Disneyland California Craft Beer Adventure!

 

Tower of Terror? Nah, Tower of great food and local craft beer!

As summer is once again upon us, visiting a theme park is probably in your plans. Living a mile from Disneyland, I usually direct out-of-towners to nearby breweries and craft beer friendly gastropubs (read a piece I was featured in All About Beer Magazine May 2012 issue about the subject page 1 / page 2). As Disneyland California Adventure (DCA) re-opened with new rides and food options, a true imagineer had the forethought to add fresh local beer to the menu, some of which is brewed a mile away!

Upon entering DCA, you now enter Buena Vista street, a classy throwback to an era when Walt first arrived in California. Street cars ding-ding, newspapers sit on a newsstand, and cast members taunt about with 20’s style costumes. At the end of the street becons the Carthay Theatre, which is actually a lounge and restaurant. The lounge offers moderately priced tapas style snacks and a modest local craft beer selection. Upon opening, here what was available:

Salted Nuts in a flight of Anaheim Gold, Hefeweizen, and 1888.

On Draft: A flight of Anaheim Brewery – Gold, Hefeweizen, and 1888 (California Common) / Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA and Karl Strauss Red Trolly Ale.

In Bottes: The Bruery Loakal Red and Saison Rue  / Stone Brewing Co. Smoked Porter / Lagunitas Pils and Censored Ale (shocked Disney let that one in) / Lost Coast 8 Ball Stout / Firestone Walker DBA / North Coast Red Seal, Pranqster, Brother Thelonious, and Acme Pale Ale.

Although it’s great to have all California brewed options and a good variety of styles, the North Coast beers are head scratchers. I don’t necessarily dislike that brand, but more love could have been given to SoCal. I would have put Noble Ale Works Alpha Red instead of Red Seal, Bootleggers Golden Chaos instead of Pranqster, A Lost Abbey beer in place of Brother Thelonious, and Hangar 24 Orange Wheat or Stone Pale Ale instead of Acme Pale Ale. Lost Coast 8 Ball Stout I would have tossed in Green Flash Double Stout. The Bruery Loakal Red is a nice addition as it’s only available in Orange County. This may sound like I’m complaining, and I’m not, it’s just that out of towners may prefer actual local beer, and I don’t consider northern California as part of that. Firestone Walker is my cut off point. Shitty light-American lager IS available, but not advertised or displayed anywhere. I love that they bootlegged the macro in the back…well done, Walt. The prices were similar to an average bar, shockingly not theme park high. ($7ish)

Inside the Carthay Lounge

The Carthay Lounge itself is a classy bar. Along with the CA Craft beer, custom mixed cocktails and various n/a crafted beverages are available for the wee ones. Sitting in there enjoying a flight I didn’t feel like I was sitting inside of Disneyland.

Elsewhere in the park, Craft beer is still available at the Karl Strauss Beer Truck, which serves 5 drafts. Red Trolly, Windansea Hef, Tower 10 IPA, Endless Summer Light, and a Seasonal. Currently Pintail Pale Ale is the seasonal.

Bayside Brews (Previous blog post here) has a couple Karl options as well as Sierra Nevada Torpedo. Ariels Grotto has the Cove Bar with a few Samuel Adams, Widmer, and Guinness type options.

If you happen to be coming in from out of town, I still would be happy to give recommendations!

Other Photos:

 

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LostAbbeyRyan
12 years ago

Thanks for the input. We want our beer at Disneyland too!!!

SC
SC
12 years ago

How much do the beers run?

Wdiguy
Wdiguy
12 years ago

The new Flo’s V8 Cafe in Cars Land also serves Racer 5 and Red Rocket Ale.

catg
catg
12 years ago

Yes, Bootlegger’s please! That is just about one of the truest Orange County craft breweries there is — Golden Chaos or Palomino Pale —