Odds are that you’ve enjoyed a beer brewed in San Diego, even if you weren’t aware of it. Since the 1990s, this Southern California brewing stronghold has built a worldwide reputation for great beer, anchored by now-classic craft brewers such as Stone, Lost Abbey/Port Brewing, Green Flash, Ballast Point, AleSmith, Karl Strauss, and others. But in addition to these widely distributed powerhouses, San Diego County has also cultivated one of the strongest local beer scenes around, with eighty-seven licensed breweries and brewpubs, plus another thirty-three in planning.
To the uninitiated, this sounds like an enormous, and unsustainable, number. But one visit to San Diego and it all makes sense—the city loves craft beer; the breweries reach different customers in a variety of areas with individual specialties; and self-respecting beer tourists could entertain themselves for days without drinking the same beer (or brewery, for that matter) twice.
Drink Alpine, or Go To Bed
The fundamental question every beer traveler visiting San Diego must answer is whether to trek out to Alpine Beer Co., located roughly forty-five minutes east of downtown San Diego in the town of Alpine. But let us make the answer easy for you—yes, go. On our recent visit, a line out the door had already formed just after their noon opening, and some of our queued compatriots made the ninety-mile drive down from Orange County every month to restock on Pure Hoppiness double IPA, Duet IPA, and more. Grab lunch and a flight of samplers from their pub on the far side of the building, then hit the tap room for bottles and growlers to go. It’s worth the drive and worth the wait.