San Diego Craft Beer Guide
150+ breweries make San Diego America's craft beer capital. From the hop-forward West Coast IPAs that started it all to world-class sours and stouts — our neighborhood-by-neighborhood guide to the breweries worth your time.
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I moved to San Diego in 2001 when Karl Strauss and Stone were basically the only game in town. Then North Park exploded. Then Miramar filled up. Now there are 150+ breweries in the county and I've lost count of how many tasting rooms I've walked into expecting mediocrity and walked out a convert. The thing about San Diego beer is that the baseline quality is absurdly high — even the "average" breweries here would be the best brewery in most cities. I've narrowed this guide to the 15 breweries I'd take a visiting friend to, the ones where the beer consistently makes me stop and pay attention.
— Scott
We've organized San Diego's essential breweries into three zones — North Park & University Heights for the walkable craft beer epicenter, Miramar & Kearny Mesa for the industrial-park heavyweights, and Downtown, Coastal & Beyond for the iconic names and beachside tasting rooms.
North Park & University Heights
San Diego's craft beer epicenter — more breweries per block than anywhere in the county
5 breweriesNorth Park Beer Co.
Pints $7–9, flights $14North Park
The neighborhood brewery that defines modern North Park. Clean, well-made beers in a minimalist tasting room on 30th Street. Their West Coast IPA is textbook — bitter, citrusy, and crisp. The patio is one of the best in the neighborhood for people-watching.
Eppig Brewing
Pints $7–9, flights $12North Park
San Diego's best lager brewery. Their Czech-style pilsner and kölsch are flawless — sessionable, balanced, and refreshing. A welcome counterpoint to the IPA-dominated scene. The North Park tasting room has a beer garden vibe with communal tables.
Rip Current Brewing
Pints $7–8, flights $10North Park
Quietly one of the most decorated breweries in San Diego — multiple GABF medals. Their Belgian-inspired ales and barrel-aged stouts are exceptional. Small tasting room, no frills. The beer does the talking. The "Break Line" Belgian pale is a perfect introduction.
Belching Beaver Brewery
Pints $7–9, flights $12North Park
Famous for their Peanut Butter Milk Stout — a dessert beer that actually works. Multiple locations, but the North Park pub on 30th Street has the best atmosphere with a full food menu. Good for groups who want beer and food in one spot.
Mike Hess Brewing
Pints $7–9, flights $14North Park
Large tasting room on University Avenue with a family-friendly patio. Their Solis Mexican lager is one of the best-selling craft lagers in San Diego. The IPA lineup rotates frequently. Good entry point for people who are craft-beer-curious but not obsessed.
Miramar & Kearny Mesa
San Diego's brewery row — industrial parks hiding world-class beer
5 breweriesAleSmith Brewing
Pints $7–10, flights $15Miramar
One of the most respected breweries in the world. Speedway Stout is a legendary barrel-aged imperial stout — rich, complex, and 12% ABV. The tasting room is massive (40,000 sq ft) with a museum-quality Tony Gwynn exhibit. Don't skip the barrel-aged variants on tap.
Ballast Point Brewing
Pints $7–10, flights $14Miramar
Sculpin IPA put San Diego craft beer on the national map. The Miramar brewery and tasting room is their flagship — a massive facility with an on-site restaurant. Grapefruit Sculpin remains a gateway beer for millions of craft beer converts. The R&D beers on draft here aren't available anywhere else.
Pure Project
Pints $7–9, flights $12Miramar
Clean, creative beers brewed with an environmental mission — they plant a tree for every barrel brewed. The hazy IPAs are among the best in San Diego. The tasting room has a modern, airy feel. Also has a beloved Balboa Park location.
Green Flash Brewing
Pints $6–9, flights $12Miramar
Pioneers of the West Coast IPA style. The tasting room in Miramar is large with a solid food menu. Their West Coast IPA is a benchmark for the style. The brewery went through ownership changes but the beer quality has stabilized. Good for groups who want variety on tap.
Council Brewing
Pints $7–8, flights $12Kearny Mesa
One of San Diego's best sour beer producers. Their Beatitude series (tart saisons with fruit) are exceptional — complex, dry, and refreshing. Small tasting room with a passionate following. If you like sour beer, this is a mandatory stop.
Downtown, Coastal & Beyond
Beachside tasting rooms, downtown taprooms, and the breweries worth the drive
5 breweriesStone Brewing World Bistro
Pints $7–10, flights $15Liberty Station / Escondido
San Diego's most famous brewery. The Liberty Station location has a beautiful garden patio and full restaurant. The original Escondido brewery is a destination unto itself — 1-acre beer garden, tours, and a world-class restaurant. Arrogant Bastard and Stone IPA are SD icons.
