White Labs Brewing Co - San Diego

I love coming here. The beers are always rotating, and I love that they have multiple of the same beer fermented with different yeast. It's amazing to taste the difference the yeast makes. As a home brewer, I love taking notes for future brews. They also sell all of their brewing products on site. I picked up four different yeasts, two of them because I sampled them in the taproom today. Every bartender I've talked to has been an experienced brewer, and they're happy to give advice (unless it's busy). They also have a brewer loyalty program. Bring in 10 used years packs, and get a coupon for a free pack. You can also do it by mail if you're not nearby. But it's worth a trip if you brew.

What a great experience. I ordered a flight and picked one i knew i'd like and asked him to surprise me with the rest. He took care in asking some follow up questions and gave me a great selection. 5 stars across the board. The Ambiance The Staff & Service The Drink options The delicious food. Omg the Fungi pesto pizza is 🤌🏻 will now forever crave. Great for bookclubs 😉

Such a cool and unique place to visit. It's wonderful as a stand-alone brewery, but it's especially exceptional as if you are into craft brewing or wine. You can come hang out in the tasting room and try different styles of beer make with various types of yeast in the house. A wonderful place to try their products. The staff is always friendly and helpful. You can also come get the freshest yeats for your home craft brewing adventures. There is a covered outdoor patio that is wonderful for the San Diego weather. Losts of tables to sit at indoors, and a large bar where you can hang out. There are several tvs that always have the sports all the time! This is a fun and unique experience. Highly recommended.

As a scientist by day, coming to White Labs was an absolute treat. If you haven’t been here before, White labs is a premier yeast maker for commercial and home brewers across the globe. They do tours of their facility on Friday and Saturday at 2pm and 3:30pm. Our tour was with Matt who was a wealth of knowledge about brewing, yeast, science, and the history of the business. I was enthralled for the 30ish minute tour. The tasting room is unique in comparison to others in “beeramesa” - they had a huge range of beers that are split and brewed with different strains of yeast to show you how much the yeast makes a difference in color, taste, viscosity, etc. We tried several dual beers including the Kolsch, the 20C, the Heff, and the Buchner IPA. My favorite was the Buchner for its crisp flavor and citrus tones. The heff has a lot of banana in it, and the Kolsch definitely has a bit of Belgian funk to it. I will certainly be back with friends in tow. This is a perfect place for a casual hang or to bring people from out of town. Loved the beer, the people, and the atmosphere!

Really cool concept that aims to show the difference that different yeasts can make on the final product. (+) Vibe - nice indoor and outdoor area. Dog friendly. (+) Beers - really cool side by sides to show the yeast differences. (+) Pizza - the white mushroom pizza was really good, we added sausage. (+) Friendly service. Would go again.

Awesome brewery that really gets into the science behind brewing. They have a unique side by side option to try the same beer but brewed with different yeast strains. Its really adds a special element to their brews. Overall the brewery had great beer, food options, and merch. The parking is somewhat limited but the indoor and outdoor seating options are great.

Not much of a beer drinker but my friend took me here for the pizza and it was delicious. I wish we came with more people so that we could have ordered more food to try. Got a nice cider on tap. We ordered the Cesar salad and funghi pizza. The Cesar salad was the only salad on the limited food menu. It was a nice portion with crispy romaine and high on the salty anchovies. The funghi mushroom with pistachio pesto (Yum!) was crispy and very delicious. I'm still thinking of the pizza now! There are high bar height tables with chairs inside. We sat outside on their heated covered patio with regular tables. There are plenty of parking but business was a bit slow on a Thursday evening.

Let’s start with the good news: the pizza. A sourdough crust that crackles with every bite, pepperoni with a crisp that could cut glass, and a sauce with just enough heat to make you feel something. It’s not just good—it’s art. The kind of pizza you remember in moments of quiet reflection. Now, the beer. If you’ve got a PhD in fermentation science, congratulations—you’ve found your temple. The selection is yeast-forward, complex, and meticulously brewed. Every sip says, “We know what we’re doing.” But God help you if you walk in without a brewing encyclopedia in your back pocket. The service? Cold. Condescending. Like we interrupted a TED Talk to ask what a lager is. The bartender made it clear: if you’re not already in the club, don’t expect a warm welcome. I wasn’t ordering a Manhattan on Mars—I just asked what was on tap. So yes, the product is exceptional. But the experience? It’s like being served filet mignon by someone who thinks you’re too stupid to eat it. White Labs could be something truly special… if they remembered that hospitality is as much a science as brewing.

