacy@cox.net.no.spam) wrote: : : Oddly enough, there's also a really good beer selection at the Four Points : Sheraton at LAX. :

Not odd at all -- the SCHBF (Southern California Home Brew Festival) holds two or three educational events there annually with samplings of numerous world class beers and lectures / presentations by many leading brewers. These events focus on combining tastings with education on brewing technique. I recall hearing that someone at the hotel is connected to or belongs to one of the larger clubs in the LA area (Maltose Falcons??), hence the choice of this particular hotel.

Reply to
Bill Benzel

Many thanks to all who have responded. I'll pass your suggestions on. I've also printed out the beerfly top 10s for the cities they cover (LA, SD, LV, SF).

He owes me a pint now!

Thanks again, Paul

-- Paul Sherwin Consulting

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Reply to
Paul Sherwin

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