Local Brews You Don’t Want to Miss
Breweries are undoubtedly one of the top places to kick-back and relax with friends and family. In addition to the tasty beverages available, breweries are family friendly (yes, this includes your fur-babies).
Our local beers range from light and crisp, to bold and heavy. The plethora of flavors are guaranteed to please both you and your grandmother. The laid back vibe pulsing from a brewery induces a state of tranquility. Your children do not have to sit still or be quiet, and there is no black tie required.
In fact, we love breweries so much Chloe and I just HAD to write about the local options.
Ritual Brewing Co.
Ritual is located in an industrial warehouse with an open and welcoming atmosphere. The name fittingly illustrates the act of enjoying time with loved ones, friends and family; “a place to celebrate the rituals of life.” An enticing game of giant Jenga or corn-hole might have you and your friends here for hours! Now we are sure you are wondering, how was the beer? This is where our knowledgeable beer babe, Chloe, comes in to describe the selected flights and some, not all, of the beer that we enjoyed.
We had the pleasure of meeting Jen, Ritual’s Social Media Manager. She showed us their flagship brews, as well as some of her favorites. This was a fun way to give the flights a little personal touch. We recommend asking your beertender for a flight of their favorites.
Honey Buzz
(Blonde Ale) made with local honey from Riverside and Beaumont farms. Very light and refreshing. Great to enjoy by the pool.Double Red
(Double Red Ale) - has an aroma of caramel notes, and subtle flavor of toffee - nicely balanced from the malty body complementing the bitterness from the hops. Pair perfectly with Saverino’s Mona Lisa sandwich.Fat Hog
(Barely Wine) – With a full body and dry finish. The toffee, caramel, and licorice are very apparent in both aroma and taste. A little hint of bitterness and citrus makes this beer a solid American Barely wine (won silver medal at CA State Fair in 2013).Big Deluxe
(Imperial Oat Stout) – roasted coffee on the nose with subtle cocoa notes. Its full and rich body is complimented by dark fruits and some boozy characteristics. One of our favorites. Ritual recently released Java Deluxe, brewed with Redlands local coffee roasters, Augies coffee!Wits End
(Belgian Wit) - Sweet citrusy aroma with subtle malt and spiced bitterness in the taste makes for a wonderful Belgian style wheat beer (won gold medal at the 2013 CA State Fair commercial craft beer competition!).Hop-O-Matic
(IPA) - Dry hopped with Citra hops. Solid IPA with caramel bready notes highlighting the prominent pine and floral hops. The West Coast is inside your pint!Learn More Directions Saverino's Italian Deli Augies Coffee
Escape Craft Brewery
Walking into this brewery is exactly as the name suggests, an escape. From the car trunk couches to the circa 1946 suitcases, you feel as though you have been instantly transported back in time to some peaceful paradise. The feeling is quite magical for the whole family. Escape has a kid’s area complete with toys and a chalkboard wall. There are board games, Jenga, giant Connect Four and of course FOOSBALL! You might catch us there for some foosball fun, and we always welcome a little healthy competition. Just a heads up to the foosball fanatics trying to play against us, we spin the player rods!
Midnight Express
(English style Milk Stout) – Rich full body with coffee and caramel notes addition to the chocolate finish makes this beer perfect for the SoCal Christmas we all love so much. Make sure to try it on nitro too!Sakura
(Cherry Blossom Tea White Wheat) - The tea was locally sourced from Redlands own hidden gem, Summit Tea House. Very light body with the aroma of cherry floating across the top. For all the tea lovers, this beer is exactly what you would want to incorporate into your routine!Redlands Nights
(Orange Blossom Vanilla Blonde) - Locally sourced orange blossoms from our Redlands orchards. This blonde gives you a nice retreat from the sun and perfectly highlights the light crisp flavors we desire from blondes. If you are like us and love the smell of Redlands in spring, this is the beer for you.Irish CrossFit
(Irish Red) – Nice toasted malt aroma with light earthy hop characteristics makes for a well-rounded Irish red. Mildly sweet and bitter. Easy to please anyone who is looking for something red and delicious.Lazy Day
(IPA) - Light hop profile with citrusy and piney notes, crisp and light and very drinkable for single IPA drinkers. Make sure to grab a pizza (ideally a spicy one) from Gourmet Pizza Shoppe (or use Grubtogo) to pair with this beer.Coconut Brown
(Brown Ale) - Can’t beat a nice toasted coconut and chocolatey combination. Medium body to light.Sleighed It
(New England style IPA) Brewed with Simcoe and chinook hops. Makes for a perfect juice bomb with a nice pine balance to entice any hazy IPA fans.Hazy Resolution
(IPA) - Released 12/15/17 in cans and on tap. We will be back to try this baby.Lemon Lime Soda
(non-alcoholic) - Made in house. Lightly carbonated and perfect for kids and young adults to enjoy while everyone 21 and over relaxes with something a little more complex and worthy of a sophisticated palate.Learn More Directions Summit Tea House Gourmet Pizza Shoppe
Hangar 24 Brewery
Calling all aviation admirers! Hangar 24 is tucked nicely away from the bustle of downtown Redlands. Located in the historic Redlands Municipal Airport. You, your family, and friends will appreciate the various aircrafts utilizing the airport as well as the breathtaking sunsets. Seriously, the colors soaring over the mountains are incredible. Hangar 24 is best known for their Orange Wheat, but if you are a beer enthusiast then you probably have heard of their Barrel Roll series as well as their Pugachev’s Cobra special releases (for members). Luckily for us we were able to try some tasters of the Puga’s from this year and Hangar’s newest released beer, Sierra Ground.