This place has become a regular stop for us. Darren and Matt are very friendly and welcoming. The sourdough crust on their pizza is so good! I highly recommend stopping in for a cold brew and a tasty pizza!

Met a colleague here as we are making our way around the beer scene, enjoyed the beer options and the pizza was also great. Opted for the jalapeño special and the mushroom... both were good and perfectly sized to share. Ambiance is industrial picnic, service cast the counter, and prices are in line with the area. Good beer, good food, looking to return!

White Labs Brewing Company has become one of my favorites in Brewamar. They have some very nice beers and an actual kitchen, which is not something I expected. Most places nearby have a food truck. One thing I learned is that White Labs sells specific yeast strains to other breweries. You can even buy some yourself if you want to try home brewing. The place is not spacious, but that is a minor thing given the very nice food and diversity of beers on tap. I am a big fan and will come back many times to see what is in store!

Good atmosphere and great service. Matt the beer tender is awesome, always friendly, super knowledgeable, and gave some great beer recommendations. Chef Darin makes a great pizza with a sourdough crust. It's a hidden gem.

Let's start with the good news: the pizza. A sourdough crust that crackles with every bite, pepperoni with a crisp that could cut glass, and a sauce with just enough heat to make you feel something. It's not just good--it's art. The kind of pizza you remember in moments of quiet reflection. Now, the beer. If you've got a PhD in fermentation science, congratulations--you've found your temple. The selection is yeast-forward, complex, and meticulously brewed. Every sip says, "We know what we're doing." But God help you if you walk in without a brewing encyclopedia in your back pocket. The service? Cold. Condescending. Like we interrupted a TED Talk to ask what a lager is. The bartender made it clear: if you're not already in the club, don't expect a warm welcome. I wasn't ordering a Manhattan on Mars--I just asked what was on tap. So yes, the product is exceptional. But the experience? It's like being served filet mignon by someone who thinks you're too stupid to eat it. White Labs could be something truly special... if they remembered that hospitality is as much a science as brewing.

We've been wanting to stop by here forever and finally did. We got there right when it opened and sat at the bar. The patio looked way cool, but we wanted to ask lots of questions. We both ordered two side-by-side sets of tasters. The beer tender (Matt?) was freaking fabulous. We didn't have a question he couldn't answer. To top it off, we felt like we were in a Hollywood restaurant spotting stars walk through. We saw Chris White, the White Labs owner, and Jack White, the founder of Ballast Point, and the current operator of Home Brew Mart. Nothing like a little awe to go with your tasters! We ordered the pepperoni pizza and the fungi pizza. Both were good. We enjoyed the tasters, too. But guess what impressed me the most? The restrooms! Who would have thought a brewery could have such clean, nice restrooms! Kudos to the business for this! If you haven't been and you like beer, you need to go!

If you're a nerd, scientist, engineer, brewer, home-brewer, or just intellectually curious: you MUST go here. Every beer here is an A-B test. An India Pale Ale with lager yeast instead of ale yeast? You can do that. The variety of beer styles is also extremely eclectic. If they don't have something for you, you just don't like any type of beer. The location is insanely unexpected, but it's worth seeking out!

Was looking for a place for happy hour with some coworkers and I recommended this place. How I sold it? "The yeast here is really good" The bread here is A1. I love love love the garlic knots and the pizza the beer just everything about this place honestly. I don't even know how to describe it because, well, bread is bread. But also it's so moist and flavorful and soft and fresh and wow I also love how low key it is, like we got groups of people doing a book club on the side, we got another happy hour with a team, we have another group at the couch area playing some board games, we have individuals at the bar doing some work on their laptops. some people were on dates too. Like it's an all arounder place for literally anything. And it's honestly not that crowded people would just come and go and the music wasn't too loud so you could actually hear the conversation you're having !! Also parking is plenty too! I just also really like how we were never really bothered - idk we got our beer and our food and that was it -- which I actually enjoy because I'm one of those people that clam up when someone checks in on the table haha Would I come back? Of course. Absolutely. In fact, I'm bringing everyone I know here.

