San Diego has been called a Craft Brew Capital. But odds are you already knew that and are just trying to figure out when to plan your visit. With over 50 breweries in the region, combined with yearlong sunshine, there isn’t a bad time for craft beer lovers to visit San Diego.
But for the connoisseur, the enthusiasts and the diehards, fall is the best time of year to visit San Diego. San Diego hosts a variety of beer festivals each fall, pairing brews with great views, live music and delicious grub from some of the tastiest restaurants around the city.
Beer festivals provide the unique opportunity to mingle with the brew masters, try seasonal or specialty flavors, compare breweries on the spot, pair local delicacies, enjoy live music and soak in San Diego’s suburb weather. Many of the large beer festivals feature an astounding 40-50 breweries. No matter which festival you hit, you can’t go wrong.
The Holy Grail: Beer Week
Need we say more? Just in case, this is an entire week dedicated to celebrating the art of brewing and enjoying beer with over 20 events throughout San Diego area every November.
Guild Fest, the main two-day event, could almost be considered the super bowl of brew events in San Diego. Highlighting the majority of breweries in the region, which is just above 50, this event treats you to scenic views of the San Diego skyline and a broad selection of rare and specialty beers. While a little on the pricey side, the VIP tickets are worth the investment because of the endless supply of scrumptious food pairings from local craft-beer friendly restaurants. If that isn’t enough to seal the deal: unlimited beer samples.
Other key 2014 Beer Week events include the BYOB- Brew Your Own Beer Brunch by Karl Strauss, Bikes, Brews & Brats with Green Flash brewing Co. and The World’s Biggest Bottle Share on 30th Street.
San Diego Festival of Beer
Celebrating 20 years of combining beer, music and munchies, the San Diego Festival was the first festival to treat beer enthusiast’s pallets to a wide selection of beer each September, thus spurring the beer festival movement in the city of good living. Giving you the best reason to raise your glass, the festival has raised over a half a million dollars for local charities to date.
San Diego Beer and Music Festival
Combining two of our favorite things, beer and music, this October festival is all about the quintessential Southern California experience, even highlighting several homegrown Southern California artists. Supporting the San Diego Music Foundation, you can rest easy knowing all of the bands will we be great. And with 50 breweries represented, beer enthusiasts will be more than content. Did we mention unlimited tastings?
Mira Mesa Festival of Beers
Ensuring beer diehards all over the San Diego region can relish in the endless perks of beer festivals, the Mira Mesa festival brings brewers and musicians together each August. Don’t be turned off by the location, this festival always provides an impressive line up of breweries.
Conclusion
San Diego loves beer festivals, so there are more popping up each year, giving you all the more reason to vacation in the Craft Brew Capital. Within walking distance for all your Downtown San Diego Beer Festivals, International Traveler’s House makes for the perfect lodging for beer enthusiasts. Want to continue the fun the days following a beer festival? Join us on our pub-crawls, giving our guests a free tour of some of the best hangouts in San Diego.
