Distilleries in California

Heretic Brewery and Distillery

Fairfield, California

Heretic Brewery & Distillery in Fairfield, California, refuses to play it safe. This pint-slinging and spirit-crafting rogue offers twenty-four taps of both classic and dare-devil brews, plus a dozen keg-packed cocktails that would make your bartender blush, and you’ll be left wondering why any other distillery exists.

• Unique blend of beer and cocktails
• Excellent pizza with fresh ingredients

Left Coast Brewing Distillery Smokehouse - Irvine

Irvine, California

Left Coast Brewing, on the long, wind-blown coast of Irvine, is not your run-of-the-mill micro-brewery. Since 2004, they’ve taken the local surf culture and turned it into a smouldering cauldron of flavour, racking up more than 23 awards before most people were even asking the question “what’s beer?” They churned out everything from roguish stouts that could outshine the sea to glass-clean lagers that taste as precise as a Swiss watch. And if that’s not enough, they’re dabbling in spirits, proving you can’t just specialise in hops if you’ve got a good heart.

• Distillery offers unique spirits in addition to beer.
• Pretzel bites are a standout food offering.

Shelter Distilling

Mammoth Lakes, California

At Shelter Distilling in Mammoth Lakes the locals have proved the mountains are a good source of snowmelt water and a perfect excuse to pour a decent bourbon. The place is a shrine to small-batch experimentation, turning heritage grains into a bourbon as bold as a boulder and an agave gin that would make even a desert-skeptical growler sigh.

• Fully automated ordering and payment process
• Industrial vibes and playlist create unique environment

S.B Court House Distillery

Santa Barbara, California

• Unique venue with character
• Fresh toppings on pizzas

Lake Bottom Brewery & Distillery

Visalia, California

• Fresh corn is a standout item on menu.
• Blackberry Mojito is a recommended specialty drink.

Lake Bottom Brewery & Distillery

Corcoran, California

• Unique peach habanero wings
• Moonshine made to order with punch options

Relentless Brewing and Spirits

Los Angeles, California

Relentless Brewing & Spirits in Eagle Rock isn’t some daft trend-shop trying to milk hipster culture. It’s a proper joint that offers real craft beer, bold cocktails and Asian-fused food that doesn’t make you question the sanity of a food critic. With a rotating selection of beers you can’t get lost in the haze, monthly spirit-tasting events that prove you don’t need a degree to taste a good dram, and non-alcoholic drinks that actually look like drinks. The food is the kicker: Korean BBQ bao-bun tacos that explode in your mouth, vegan dumpling soup that could win a Michelin star, ube French toast that makes you rethink breakfast and fermented onion on a veggie burger that’s nothing if not memorable. Trivia nights keep the crowds engaged, and the open atmosphere – with parking that isn’t a nightmare – means you can come in without the drama. And fits ambition craft.

• Korean BBQ Bao Bun tacos are great!
• Vegan dumpling soup is delicious.

Webb's | Distillery & Brewery

Aliso Viejo, California

Aliso Viejo, California, is where tradition and coastal innovation get a pint-by-pint smack-down at Webb’s Grainworks. The flagship is a copper Vendôme hybrid pot-still that’s a proper marriage of old-school copper and modern engineering — like a clunking, rum-mouthed, time-tested engine that actually produces something decent. Its brown-butter whiskey is a silky, buttery dram that feels like a toast to the past, while the butterfly-pea-flower gin is a colourful, psychedelic splash that would make any purist gasp at the same time.

• Unique train car seating area features.
• Caboose area with fireplace and bar.

Alchemy Distillery

Arcata, California

• Unique pop-up dinner events feature local chefs
• Craft cocktails specially paired with food offerings

Alley 6 Craft Distillery

Healdsburg, California

Alley 6 Craft Distillery in Healdsburg, California, throws a curmudgeonly insult at the standard craft-distillery mould. The family-run shop is all grain-to-glass, a small-batch operation where the stills are the real stars and the mash never gets a run-on. Their whiskey keeps the grain’s soul intact – not some husk-whipped concoction that forgets its roots – while their gin, award-winning, can’t help but give your nose a Michelin-level experience. The tasting room is an eccentric art-gallery-turned-bar where you pair drinks with food that makes the bartender grin. Fruit-infused spirits shock even the most sober beer fan, and the bourbon finishes with the swagger of a cheeky old gent, while the gin’s juniper bite dances with citrus undertones. If you’re fed up with bland big-label bottles, Alley 6 offers a rebellion in a bottle that tells a proper story.

