San Diego Beer Blog

Driving up to Big Bear, I noticed a sign I’ve never seen before “Fresh Beer Brewed Here - 866-BEER”. Wait? There’s a brewery up in Big Bear? How did I not know this? Needless to say, I had to check it out before I went back home. It took a little convincing to get the crew interested in heading out, but I was able to wrangle a couple of guys for the mission.

Big Bear Mountain Brewery is located at 40260 Big Bear Blvd, 92315 in a large light yellow building. It’s hard to miss if you know it’s there, it’s the only yellow building in the area.

Beer

Since none of us had ever been there, our server recommended the sampler. This consisted of 5 of their brews;
Orange Blossom Amber Ale, Old Miners Gold Pilsener, Pub Pale Ale, IPA and Grizzly Bear Doppel Boc, served in Big Bear Mountain Brewery custom made mini-pint glasses. Each sampler was about 6 ounces.

None of the beers really stood out as being great or horrible. Each of them was drinkable with almost no outstanding characteristics. Very middle of the ground type beers. The IPA reminded me of a mild Pale Ale.

Location

It’s in Big Bear, quite a drive for mediocre beer. Even if you’re already up in Big Bear for the weekend it’s not in the ‘village’, so you’re stuck driving. Parking was easy though.

Ambience

Normally I’m pretty OK with kids, but not at a brewery/bar. We were the only group without at least 1 child at our table. The place was full of loud little brats.

From the outside, it looks like a very large establishment. Once you’re inside you wonder what happened to all that space. It’s very cramped.

Overall

Blah, but I’ll check it out again sometime since there isn’t anything going on in Big Bear.