This is the first time to visit white lab and it's Amazing!! We have ordered two pizzas (Italian sausage pizza is the best ) , wine and beer. They are serious about the food and beer/wine We love to support local businesses! Cheers for Everyone!! Red hair lady (I am sorry I forgot her name , she is the bartender) is awesome and friendly. Thank you so much !

I didn't check the clock but it was well past a half hour to get pizza and their bread rolls. The pizza was small and expensive. I got the Hawaiian and it was the strangest I've ever had and not in a good way. The condiments came in one time use plastic containers whether you wanted them or not which seemed wasteful. And I despise places that serve refrigerator cold marinara sauce. The patio seating was crowded and although it was quite chilly the heat lamps were all off. After a while of waiting it turned into trivia night which was both unimpressive and so loud any conversation was basically impossible. Staff seemed polite though not particularly social.

Hard to rate a bar because of limited interactions but this place is amazing. My server was beyond polite and amazing. Welcoming. Place is very clean and very maintained. Eric was not a bartender but he guided me to the proper beer as he was walking out the establishment. Asked what I normally drank and recommended me an awesome IPA. Overall had a great experience and will return soon (live in mission valley so hopefully a little sooner) Thank you all workers for the welcoming experience!

Not much of a beer drinker but my friend took me here for the pizza and it was delicious. I wish we came with more people so that we could have ordered more food to try. Got a nice cider on tap. We ordered the Cesar salad and funghi pizza. The Cesar salad was the only salad on the limited food menu. It was a nice portion with crispy romaine and high on the salty anchovies. The funghi mushroom with pistachio pesto (Yum!) was crispy and very delicious. I'm still thinking of the pizza now! There are high bar height tables with chairs inside. We sat outside on their heated covered patio with regular tables. There are plenty of parking but business was a bit slow on a Thursday evening.

If you're here for Trivia on Friday nights, be prepared because it gets BUSY! We arrived 30 minutes before trivia started and could barely find enough seats for our group. So just make sure you come even an hour early if you want a good spot. The beer is good and the vibes overall are nice! Parking is easy as there is a lot and street parking. People from my group said the pizza was good but nothing to rave about.

This is a mandatory pitstop for me and my family. When I come to town the pizzas are always out of this world five out of five I would do it again all the time so yummy to my tummy. Yeah, they have a lot of board games too. If you're in there to just chill out with some friends, we are playing exploding kittens while eating some bomb pizza. Great activity to do while you wait for your food. Four beers deep into writing this review as should you

Haven't been to White Labs in over a decade. Live about 10 minutes away and decided to give it a go. Totally different place. Great kitchen, cool bar set up. I am a believer in the model - a great place to experience a lot of styles and geek out on how yeast changes alter the flavor. I enjoyed tasting several side by sides, even if it wasn't my favorite style of beer. The kitchen was fantastic and the pizza was worth the stop. There are better hazys, better WC ipas, better....but they are good and it was fun to try a lot of different things. Will go back and it was a nice weekend lunch stop. People behind the bar were nice, knowledgeable, and fun to talk with about the beer board. Service was excellent.

Great food and solid beer options. A hidden gem off of Miramar that is never too busy to find a table, grab a pint, and order a sourdough pizza

Really fun brewery located in Miramar! Came here for Trivia and my group had a really good time. They have both indoor and outdoor seating. Beers on tap but also they have alternative beverage options sold by the bottle/can as well - so there is something to drink for everyone. The best part about White Labs is their pizza! Baked fresh and super delcious. There are a TON of breweries in the area and White Labs is definitely worth the visit!

I was on my way to an event, was hoping to stop by to taste some good beer before the event but ran into a bad customer service. I was hoping to learn and introduce to white lab beer but Taylor must had a bad day. She wasn't feeling the vibe to serve. I just grab a sticker and left. Not a great experience with this kind at a brewery.

Went on a Friday night with friends. Ambiance was nice and chill. We didn't know that it was Trivia night that day and the music and mic made it a bit hard for me and my friends to hear each other. Drinks/beer was great, lots of options to choose from. We just went with that the bartender recommended. And we had 2 rounds of pizza because it was so good! I'd definitely recommend to try their pizza. Service was quick with the drinks but took a while for the pizza but it was understandable since they only had 1 chef to make all the pizzas for everybody.

