My girlfriend is taking me on a beer trip for my birthday from So Cal to the Bay Area in a couple weeks. So far, we're hitting up Firestone Walker, Lagunitas, and Russian River. We're staying one night in Paso and two nights in Santa Rosa. Are there any bars, breweries, or stores that are a must-visit while we're up there? The only store we have scheduled is City Beer before we head back down to LA.
You could go a little farther north and visit Bear Republic. I'd also recommend checking out Flavor which is just down the street from the RR Brewery. They have excellent food and a good amount of beer on tap.
Two nights in Santa Rosa should provide you with ample time to drive up to Bear Republic. You can atop into Armstrong Woods to hike the redwoods on way there or back and hit Stumptown for a beer. Great location, beers so so.
A trip over the east bay to Beer Republic would be pretty good... just a little deviation from your trip northbound and it is worthwhile.
I would suggest Taps in Petaluma and the Whole Foods Coddingtown in Santa Rosa. Both place have a great tap selection. You may want to stop by Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa as well. They have the best prices for beer in the county. And for good food and a nice selection of Moonlight, stop by Flavor, which is right down the street from Russian River.
Awesome, I'm doing almost exactly the same thing - going up to San Jose for the last week of the month, so I'll also be hitting up FW, Lagunitas, and RR. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread! (San Jose seems to be a bit of a craft beer wasteland, unfortunately - everything's a bit of a drive.)
There is a brand new place in Santa Rosa that just opened that is a combo wine bar/beer bar called The Wineyard/The Hopyard. They currently have 4 taps and will be expanding to 12 taps soon. I haven't been yet but have heard it is a pretty good place.
Make sure you stop by Wine Affairs on the Alameda, it's the best spot in the south bay, followed by Good Karma Cafe and Harry's Hofbrau IMO.
In Buellton there is Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24600 In Paso Robles go to the Pour House after you hit up Firestone. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20572/view=beerfly About halfway between Paso Robles and the bay area(perfect time for lunch) in Hollister is this place. Relax Grillin and Chillin. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25475/view=beerfly The 8 minutes off the freeway are well worth it. Their website doesn't do their beer selection justice. Beyond that good luck because there are too many places to fit into just a few days. As mentioned Beer Revolution is great. Plus it's less hassle to park in Jack London Oakland than San Francisco.
Drakes in San Leandro is a must if you are in the bay area. They still have the Hopocolypse Black and lots of barrel aged stuff.
Agreed, they're quickly becoming one of my favorite breweries and their parties are a good time, I've brought along friends who aren't super into beer but the atmosphere makes it more inviting. Not to mention they make a lot of amazing tap-only specials. The chardonnay barrel aged DIPA (slightly sour) was interesting and tasty.
I love Drakes, their Sir Francis IPA aged in Syrah barrels might be one of my favorite sours. Its funny how cool this place is even being behind the definition of commercialism (wal mart).
I would say Drakes and Russian River are a must. Sierra Nevadas brewery is also pretty fun. As for Sf and east bay I would say Toronado and beer revolution to grab great beers. Stores that will put you in debt are city beer and Healthy spirits. City beer is great because you can grab an amazing beer from the tap as you walk around looking at all the bottle beers you want to buy. Went there the other day and got a Hoptimum and a Bigfoot 11 while I did my window shopping.