• Offers a range of well-crafted spirits with uniqueness
• Expert staff provides educational tasting experience

Griffo Distillery & Tasting Bar

Petaluma, California

Griffo Distillery & Tasting Bar in Petaluma is a bluster-free showcase of science meeting old-world gin. Their Scott Street Gin? A gin that behaves like a proper gentleman: crisp, no frills, and unpretentiously good. And the Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur — think coffee on steroids, delivered in a bottle that would make your barista blush.

• Unique cocktail menu with seasonal twists
• Extensive hard alcohol selection with bitters

KROBĀR Craft Distillery

San Luis Obispo, California

• Distillery has separate entrance from parking area.
• Staff knowledgeable about whiskeys and drink menu.

Burning Barrel Brewing and Spirits

Placerville, California

• Unique sour beer selection
• Beautifully custom crafted wood tables

Dry Diggings Distillery

El Dorado Hills, California

Dry Diggings Distillery, based in El Dorado Hills, is a rumbustious reminder that California can still churn out spirits. The place emerged from a union of two old-timers, Amador and Dry Diggings, and the result is a family-run operation that refuses to let the Gold Rush myths get lost in a swirl of hipster jargon. Small-batch, handcrafted whiskies dominate, but the gin-lab is no joke either – it turns botanical madness into liquid art. Brandies here are terroir-driven, each bottle a quiet challenge to the pretentious purists. The tasting bar, cramped yet oddly charming even while the walls are still being finished, offers a unique whiskey flight that will make you forget you ever heard “authenticity” used as a marketing buzzword.

• Unique whiskey flight offerings
• Cozy tasting bar despite construction

Left Coast Brewing Distillery Smokehouse - Ontario

Ontario, California

Left Coast Brewing Distillery Smokehouse in Ontario, California is a place that pairs craft beer with barbecue without any of the usual smugness, and punchline cheekily.

• Unique combination of brewing and distilling operations
• Extensive beer selection with fresh and flavorful options

Prohibition Spirits Distillery

Sonoma, California

Sonoma’s Prohibition Spirits Distillery, the family-run venture that has been shaking things up since 2008, is the sort of place where a cellar turns into a laboratory of wonder. They churn out a range so broad it could give a rum-dealer a nervous breakdown — gins like summer breeze, whiskeys thick enough to make you forget your name, vodkas as clean as a pristine engine, and a Limoncello worth a three-minute love letter.

• Creative gins and brandy offerings
• Specialty absinthe testing available

Devils Creek Distillery

Mammoth Lakes, California

• Devils Creek Distillery offers private tastings.
• Distillery produces its own unique distillate locally.

Schnaubelt distillery

Fort Bragg, California

Fort Bragg’s Schnaubelt Distillery sits on the old Noyo Ice Company site and proudly claims a century-old heritage that it has shoved into a 20-th-century distilling operation. It’s the kind of place you’ll walk into expecting a museum, but instead get a whisky that’s as serious about quality as you are about your coffee.

• Historic building redo with modern equipment.
• Tasting room transports visitors back in time.

Humboldt Craft Spirits

Eureka, California

Humboldt Craft Spirits is a distillery in Eureka, California that refuses to be pretentious while delivering pure craft. They pride themselves on a grain-to-glass ethos that makes every batch feel like a family secret. The highlight is Redwood Rye – a caramel-kissed spirit that tastes like a forest spa day – an absurd comparison that still rings true. Ingredients come straight from the valley that surrounds them, giving each dram a Northern Californian botanical bite. The owners are in the shop, hands-on, and remarkably unpretentious. Visitors can tour the premises, talk to the team, and the tasting room feels like a friendly pub where strangers share stories over a dram. They provide free recipe kits, turning you into a home-barman. It’s a place that celebrates quality, welcomes curiosity, and doesn’t shy from a bit of tongue-in-cheek pride, all while selling quirky gift tins and making your neighbors envious and a dash of relentless wit.

• Distillery tour available during tastings
• Hands-on experience with handmade spirits