I will be in the Los Angeles area for a few days. Are there any breweries that I should not miss besides Stone and The Bruery?
Depends on where you'll be, how much time you have, etc. Stone and the Bruery are about 100 miles apart. The recent "Anaheim?" thread in the Pacific forum had a lot of good ideas if you'll be in OC/LA.
While I couldn't agree more with the desire to drink some of the best beer in San Diego (America?), keep in mind that the drive from Escondido to Alpine is nearly an hour. If he's driving from LA, Stone is already a pretty good hike.
Agreed, however if you are coming from Milwaukee this is probably the best chance they will get for a while. An hour trip is worth it for Alpine beer.
Truthfully, if it's a weekend, I'd skip Stone anyway. That place is a clusterfuck these days on the weekend. I understand the draw of a "beer Mecca", but if one is really going for a spectrum of SD beer instead of being able to tell their friends they went to Stone, there are better places. On a weekday though, Stone is a pretty cool stop. If you're making the I-5 LA-SD run, don't forget that there are Pizza Ports in San Clemente and Carlsbad. Sitting on the patio at the SC one on a sunny afternoon looking out at the Pacific with a pizza and a pint isn't a bad way to refuel along the way.
If you are going to SD, then ballast point and green flash; or pizza port or port/lost abbey. definitely alesmith. If you are staying in LA/OC maybe eagle rock and the Bruery.
If you are just hanging around the Orange County area you have: Breweries: The Bruery Bootlegger's Brewery Noble Ale Works (haven't been, told its very good) Foods: Smoqued Haven Gastropub (pricy) Beachwood Barbeque Bottle Shops: Hacienda Beverage (I live around 4-5 blocks from them, without them I wouldn't have such good beer in my life) Hollingshead Deli High-Times Wine Cellar Note: It is about an hour or so to Stone from the OC, just keep that in mind when planning things out. You may want to do OC area one day, then San Diego area another day.
Depending on when you'll be in in town, and what days, it's fully possible to hit bootleggers, Bruery, noble (definitely getting their act together with the newerish head brewer) old orange brewing co, Anaheim brewing, and the soon to open Valient brewing. I need to consult a map, but I believe they're all at the most maybe 15 miles apart. The only genuinely convenient bottleshop in that area is Mr K's on the corner of the industrial strip the Bruery is located in. Haven't vetted Hacienda Beverage as a bottleshop, but if you go there, consider having dinner at TAPS (more restaurant than brewery, but solid performance on both fronts) and stopping by total wine in the vicinity as well.
Re: Stone, you have the option to visit Stone's company store in Pasadena. Decent place with about 15-20 taps of the latest Stone brews and a reach-in cooler to buy their bottles. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/StoneStorePasadena?fref=ts
Somehow that connection managed to get left from my post. Though I don't like bootleggers hours if you're on a single day trip. Perhaps bruery, total wine, taps, hacienda, bootleggers wouldn't be a bad run.