Orange Wheat
(American Wheat) - Brewed with locally grown oranges from Jacinto Farm. Interestingly enough, the whole orange is used, not just the juice. Since no two oranges taste exactly the same, each batch of Orange Wheat tastes slightly different.Betty IPA
(IPA) – is an American IPA with lots of tropical, fruity and citrusy notes attributed from the hops with a decent amount of malty sweetness.24
(Blonde Ale) – Brewed with Hallertauer hops to create a lovely balance between bitter and crisp, an easy drinking beer with a light and clean finish. Be sure to compliment this beer by Grubtogo-ing your favorite burrito.Sierra Ground
(Milk Stout) - Start your day with a cup of coffee, end it with this coffee milk stout! New release, also available on Nitro in the taproom, takes Augie’s cold brew to the next level. This milk stout rounds out the bitterness that all coffee drinkers adore.Root beer and Orange soda
(Non-alcoholic) – made in-house for the young and the refined! They sometimes offer other specialty sodas.Learn More Directions Grub to Go Augies Coffee
Brewcaipa Brewing Company
We ventured slightly out of Redlands to our neighboring city of Yucaipa to experience their brewery scene. Brewcaipa’s location was originally the only hardware store in uptown Yucaipa in the 1920s. They have pretty rad pictures of the original building displayed in the brewery – make sure to check it out when you’re there. Brewcaipa has a modern western style to it, probably due to the roll-up doors and beautiful sleek wood covering the inside and outside of the building. You will feel like you are farther up the mountain, rather than 15 minutes from Redlands. Scott, Brewcaipa’s owner and founder, highly recommends the bloody beer mix they offer, Ojo Rojo. For those of you who aren’t aware of this fad, beer is mixed with a tomato juice blend, sort of like a bloody Mary with beer. Very tasty stuff!
Wild Parody
(Double IPA) –this DIPA brings out the BIG malt flavors and the complimentary piney notes that rounds out the bitterness. This brew was named after the wild green parrots that fly around Redlands and Yucaipa.Oktoberfestbier
(Märzen) - A toasty caramel aroma and full body, it complements the moderately light malt and spiced hopped characteristics. Definitely pairs well with your favorite pretzel preference. We think you should swing by Gerrard’s Market and check out their salty selection.San G Saison
(Saison) - In our opinion, this beer comes across more like a Belgian tripel. Sweeter with a crisp, nice yeast build on your palate. Great for beer newbies and seasoned beer drinkers alike.Diablo Dos Nitro
(Imperial Stout) - The nitro compliments this beer by rounding out the overall bitterness and full rich body to a pleasant creamy dessert in a tulip (12oz pour).Learn More Directions Ojo Rojo Bloody Beer Mix
About Chole & Niko
I am the Niko portion of our dynamic duo. In a few short sentences, I wanted you to get to know us a bit better. Chloe and I are 26 years old, both born and raised in Redlands. As kids we said we would leave the area – I tried, but could never stay away. We both met our lifelong friends here, including each other at Cope Middle School. Redlands’ very own Darby’s is where I met my fiancé, and Chloe's handsome boyfriend is lead on production at Hangar 24. This town and community have been so warm and kind to us. How could we ever stay away? In fact, we love this town so much we bleed oranges! Is there anything better than the smell of orange blossoms in the spring, or the hills turning green in the winter? To us, there is nothing more comforting or beautiful. We found it only appropriate to combine our amazing friendship, love of writing, and admiration of Redlands. We hope you enjoy our adventures, because we definitely will!
About Chloe, our beer babe: I have been developing my craft of bartending just over 5 years (which ranges from lounges, restaurants, to guest bartending at a few local spots). I have been trained by the Proprietors LLC from Wolfskill to The Salted Pig. There’s constantly something to learn in this cocktail world of passion, vanity, and a little bit of stardom. As long as I have been behind a bar there has always been a drive to share what I love and love to create. The beer world captivated my heart and I don’t think I’ll ever want to let go; being apart of it in anyway you find that there’s so much creativity and science behind most brews why wouldn’t you want to be apart of it!
This town just keeps growing! We can’t wait to see how it expands and changes, yet stays effortlessly the same. Our hope is to give Redlanders as well as all other visitors a slightly different perspective on the dining, drinking, and shopping experiences available.
Do you have a favorite local brewery in Redlands? Let us know in a comment below!