Was recommended this place by some guy we met at Pure Project down the street (also highly recommend if you're into the whole beer + food truck vibe) and he was spot on. This place is elevated casual. Every beer is brewed 2 ways using different yeasts, so there's different flavor profiles and notes to each one. It's like wine tasting but for beer lovers. It was such a cool experience, and their food was delicious too! The main guy working (I forgot his name) was amazing and totally steered us in the right direction with both beer and food. We ended up getting the Bianca funghi pizza and it was a 12/10. Some of the best pizza I've had! If you happen to be in the area I'd recommend this place forsure.

Enjoyed a Friday evening here after the work week. The flight ordered was crisp and cold. There was a cream ale somewhere in there along with a hef. The Hawaiian pizza was a surprise. It didn't look like it had a lot of protein to it but the little pieces of ham actually packed a punch along with the pineapple jam. WL is a good offset to the bigger chains of breweries in this area as it is a bit smaller but a great competitor.

My wife and I come here occasionally to buy brewing supplies and have a drink. Really great place to get a variety of yeasts for different types of brews! Really awesome that you get to try the different brews they have created, sort of a try-before-you-buy and saves you having to wait months of fermenting and having no idea how something could turn out. The staff is super helpful with recommendations based on your palette, for the current batch we are going to make we went with the San Francisco Ale Yeast recommended and are excited to see how it will turn out!

Amazing food, amazing beer. Super chill, the service was great. Looking forward to my next visit.

So impressed! Easily one of the best breweries in San Diego - which says a lot. Everything tastes exactly as it should - tasting notes are always spot on. Staff is great. A real hidden gem! Can't wait to go back.

Came here for trivia and it was great! They have seating inside and outside, a small menu of food and beverages - I got a pizza and it was delicious. Overall great experience!

Nice brewery to hang out and try some of the same brews with different hops. Their yeastie boys were really good and excellent sharing finger food as well. I really really love barleywine so I was excited when I got to see that on the menu, although they were a little bit more immature for my liking. Beer: 6/10 Service: 6/10 Vibes: 6/10 Value: 5/10

Pizza was awesome! So flavorful and the perfect texture. The sourdough crust is much-appreciated for those with stomach diseases. Looking forward to going back!

Great little spot for some after-work brews. They have a great variety of beers to choose from, and trivia on Fridays for your entertainment! One of the fun parts of this brewery is the parallel brews using different strains of yeast, to provide slightly different flavors for the "same" beer. For example, you can try two Hefeweizen's side by side that only differ in which yeast was used... a cool, tangible and taste-able science experiment! The recent addition of a kitchen makes this spot even more of a staple for any happy hour. They now serve pizzas, sliders, and other bites to pair with your beer. The staff is always knowledgeable, helpful and personable. Always a good time.

Nice space with indoor and outdoor seating. They also have counter too high chairs for the kiddos! Nice large selection of beer of different styles. Food selection is nice mix of apps and pizzas.

Cool concept, great beer, good service. I came in looking specifically for a German lager yeasted beer type and this place delivered. I like that you can get 4oz pours and work your way through more beer than if you were drinking pints. It's interesting to see how the different yeast steer a beer's flavors. I tried saisons, lagers, and hazy ipas. I left this place with a 4 pack of spring lagers, now I'm thinking about when can I go back. They have a kitchen which I need to try as well.

What a great experience. The beers are terrific. The side by side tasting with different yeast is fun for anyone into craft beer. Chris White served me my first couple of beers.

the beer here is epically bad. Had a blond ale, a saison and an ESB. The blond and the saison were under attenuated, no head retention, and tasted sour and flavorless. I actually could not tell the difference between the saison and the blond ale, but they tasted kind of soapy or like sanitizer. The ESB tasted sweet and had a strong diacetyl presence. Not a lot of yeast character for an English beer. No discernible hop character in any of the beers I tasted. That said, the atmosphere was ok...cool vibe and board game, but no A/C on a 98F day. Yeast prices were higher than I could get online, which blows my mind considering this is the global headquarters of White Labs. No GoFerm to help with the dry yeast and smaller pitch rates than omega and others...the dry yeast was almost $13! I got an Oktoberfest liquid yeast and the use by date was December... My kid had a root beer which she said was good.

I had the Bianco funghi pizza and it was lemony, cheesy, nutty, rich, and delicious! The bartender is so lovely and offers such amazing and attentive service. The have a nice couch / recreation area to chill after a long day. A repeat customer they have made out of me for sure!

