Four San Diego Craft Beers Make California's Top Ten List

By Rebekah Gonzalez

Photo: Getty Images

Some San Diego breweries are getting more attention thanks to a recent report that named four of them best in the state. "The last decade has seen an explosion of breweries that operate on a smaller scale and offer a wider, and sometimes more experimental, selection of beer. While craft beer often has a higher price tag than your average domestic beer, consumers are clearly willing to pay more: In 2020, craft beer accounted for almost a quarter of the U.S. retail beer market," explains Stacker.

That's why the website compiled a list of the breweries serving the most top 100 ranked beers in California using data from BeerAdvocate. According to their findings, these San Diego craft beers are the best:

  1. Pliny The Younger (IPA - Imperial) from Russian River Brewing Company  
  2. Fundamental Observation (Stout - American Imperial) from Bottle Logic Brewing 
  3. Speedway Stout - Vietnamese Coffee - Bourbon-Barrel Aged (Stout - American Imperial) from AleSmith 
  4. Westly (Wild Ale) from Sante Adairius Rustic Ales 
  5. Pliny The Elder (IPA - Imperial) from Russian River Brewing Company 
  6. Monster Tones (Stout - American Imperial) from Modern Times Beer 
  7. Duck Duck Gooze (Lambic - Gueuze) from The Lost Abbey 
  8. Parabola (Stout - Russian Imperial) from Firestone Walker Brewing Co 
  9. Hypermash Hydra (Stout - American Imperial) from Bottle Logic Brewing 
  10. Cable Car Kriek (Wild Ale) The Lost Abbey 

San Diego was also featured in Stacker's overall ranking of California breweries, with four breweries making the top 10. AleSmith Brewing Company was ranked No. 7 and Modern Times Beer ranked No. 8 and Alpine Beer Company ranked No. 9. Stone Brewing came in at No. 16. Here are the highest-rated beers they serve:

AleSmith Brewing Company – San Diego 

#3. Speedway Stout - Vietnamese Coffee - Bourbon-Barrel Aged (Stout - American Imperial) 

#22. Speedway Stout - Bourbon Barrel-Aged (Stout - American Imperial) 

#30. Speedway Stout - Vietnamese Coffee (Stout - American Imperial) 

Modern Times Beer – San Diego  

#6. Monster Tones (Stout - American Imperial) 

#27. Modem Tones - Bourbon Barrel-Aged - Vanilla (Stout - American Imperial) 

#75. Chaos Grid - The Final Course (Stout - American Imperial) 

Alpine Beer Company – San Diego County (Alpine) 

#17. Keene Idea (IPA - Imperial) 

#24. Great (Barleywine - American) 

#39. Bad Boy (IPA - Imperial) 

The Lost Abbey – San Diego 

#7. Duck Duck Gooze (Lambic - Gueuze) 

#10. Cable Car Kriek (Wild Ale) 

#11. Cable Car (Wild Ale) 

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