Family-Friendly Craft Breweries in San Diego County

Wondering where to find a family-friendly brewery in San Diego County? 

San Diego Beer Moms recently had their first craft beer meet up and what a great time we had! Moms of all ages, both with kids and without, met for a craft beer at Societe Brewing Co.

One of the topics we chatted about was our favorite family-friendly craft breweries, which I share with you at the end of this post.

I have also included a bonus ‘couples choice’ brewery and ‘gluten reduced beer’ brewery too!

But before that, I want to share with you the evolution I saw happen over the last 10 or so years and how craft beer culture came to embrace families with small children and babies.

NO KIDS ALLOWED… DOES NOT APPLY!!!

Breweries and brewery tasting rooms are regulated differently than other eating and drinking establishments. There are no rules barring children from a brewery tasting room, even when no food is sold.

It is NOT A BAR people!!! It’s a TASTING ROOM!

Yeah, I don’t really see the difference either, but until the regulations change, families with littles are good to go!

IT’S A DUDE THING… NO MORE!!!

Micro breweries, located in business parks and industrial parks, were the extension of the hobby brewer’s garage. Chances are, the guy opening a roll-up to sell his craft beer was the same guy who opened his garage to share his home brew with his buddies.

It was a dude thing.

My husband used to come home and remark at how few, if any, women there were at the micro breweries. It was true. When I started to go with him I found myself to be one of the only ladies, sometimes the ONLY one. I thought of all my single friends…

Sure enough with a little more time, the ladies began to appear at the micro breweries.

Then one Christmastime, we entered through the roll-up door of a brewery to find SANTA getting pics with kids as part of an event. Another time we arrived to find a Girl Scout selling cookies to brewery goers out of the back of her dad’s car.

Very soon after those experiences, it seemed families with smalls kids and babies were welcomed into the craft beer culture mix at brewery tasting rooms around the county.

So with all that said, here are the San Diego Beer Moms…

Family-Friendly Brewery Recommendations in San Diego County

Second Chance Beer Co. (Carmel Mountain location)

15378 Avenue of Science #222
San Diego, CA 92128

Bay City Brewing Co.

Escondido Brewing Co.

649 Rock Springs Road
Escondido, CA 92025

Fri: 4-8p
Sat: 2-8p
Closed: Sun-Thurs

Culture Brewing Co. (Solana Beach location)

111 S Cedros Avenue, Suite 200
Solana Beach, CA 92075

BONUS Brewery Recommendations

Kid-friendly OG

Pizza Port is the original family-friendly brewery located all over San Diego County. There may be other breweries that do food and wine now, but Pizza Port will always be the OG.

Couples Choice

Viewpoint Brewing Co. (near the Del Mar Racetrack) is one of the many new breweries to open this year in San Diego County and it quickly raced to the top of my own ‘brewery favorites’ list for spending an afternoon with my hubby. 

Gluten Reduced Craft Beer

Duckfoot Brewing Co. (off Miramar Road) offers strictly gluten-reduced beer offerings. It is the ‘go to’ place for celiacs and the gluten free crowd alike because one of the brewers is celiac, so you know it’s safe! If no one told you it was gluten reduced, you might not even know! Really! As a side note, Culture Brewing and Second Chance Beer Co. both won medals at the recent Great American Beer Festival 2017… wait for it…. with craft beers that happen to be gluten reduced (Culture Brewing Blonde Blonde Ale, BRONZE/Second Chance Tabula Rasa Toasted Porter, GOLD).

If gluten reduced is your thing, check out this San Diego Moms Blog blog post to find out who is brewing gluten-reduced craft beer in San Diego County. Make sure to scroll to the comments because followers have kept adding to the list as more gluten-reduced craft beer choices have become known. Isn’t the craft beer community awesome!?

So, what did we miss? A ton right? With nearly 120 breweries in San Diego county, there is a near endless supply to explore and share. 

So, which is YOUR favorite family-friendly brewery in San Diego County?

SHARE SHARE SHARE in the comments so we can extend our Craft Brewery list of where to go with the kids in tow!

And, if you are a San Diego mom who loves craft beer, please join us over in the San Diego Beer Moms Facebook group!