Modern Times Beer
Pints $7–9, flights $12Point Loma
Employee-owned brewery with a Point Loma tasting room that doubles as a coffee roaster. Black House (oatmeal coffee stout) is one of the best dark beers in San Diego. Their hazy IPAs are consistently excellent. The aesthetic is design-forward and Instagrammable without being pretentious.
Pizza Port
Pints $6–8Ocean Beach / Carlsbad / Solana Beach
Brewery-meets-pizza-joint with locations across the coast. The OB location is the most atmospheric — surfer energy, loud, and packed. Solid house beers and great pizza ($14–22). More GABF medals than almost any SD brewery. Go for the vibe as much as the beer.
Societe Brewing
Pints $7–9, flights $14Kearny Mesa
Arguably San Diego's best brewery for Belgian-inspired ales. The Pupil IPA is a local legend. The Apprentice IPA is perfectly balanced. Their Belgian program (The Harlot, The Butcher) produces complex, refined beers. The tasting room is industrial-cool with a serious beer crowd.
Karl Strauss Brewing
Pints $7–9Downtown / Various
San Diego's original craft brewery (opened 1989). Multiple restaurant locations across the county. Red Trolley Ale is the signature — an amber that's been flowing since the beginning. The downtown location is walkable from the Gaslamp. Not the hippest, but historically important and consistently good.
Pro Tips for Beer in San Diego
How to navigate 150+ breweries without wasting a single pour.
Start in North Park
The highest density of quality breweries in the county is along 30th Street and University Avenue in North Park. You can hit 5-6 world-class tasting rooms on foot without crossing a major street. Start here and work outward.
Order Flights, Not Pints
Most San Diego tasting rooms offer 4-5 taster flights for $10–15. At 150+ breweries, you want to sample broadly, not commit to pints. Flights let you find your favorites and try styles you wouldn't normally order.
Miramar Needs a Driver
Miramar and Kearny Mesa have the biggest concentration of breweries, but they're in industrial parks with no walking access between them. Plan a designated driver, use rideshares ($8–15 between stops), or book a brewery tour van.
Go Beyond IPA
San Diego is famous for West Coast IPAs, but the best breweries excel at everything. Try Eppig's lagers, Council's sours, Societe's Belgians, and Modern Times' coffee stouts. The non-IPA beers are where San Diego's depth really shows.
Weekday Afternoon is Best
Friday and Saturday evenings at popular tasting rooms mean crowds and noise. Tuesday through Thursday from 3–6 PM is the sweet spot — the bartenders have time to talk, the tasting rooms are chill, and you get a better experience.
Food Trucks & BYO Food
Many tasting rooms don't have kitchens but have rotating food trucks (check their Instagram) or allow outside food. Miramar breweries almost always have food trucks on weekends. North Park tasting rooms are steps away from excellent restaurants.
Plan Your Brewery Crawl
Tell our AI planner which neighborhoods or beer styles you prefer and it will build a day-by-day brewery itinerary — with tasting room hours, food options, and transportation tips.
Start Planning →Frequently Asked Questions
Over 150 as of 2026, making San Diego County the craft beer capital of the United States by density and quality. The main brewery clusters are in North Park (walkable, 10+ breweries), Miramar/Kearny Mesa (industrial park row, 20+ breweries), and scattered along the coast from Ocean Beach to Oceanside. You could visit a different brewery every day for five months and not repeat.
West Coast IPA — the aggressively hopped, bitter, citrusy style that defined American craft beer in the 2010s. San Diego breweries like Stone, Ballast Point (Sculpin), and AleSmith pioneered this style. Today the scene has diversified dramatically: world-class lagers (Eppig), sours (Council), Belgian-inspired ales (Societe), and hazy IPAs (Pure Project) compete with the old-school hop bombs.
Depends on what you drink. For West Coast IPA purists: Societe or Stone. For lager lovers: Eppig is unmatched. For barrel-aged stouts: AleSmith's Speedway Stout is legendary. For hazy IPAs: Pure Project. For sour beers: Council. For the overall experience (beer + food + atmosphere): Stone Liberty Station or Pizza Port OB. If you only have time for one, Societe's tasting room in Kearny Mesa consistently produces the most refined beer in the county.
In North Park, absolutely — it's the best walkable brewery district in the city. You can hit North Park Beer Co., Eppig, Rip Current, Belching Beaver, and Mike Hess without crossing a major street. In Miramar and Kearny Mesa, breweries are in industrial parks and you'll need to drive or rideshare between them. Downtown and coastal breweries are spread out but many are near trolley stops.
Most tasting rooms charge $10–15 for a flight of 4-5 tasters (typically 4-5 oz each). Pints run $7–10. A solid afternoon at 2-3 breweries, ordering flights at each, costs $30–50 per person before food. Many tasting rooms offer happy hour pricing ($1–2 off pints) on weekday afternoons. Some smaller breweries sell pints for $6–7 — ask about their house lager or session beer.