San Diego County Craft Breweries

The craft brewery explosion came pretty early to San Diego, and the San Diego Brewers Guild now has more than 130 breweries as members. The city was named the 'Top Beer Town' in America by Men’s Journal, and the New York Times has proclaimed that it 'is rapidly becoming the country’s best craft beer scene'.

First, taste the beers by one of the best-known producers:  Karl Strauss Brewing Company,  which opened in 1989 and is  named after co-founder Chris Cramer’s cousin (who just happens to have been a master brewer from Germany). Don't miss Stone Brewing Company either, which has its massive headquarters, complete with a beer garden, in Escondido, as well as several shops, a farm and pubs at PetCo Park, Liberty Station and San Diego Airport.

Also not to be missed are craft breweries Lost Abbey (famed for its bottle-conditioned ales), AleSmith (which focuses on English-style ales), Ballast Point (brewers of seasonal beers such as Habanero Sculpin IPA and Curry Export Stout) and Green Flash , which all get rave reviews from locals and international beer experts alike.

Those better-known names barely scratch the surface. If you want to visit a brewery that isn’t immediately recognizable to your friends at home, there are too many to list here, but a few particularly notable ones include Belching Beaver Brewery, Societe Brewing Company, Pizza Port (don’t be thrown by the name—it’s a top-notch brewery that serves pizza at five locations), Alpine Beer Co., Wild Barrel Brewing, Coronado Brewing Company and Mother Earth Brew Co.

Beer tours, like the ones offered by Brewery Tours of San Diego, Scavengers Beer & Adventure Tours and the entertaining Brew Hop, are big here too. The tours are an excellent way to sample craft beers at various locations while someone else does the driving—and shares beer-centric insights and information along the way.