5 Craft Beers To Try

By Kevin Vote on August 19, 2015

Craft beers seem to be perpetually rising in popularity, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a nicer beer compared to Budweiser, Coors Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Rolling Rock, and other cheap beer that’s likely to be found at parties around college campuses nationwide.

Craft beer is more expensive, but it’s understandable given craft beers are usually made by small breweries. A trip to a craft beer brewery or tap room is akin to wine tasting for some people.

Here’s some of the better craft breweries on the West Coast, some lesser known than others.

Ballast Point Brewing Company 

The cat may already be out of the bag on this one, but Ballast Point Brewing Company makes phenomenal craft beer. Ballast Point’s signature beer seems to be its Sculpin India Pale Ale (IPA), which is known for its use of peach, mango, apricot, and lemon flavors.

They have many award winning beers, and with the exposure Ballast Point has had recently, the brewery could become as big as Stone Brewing Co. Ballast Point and Stone Brewing Co. are both located in San Diego, which is a hub for craft breweries.

Angel City Brewery

Angel City Brewery hasn’t been around quite as long as Ballast Point, but the Los Angeles based brewery produces excellent beers as well. Angel City has good beer at reasonable prices, including an IPA, a pilsner, and a West Coast wheat beer. It might be difficult to find Angel City, as it seems to only be available in areas in and around Los Angeles at this point in time.

Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. 

Located in Santa Barbara, which is generally known as wine country, Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. has carved out a niche for itself since being established in 2010. Figueroa Mountain already has many award winning beers, including the Hoppy Poppy IPA, which is described as a West Coast style IPA.

At this point in time, Figueroa Mountain has a few different tap rooms, however bottle distribution seems to be limited to the Santa Barbara area.

Sudwerk Brewery 

Sudwerk Brewery is located in Davis, a college town just north of Sacramento. Sudwerk has award winning pilsners and lagers. The California Dry Hop Lager is one of the better beers that the brewery produces. Sudwerk also seems to only be available locally, at least in bottles.

Stone Brewing Co.

Stone Brewing Co., located in San Diego like Ballast Point, has a couple of different tap rooms and is widely distributed, at least in the state of California. Stone is one of the bigger craft beer producers in California, with many award winning beers and widespread distribution and exposure. The brewery has an excellent pale ale; its Go To IPA is good as well.

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