South County Brewery Rundown

While chatting with a group of beer lovers recently, one of them made a reference to the “heyday of brewing.” It gave me pause, as I feel like craft beers and the breweries that make them are still very popular today. Perhaps now we just expect to find a local brewery wherever we go, and in this regard, my expectations are generally met almost anywhere I travel.

We also have great representation for independent, craft beer right here in our communities. Our local brewing scene has grown, changed, and expanded, so I think it’s time we updated everyone on the players in the brewing scene in South Orange County.

• Artifex – Once an upstart, Artifex appears to be hitting their stride, adding a tasting room in downtown San Clemente.

• Delahunt – This brewery started without a tasting room, but now offers two – one at the main brewery location in San Clemente and a second in Dana Point.

• Docent – San Juan’s first modern brewery continues to delight the locals, as well as beer judges, as their recent win at the Great American Beer Festival demonstrates.

• Dog Pawrk – As the name suggests, if you’re looking to have a beer with your dog, this is the place. Expanded seating outside has made it even easier to hang out here.

• Escape – A satellite taproom in Laguna Niguel for a Redlands-based brewery, this laid-back beach vibe makes it feels like it could have been the other way around.

• Frisby Brewing – Leveraging skills and experience from a successful winemaking career, the location in the middle of Rancho Mission Viejo is either weird, or right by your house.

• GameCraft – These lager pros are making good beers across the board. Their Lake Forest location takes the edge off of furniture shopping and so much more.

• Laguna Beach Brewing – With their second location open on Laguna Canyon Road, the brewery gets closer to the beach that inspired the name.

• Left Coast – Left Coast is making some moves to expand the brand. The second location in Irvine proved that you can add a smokehouse and a distillery to a brewery.

• Los Molinos – The newest kid on the block, these guys did their homework and have a very cool location in San Clemente with a welcoming space for drinking their beer.

• Lost Winds – Nothing lost here. This brewery continues to produce award-winning beer without abandoning the stylistic foundation that got them here.

• Pizza Port San Clemente - So far, the Pizza Port locations collectively have won over 91 medals/awards from the Great American Beer Festival, and we continue to encourage our brewers to create unique and award winning beers.

Cheers to beers!