California Official Visitor's Guide 2019 - 33

VISITCALIFORNIA.COM

| 33

LOS ANGELES
Three Weavers Brewing, Inglewood
Founded by Lynne Weaver in 2014 with brewmaster Alexandra Nowell at the helm of the beer operation, Three
Weavers makes great beer and boasts a powerful statement about diversity in a male-dominated industry. Stop
by the tasting room and try one of Three Weavers' core
beers like Expatriate West Coast IPA or try a seasonal
brew, like the Stoutlandish Oatmeal Milk Stout on nitro.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
Cellarmaker Brewing,
San Francisco
Heavily influenced by the great Russian
River Brewing Company in nearby Santa
Rosa, Cellarmaker has forged its own
path to greatness with exquisite beers in
a variety of styles, including many unfiltered-and intensely flavorful-IPAs.

ORANGE COUNTY
Noble Ale Works,
Anaheim
Even in a city nicknamed
"Ale-heim" for its many craft
breweries, Noble Ale Works
still ranks as one of those at
the top. Formerly a hoppyfocused operation, the small
brewery (with expansion
plans on the horizon) now
rotates everything from the
Tank Top Cream Ale to the
nitro Pit of Despair Stout.
Notable: The brewers took
home gold at the 2018 Great
American Beer Festival for
the Nobility Imperial IPA.

SAN DIEGO COUNTY
Hops Highway
A good way to get a sense of
San Diego's prolific craft beer
output is by traveling along
Highway 78 from Oceanside to
Escondido. Two essential stops:
Belching Beaver in Vista, known
for a range of award-winning
styles and flavor profiles, and
Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido,
a massive (and extremely good)
facility with brewery tours, gardens, and a farm-to-table menu.

INLAND EMPIRE
Hangar 24 Brewing, Redlands
Beer geeks know all about the Betty
IPA and Orange Wheat at Hangar
24 as outstanding examples of the
styles. But Pugachev's Cobra, an intense 15% alcohol by volume Russian
Imperial Stout, is the one coveted by
collectors and beer traders throughout California and beyond.

DESERTS
Indian Wells Brewing, Inyokern
Brewers understand that quality beer starts with great
ingredients, the most important being water. The beer
here is made with artesian spring water-as pure as
it gets. Try the thirst-quenching Death Valley Pale Ale
because, hey, you're in the hottest place on earth!

HIGH SIERRA
Tahoe Mountain Brewing
Company, Truckee
If you want to understand
what all the fuss is about with
wild yeast in beer-Brettanomyces, to be specific-this is
a great place to find out. Try
a farmhouse ale barrel-aged
with "Brett" on fresh pluots;
or the innovative Party Boy
Brett IPA that's funky, floral,
juicy, and unfiltered.

GOLD COUNTRY
Knee Deep Brewing, Auburn
In 2012, Knee Deep was a tiny startup that shocked beer
geeks by besting famed Pliny the Elder in a prestigious
IPA contest. Now it has a 28,000-square-foot brewery
that attracts a devoted following for its hoppy, fullflavored lineup. Nearby, Moonraker Brewing burst onto
the scene by perfecting the hazy, juicy New England-
style IPA and was named best new California brewery by
the respected beer authorities at RateBeer.com.

SHASTA CASCADE
Sierra Nevada Brewing, Chico
Perhaps the most influential and
enduring craft brewery in the
U.S., their pale ale alone helped
reconfigure the American beer
palate. Founded in 1983 by craft
beer godfather Ken Grossman,
the brewery's free daily tours are
worth the trip on their own.

CENTRAL VALLEY
Sudwerk Brewing, Davis
UC Davis is home to one of the world's most
respected brewing educational programs,
so it makes sense that people here know
good beer. With an infusion of young management talent, Sudwerk has rebranded its
award-winning lagers and attracted scores
of new devotees without turning away its
core base of craft loyalists.

CENTRAL COAST
Firestone Walker Brewing, Paso Robles
This California staple continues to push the
boundaries in many ways, including the Luponic
Distortion series-same recipe but with different
hop varietals-and exciting new flavor profiles
every 90 days. The brewery's annual Invitational
Beer Fest in June attracts serious enthusiasts.

NORTH COAST
Anderson Valley Brewing, Boonville
There's much to admire about this brewing
outpost in Mendocino County, from the quality beer to its steadfast commitment to the
environment, including powering much of the
brewing operation with solar panels. Looking
for a departure from bitter IPAs? Try the tart,
refreshing Blood Orange Gose.

I L LU ST R AT I O N S BY P E T E R O U M A N S K I

The Golden State is a land of innovation and abundance, which is why you'll
find more than 900 craft breweries here. Put these on your must-visit list.

California's Craft Breweries

http://www.VISITCALIFORNIA.COM

California Official Visitor's Guide 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of California Official Visitor's Guide 2019