“TLDR: Great bottle shop with excellent selection. While I can't speak on the tap room experience, I can say that Beer Thirty has an excellent selection of cans and bottles. If you're into craft beer, the area is great with Sante Adairius, Private Press, Humble Sea, and Lupulo all nearby. What also makes the area great for craft beer is the selection at Beer Thirty. If you're traveling along the 1, this can be a good spot to replenish your craft beer for your road trip. With selections from Russian River, SARA, Beachwood Blendery, Bottle Logic, Pure Project, Cantillon, and more, you are sure to find something you'll like for any palete. If you're driving here, there is a small lot at the front, with street parking along S Main Street. Staff was friendly and helpful, and overall, an enjoyable experience for purchasing craft beer.“
“An award should go to whoever came up with the idea to make a beer garden on the wharf, and then successfully made it happen. Such a great place - outdoors, views, ocean air, and of course incredible beer. Great staff, lots of seating, often (if not always?) a food truck with something to snack on, just excellent all around. I've been a fan of Socks & Sandals Hazy IPA since I first tried it. It's been a reliable staple and go to beverage for years. I've tried most of the other offerings and have never been let down. Really hope the Humble Sea Beer Garden will become a long-time fixture on the Wharf. If it doesn't, I'm glad we were graced with it for one season!“
Brewpubs • $$
“Gilman Brew Pub is a good newly renovated space in the Whole Foods parking lot in Midtown.The New hours open every day made me change my original grocery shopping plans I had that day. ;)Great variety of Fresh brew & food selections. I ordered the Crispy Chicken Sandwich with fries.Gilman is a nice addition to the neighborhood. Tons of free parking in parking lot will be a popular location for regulars.The combo was delish.“
“Pretty darn solid brewery in Soquel/Santa Cruz area. More inland, so more locals than tourist. Looks like they invested and built the facility for themselves with a metal barn-like building for the tap room and brewery, equipt with solar energy to power their operations. Their outdoor area is much more impressive than their indoors and seems 85% of the action happens out there. There's table seating, counter seating and communal benches, most are under a cover. Lots of dogs and locals, you can just feel the buzz of the community here. I only did a quick sampling of several beers here as I had plans to eat in the neighborhood for dinner. But they do have a small menu with appetizers and sandwiches that looked really promising, and the pics prove that I'm going to have to try some on my next visit for sure. I loved their website before I even ventured in. It has their story in a concise manner and the way they describe their beers are very entertaining if not poetic and creative, which I have to pound my chest and nod to. Like they describe their Shimmer Pils as having "a shimmery depth, like light on a fathomless sea.' Lol. And their Ten Million Flower's Kolsh is called so because it took ten million flowers for bees to make the honey that goes into this brew. If James Joyce and/or Walt Whitman lived in this town, I could see them being patrons here. Their beer flight you can choose up to six from their current tap selection, which I think was around 16 taps. That's a lot, like it was hard in making a decision and it would probably take me at least 6 visits to get a full grasp/opinion on their body of work. They also have brews in cans in a fridge that may not necessarily be on tap. I went last summer and their current line up is much different than what was being offered on my visit. So FYI things are in a constant state of flow here, hope you're flexible and adventurous. If you get cans to-go, you can mix and match whatever flavors you want, which I thought was a nice bonus. I really liked 2 light brews I tried. The above Pils and Kolsh were remarkably light and crisp and clean. I liked the Kolsh a tad more, had more depth and uniqueness. Liked their Mosaic hopped Pale Ale as I like a strong hop presence, but I often don't want the malt and gravity of IPA's. I did try a couple of IPA's as well as most of my buddies are into them, and I had to bring something back. Also tried a Black Lager and that was pretty much true to style. I also bet that my tasting would have evolved and been more complete with some bites of food, but that'll just have to wait for the next out. Digging their style and their efforts, so an inevitable return is on queue.“