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At the end of may ill have 3 days in san fran plus 2 extra days where i was thinking of staying in santa rosa. Im thinking of santa rosa as a base to go visit some breweries and a wine tour.

Has anyone been there recently with any advice? Anywhere better to stay? Is it worth it to take a trip up to chico for sierra nevada?

Russian River Brewpub is a mecca for beer lovers right in Santa Rosa. You'll do just fine....

"Ichiban":jj0n14ao wrote: Russian River Brewpub is a mecca for beer lovers right in Santa Rosa. You'll do just fine....[/quote:jj0n14ao]
Yeah that was the main reason for staying there plus im sure there are many other beers available there. Getting out of san fran is good too are accommodation is sky high!

Don't visit SF without heading to the Speakeasy brewery, though as I recall, they are open only at specific times. The Toronado bar is a must. Think Bierhaus Cork or Salthouse Galway but with a lot more taps. The Rogue bar is also worth a visit. Watch out for SF prices though, you can easily pay $7+ for a US pint and then there's the whole pesky tipping thing on top of that. Prices are more reasonable when you cross the bridge heading north.



Just across the godlen gate bridge, on the way to Santa Rosa is Marin brewing company. Worth a visit and also a little further north in Novato, their sister brewpub is Moylan's and that's also worth visiting.

Lagunitas is on the way to Santa Rosa in Petaluma and an absolute must visit. I might put it ahead of Russian River as a destination to be honest. Russian river as a building and place to be is quite boring and could be any American restaurant. Lagunitas beer is just as good so don't miss it.

Since you are heading to wine country, I imagine that means Napa. I was going to suggest the Silverado brewing company as a lovely spot but I see they closed before Christmas. I have one of their T-shirts <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: -->

If you were planning on heading to Chico to visit the Sierra Nevada brewery, don't. The town is dull and the brewery is inaccessible. Instead, all you can do is go on a ridiculously rubbish tour which is nothing more than some pictures and paraphernalia. The restaurant is good but not worth the fuel/time to get to.

Hopefully it's alright bringing up a (somewhat) old thread <!-- s:shock: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_eek.gif" alt=":shock:" title="Shocked" /><!-- s:shock: -->

How did it go if I might ask?
Any other recommendations apart from those already mentioned?

I'll be heading over in two weeks time, I have a friend to stay with in San Fran though; I'm planning on taking two separate day trips up to RR and Lagunitas. It'd probably be cheaper/easier to rent a car rather than the $25 return buses, but driving isn't really an option! <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt="" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P -->

Also, is there anything I really should try when I'm over there? My knowledge of west coast beers isn't too strong. I'll of course be trying the RR and Lagunitas beers as I mentioned, and I'll head over to the Speakeasy brewery, but after that I'm a bit of a blank canvas. I know it's about trying beers and seeing what you like, but I'd appreciate a bit of guidance to make sure I don't miss anything I shouldn't (case in point, I was in SF 3 years ago and hadn't a clue what Pliny was).

I'll be working a bit off this blog post I found: [url:3bw24l0r]https://beermack.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/san-francisco-beering/[/url:3bw24l0r] which seems quite helpful with a few suggestions, but if there's anything else to be added I'd be thankful.

One thing the blog mentions is to bring some local beers with you into bars to share with bartenders etc. And they might be kind enough to share something back. Anyone else any experience with this?
I could bring over some of my favourite Irish beers (OFAF, Full Irish, Leann Follain etc. - I also have some other beers that mightn't be readily available in San Fran I could bring: Founders KBS, Backwoods Bastard, and some Westy 12 too). Would it be worth my while bringing any of these over?
I can't imagine it'd do any harm, but I wouldn't really be *too* sure with what I'm doing....

Good idea alright with bringing over beer. I didn't go in the end as i was planning to go see mcgregor fight but that was moved and couldn't go. I have a much bigger trip actually booked for next march 17days,san fran, LA, san diego, las vegas and santa rosa. Lots of breweries to see. Im defo going to go on the anchor tour.