Santa Maria Brewing Company

No Longer In Business

Someone changed the address on this to the new location in Santa Maria. I duplicated that place and changed this back to the old location because everything is different about it. Yesterday (July 26, 2014) I confirmed at the new tap room across the street that they have new owners in addition to new equipment, new recipes, a new brewer, and a larger facility in a new city. The only connections to the old brewery are 1) the name and 2) the fact that the tap room is across the street from the old brewery.

Visited a while back on one of my trips up 101. The nice part is that it’s right off the freeway and that it’s the last building on the street, next to the Mexican restaurant. The bad part is that this guy used to be a cop and his buddies that hang out are all ex cops .

He doesnt believe in flights or samples and just wants to serve pints. He did however make me a deal that I could try them all and pick the best one to get a pint of. I went with the IPA. He mentioned that it beat Firestone’s IPA (pre Union Jack) at some festival a number of years before. What I dont get about this place is how big the brewing setup is. It looked like it was 20+ bbl but he doesnt have any accounts. Does he really sell that much beer there?

If you like dive bars with tons of crap, I mean cool nostalgic campy stuff, all over the walls, then this is the place for you. Who knew a moose was so big. I’m giving it extra points simply for the hot Latina chick that flirted with me on her way out. Too bad my kids were with me, and my brother-in-law, and that I’m married to his wife’s sister. I digress. Cool place with fun beer. Great atmosphere. Live music. Three people in the bar, but they were playin’. It was a great stop before heading up the frontage road to the Modified races. Redneck heaven.

A hole-in-the-wall purveyor of local brew. Funky, a real slice-of-life. Hard to find, because it isn’t in Santa Maria. Decent beer.

A pretty odd little brewery/bar just north of Santa Maria over the bridge. Lots of random stuff all over the walls, a bit divey and worn. This place is the definition of local character, but I can see how many people might not really like it. They had five beers on when I went in, all of which were of good quality, though not awesome. I think you really just have to see this place to understand it, the location, the people, and the decor are all unique. You really get the feeling that these guys just love beer and want to have fun and have a place where people who like good beer can come and have a good time.

Nice place. A little local hole in the wall. Had alot of kooky stuff all over the walls. Animal skin tables and chairs, small little bar with one tv. Men’s room was a porta-john outside. Still it was a neat place.