Drove to Phoenix for Thanksgiving (Starting in Nor Cal), with stops in Sedona (Oak Creek Brewing), and returned thru San Diego (Taylor’s, Stone and La Jolla). It is a good thing my wife tolerates sitting in pubs so that I can enjoy these beers from the source.
Oak Creek in Sedona has two locations, one is a restaurant in a touristy part of town, and the other is well hidden in a business area, which is the location for brewing all bottled and kegged beers (hit both). Tried several, and they were all clean, and the people were great. Would have preferred a “West Coast†IPA, but the english pale and Oktoberfest were nice.
In the San Diego area, visited Taylor’s in Pacific Beach, even after reading the shitty review in RateBeer.com, and the reviewer was right: Too bad since this is a great location even if there are a lot of bums hanging out at the public beachside restroom all night.
Stone’s new facility is awesome. The tour was very basic, as expected, but the guide would answer specific questions when asked. (single step mash at 155F). The Bistro is special, with 31 beers on tap and only 10 or so were Stone’s. They had several beers from the SD area, along with a few Nor Cal favorites (Racer 5 was one). Menu was a little too eclectic for my liking though, needed some garlic fries to go with my Bison burger (done “Fuego’ style).
Lastly, we stopped at the La Jolla Brewery, had the Double IPA and a dry hopped Brown Ale, both were quite good and so was the food. Well worth stopping but I think that there are better places in the area to go (Pizza Port).
Stone is a must for all beer fans if they are even close to the area.
-Otterbrew
