Oakland Gets Its Own Ale Trail

Okay, it’s probably best we admit upfront, that we’re a little biased about Oakland’s craft beer scene. We were recently invited out to this West Coast hipster mecca and were blown away by the many breweries we hit while out there.

The city itself is also pretty cool…but you’ll get that when you’re on the new Oakland Ale Trail.

Any great beer trail helps travelers experience what a city has to offer, but it’s ultimately defined by the quality of the breweries you’ll visit and the vibe of the region. Fortunately Oakland, California excels in both.

The City

Nestled on the green hills that look west across the water towards San Francisco’s distant skyline, Oakland, which has long been associated with the Bay Area Region, is its own special place.

It’s an exhilarating port city, home to a vital downtown and an intoxicating mosaic of ever-changing neighborhoods, architecture and peoples. Upscale quarters filled with chic and funky restaurants, give way to lush urban parks, medical marijuana outlets, bonsai gardens, classic bars and brewery tasting rooms.

It’s also a very walkable city that now has its own ale trail…

The Oakland Ale Trail

Designed by Visit Oakland, (a young and progressive marketing team who truly love this city) with help from Oakland’s profesional craft beer community (who brew some serious beer!), The Oakland Ale Trail is accompanied by a fun passport program that will help beer travelers explore the city, its diverse and exciting breweries, and (of course) it’s beer.

On Oakland’s first ever ale trail you’ll discover diverse and distinctive  breweries like Ale industries, Diving Dog Brewhouse, Drake’s Dealership, Federation, Independent, Pacific Coast, Novel, and Temescal Brewing, as well as the Woods Beer Company.

We’re pretty sure that any one of those breweries would serve as the centerpiece on ale trails in other parts of the country. And there are four additional brewery taprooms scheduled to open later this year.

So yes, we’re biased…We’ve hung out at all these breweries, met their crews and can’t help but like them all.

But that doesn’t change the fact that Oakland is becoming a world-class craft beer destination and that this trail is an awesome way to explore it.

 

All images courtesy: Visit Oakland