Day 1: Downtown

Beer lovers will delight in the wealth of walkable local beer options in Downtown San Diego and its vibrant East Village. The latter is home to the San Diego Padres’ vaunted digs, Petco Park, deemed the best ballpark in Major League Baseball by USA Today. The park is conveniently located across Harbor Drive from the San Diego Convention Center. So, whether you’re making the most of a lunch break or getting warmed up for nine innings of the national pastime, you’ll have no trouble adding exceptional ales and lagers to your itinerary.

Nestled on the ground floor of a condo high-rise a block from Petco Park’s Home Plate Gate, East Village Brewing (201 Park Blvd., Ste. 101) is the product of a pair of Ballast Point Brewing vets who wanted to go small so they could embrace craft and explore worldly beer styles on their own terms. A rotating roster of wide-ranging beers (American, British, German, Belgian) are served uber-fresh off bright tanks in their stylish tasting room, and as a fun bonus, recipes for the beers can be found on their website.

And mere steps from the ballpark’s Downtown Gate is a recently added tasting room from the local business considered by most to be the finest producer of lagers in the county, Eppig Brewing (795 J St), which also has a tasting room on the bayfront in Point Loma.

A little further out, a pair of East Village venues offer suds with a side of San Diego history. Bordering the east end of Petco Park’s Tailgate Lot is Mission Brewing (1441 L St.), the 17-year-old reincarnation of a brand dating to 1913. The company’s headquarters, which include a multilevel tasting room serving IPAs and a flagship pre-Prohibition lager, is installed in the circa-1890s red-brick building that previously housed a Wonder Bread factory. And a few blocks north is a tasting room built inside a restored 1906 church. That historic venue is aptly overseen by The Lost Abbey (1313 J St.), a world-renowned producer of hoppy, Belgian-inspired, and barrel-aged ales that are steeped in equal parts tradition and Catholicism.

Looking to keep the good times rolling once the game gets out? Venture into Downtown’s westerly expanses and check out Resident Brewing (1065 Fourth Ave.), where you may very well bump into Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove enjoying a pint of his namesake pale ale or double IPA. Connected to a bar and eatery, The Local, Resident is also known for its coconut and hazies, some of which share names with San Diego locales such as Sunset Cliffs and the South Bay. Or close things out with a visit to the city’s first post-Prohibition beer establishment, Karl Strauss Brewing’s Old Columbia Street brewpub (1157 Columbia St.). In operation since 1989, this remains a popular spot for urbanites in search of IPAs and the company’s exemplary Irish red ale.

Day 2: Balboa Park and Environs

Located smack-dab in the heart of San Diego’s metro area and constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, Balboa Park draws millions of visitors each year. So, too, does its crown jewel, the San Diego Zoo. Regarded as one of the best institutions of its kind in and beyond the U.S., it’s a compelling attraction, as are the popular breweries in the neighborhoods surrounding the park.

Two of San Diego’s fan-favorite operations have set up shop in the city’s hipster epicenter, North Park. The first is the eponymous North Park Beer Co. (3038 University Ave.), which pays tribute to the community and has grown into a craft-beer powerhouse behind a seemingly endless list of IPAs, lagers, and barrel-aged beers. Many of them have medaled at the world’s most prestigious brewing competitions. Meanwhile, Pure Project Brewing (2867 El Cajon Blvd.) excels in exhibiting a similarly high level of quality across an ever-changing ensemble of beers. The selections not only hit on just about every style of ale and lager, but they add creative twists via fruits, spices, modern hop varietals, barrel-aging and more. And if you make your way to the west side of the park, you'll be pleased to find that both brands operate near-neighboring satellite spots in Uptown’s Bankers Hill community (NPBC: 3095 Fifth Ave.; PPB: 2865 Fifth Ave.).

Back in North Park, three beer companies have set up shop in a single lease-to-brew facility called the Brewery Igniter (3052 El Cajon Blvd.), making for a convenient, varied brewery-touring experience. From a multitude of Germanic lagers, fruited sours, and IPAs at Seek Beer Co. to historic Old World (British, Scottish, Irish, Belgian, German, Czech) gems at Barley & Sword Brewing to the equal parts traditional and exotic beers of GOAL. Brewing, there’s something for just about every taste under one roof — or alfresco on a spacious shared patio.

Another North Park gem, Fall Brewing (4542 30th St), has served as a rockin’ beer-industry clubhouse of sorts for the past dozen years. Built in the former cinderblock home of an auto-repair shop now wallpapered with vintage concert posters designed by the brewery’s graphic-designer owner, its wide-ranging assortment of light-to-dark ales and lagers draw brewers and aficionados like moths to a particularly attractive flame. Fall’s fervent fandom necessitated the addition of a taproom dubbed The Golden Rhino Room (3010 Juniper St, Ste A) in neighboring South Park in 2021.

Day 3: The Coastal Zone

Visitors looking to take in the high-profile attractions dotting San Diego’s coastline can do so while also reveling in the region’s craft-beer culture. The following are some standout suds options located near a trio of surfside tourist draws.

With its mix of educational and entertainment appeal (not to mention an impressive array of local-beer options during its summertime Bayside Brews & BBQ event), SeaWorld San Diego has a great deal to offer. Nothing caps a day of discovering myriad marine species while braving rapids and roller coasters quite so well as grabbing a cold one from Coronado Brewing (1205 Knoxville St.). Located in Bay Park (as opposed to the beer’s namesake island, where the company’s original brewpub continues to thrive), the spot features an indoor taproom with unimpeded views of the working brewery as well as a patio with shaded tables. It’s the perfect spot to enjoy refreshing beers that pair perfectly with a sunny day, including top-selling blonde and Belgian wheat ales. Or head to nearby Point Loma to visit Modern Times Beer’s (3725 Greenwood St.) “Fermentorium,” to sample either (or both) of the company’s inventive lines of beer and coffee.

From San Diego proper, head north to Solana Beach, where the first link in Pizza Port’s (135 N. Coast Hwy. 101) famous brewpub chain, which opened in 1987, continues to churn out masterful IPAs while also offering outstanding beers from numerous guest breweries.

Pizza Port is also an option for families traveling to Carlsbad for all-ages fun at Legoland California. The award-winning brewer also boasts two locations in that Pacific-adjacent community, with a Carlsbad Village brewpub (571 Carlsbad Village Drive) and a combo production brewery and two-story restaurant in its Bressi Ranch development (2730 Gateway Road). Another above-average option is Burgeon Beer Co. (6350 Yarrow Drive), a hotspot just south of McClellan-Palomar Airport that’s outfitted in green (read: plentiful flora and an indoor tree). That verdant motif is fitting, given the number of hoppy ales and lagers flowing from this standout, which also has “branches” (their fun name for taprooms) in Vista, Escondido and Downtown San Diego.