Chad was so kind and went above and beyond to help with accomodating my needs I highly recommend this place. Thank you Chad

Service here was great! The bartender was super friendly and we had a great conversation. Food was pretty good as well. We grabbed a pizza to split and it was very flavorful and a great size for sharing! The place is a little small but has a cozy vibe to it!

Great atmosphere I had a pizza and garlic bread but the beer is everything! Definitely coming back soon

Cute little place with good food and fun vibes. Their fungi pizza, sliders, and Caesar salad are all great. They have sofas in the corner with board games.

This place is nice and chill will be back next week 100% can't wait to try their food also

Place looks great when entering and the parking was easy to find. I was having a good time with everything before I decided I needed food. Poorly priced and staff unwilling to help customers on very easy substitutions to a burger (sauce). I asked for sauce on the side because my partner could be allergic to something on the burger. They would not budge and demanded that I order the burger with no modifications. I've never been to an eatery where this was the case. Very disappointed. At least the drinks were decent but wow. I can't believe I was willing to pay $30 for a burger and a hotdog and they wouldn't even substitute anything. Already paying high for drinks, and the restaurant won't even help out on an easy accommodation.

Fun experience to try out different beers and learn more about the brewing process / ingredient variations. This location has both indoor and outdoors seating. It's also a short drive from several other great breweries in the area! Staff was great, and accommodating for dietary restrictions!

I don't drink beer but husband says it's great. I'm here for the food. lol. The tacos were excellent, Caesar salad on point, and pizza a little different but delicious. I thought there would be some pineapple and meat in the pizza but didn't taste any. But still really really tasty.

Came a bit early but super friendly, their yeast buddies are really good, house recipes, gotta come back to try other combos with the flight

What an awesome experience, being a brewer myself, coming here was a must. Staff was amazing, knowledgeable, and I got to talk about yeast with other yeast people! Totally nerding out!

Mediocre house brews. Tried to call to order take out pizza and beers. Could only reach the answering machine during business hours. Won't try again.

As an occasional home brewer I was long overdue to pay White Labs a visit. My sister and I really enjoyed the side-by-side taster flights and all the beers we tried were clean. It's impressive to see the significant effects that yeast strains have on flavor profiles. And the food was excellent. Very small menu and no table service but I kinda like it that way. It was a slow Sunday afternoon and I got to talk to the beertender for a bit about our shared interest in Czech and German lagers.

Really enjoyed our visit. Service was excellent. Great selection of beers. Food menu is short, but boy is it good.. we had Pizza, Tacos, and Yeast Buddies. All very good. I enjoyed one of their Ambers.

First off, definitely not a paid ad like someone stated below..... The tasting room and kitchen at White Labs is absolutely amazing. Not only is it a very unique beer experience with the comparison flights, but the food is really good and reasonably priced for the quality. I've also had nothing but 5 star service every time I've been there from Chad and Matt. There's a reason White Labs is always the place I suggest when I have family coming in from out of town or group outings. I've been to work parties here and had it as my first stop on my Bachelor party and they didn't disappoint one bit. Highly recommended!

Super cool staff, great beer, interesting concept with same beers brewed with different yeasts (actually not a gimmick because does make huge difference in the taste), comfy setting, will definitely go back and highly recommend to any beer lover!

Hi. My name is Joe and I used to work at Lancaster Brewing Company. If you know much about beer, you know how important hops and malted barley are to the flavor profiles of different beers. Did you know that yeast is also a very important component to how beer tastes? Of course, without those wonderful microorganisms fermenting that glucose, we wouldn't have beer at all, but different strains can make beers taste quite different from one another, and I'm not just talking about the difference between ales and lagers. White Labs certainly understands this. They supply yeast strains to countless numbers of craft breweries. We all owe them thanks to their contributions to the world of craft beer. Their tasting room is a place where you can sample their experiments on how their different yeast strains can be put to optimal use. My wife and I were quite pleased with the samplers that we tried when we came by on our first visit: FrankenStout Breakfast Stout California Ale Yeast Breakfast Stout London Ale Yeast Farmhouse Saison BBA Barleywine The FrankenStout, fermented with 96 different yeast strains, may have been my favorite. All were bold, flavorful, and outstanding. We also got a $3 pint of the Double IPA, which didn't go too crazy with the hops. Apparently there is always a designated $3 beer on tap. I think that they limit them to two per customer. I encourage you to support the science of fermentation and the art of brewing by visiting WLTR. Personally, I can't wait to return!