Welcome to the wonderful amazing world of beer! Be prepared to spend many years and a small fortune on exploring various breweries, brewpubs, bottle shops and styles. I started many years ago and still to this day every day is a new adventure in beer. Pretty soon you’ll be trying Russian Imperial Stouts double-dry hopped with 6 types of hops, brewed with yeast harvested from the beard of the brewer, and aged in bourbon barrels that have been cellared in the hull of a sunken nuclear submarine. I’m not even joking.
San Diego is ground zero for this revolution, so consider yourself lucky and jump in to the deep end head first! If there’s one recommendation I have it’s to try a new beer every time. Of course you will find favorites that become your go-to, but I make it a policy whenever eating out or visiting a bottle shop to always get something I’ve never had before.
The places mentioned above are great, but if you really want you socks blown off hit up Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens up in Escondido. That place was a revalation to me as a beer n00b back in the day. It’s not just the beer, but the cuisine and location/decor/setup that goes along with it. Stone Liberty Station isn’t too bad either. My vote for best restaurant taplist goes to Waypoint in North Park. It’s owned by the Bottlecraft guy. Their beer menu is mind-blowing.
I can’t even imagine a world without good beer. It’s like trying to imagine a world without the Internet. How did we survive those dark ages?