Craft brew aficionados will find utopia on the south shore of the lake, where brewers flock to share their creative concoctions with imbibers.
Get started by downloading the South Tahoe Beer Trail map at tahoesouth.com. You’ll find a glorious guide to all of Tahoe South’s hopped-up creations. All breweries serve food, sell snacks, or allow you to bring in your own. Many also feature great deals for happy hour and allow furry, four-legged friends to sidle up to the bar or tables, too.
Some selections are inspired by Tahoe’s seasons, allowing brewers to push their imaginations further. Most also have guest taps to share the love with featured fellow brewers both near and far.
Trekking to Tahoe’s best breweries elevates any area visit in many mouthwatering ways.
Upon entering South Lake Brewing Co., the distinctive aroma of hops and fermentation greets guests. This sprawling, humming brewery is decked out with an industrial-inspired interior, plenty of seating, plus 16 taps touting a wide array of beers being made before your eyes.
While sipping signature brews like Trail Builder pale ale or Marlette Sunrise, a blood orange-infused blonde ale, challenge your companions to a game of cornhole or ping-pong. Try several options at once with a flight served up Tahoe-style—atop a ski or snowboard—or take some of their canned beers on an outdoor adventure. Fido can come, too.
Nearby, Lake Tahoe AleWorX lets curious beer-lovers explore their options before committing with dozens of serve-yourself taps. After presenting a form of payment, guests are given a glass and a card that’s their magical key to unlocking all of the brewed goodness. Customers are in complete control of their pour, sampling as little or as much as they’d like.
Check out their pale, unfiltered, easy-drinking lager, Cali Common, or other beers they feature from guest breweries. Soak up the suds with a delicious, gourmet, wood-fired pizza or sandwich. The brewery’s friendly vibe is often enhanced by live music. Can’t get enough AleWorX? Visit their wood-and-copper-laden Stateline location.
Head to The Hangar if not tied to trying just Tahoe brews. With 30 taps, several pouring local ales, and a fridge teeming with cans and bottles from around the globe, this cozy bottle shop and tap house specializes in beers that are tough to find in Tahoe.
If you’re on a gluten-free mission or pining for cider or—gasp—even something nonalcoholic, The Hangar is your place. Take over a table inside, or head to the expansive courtyard embraced by the forest and replete with chairs, games, and firepits. For those traveling with four-legged friends, you’ll find your canine companions welcome there, too.
Set in the Swiss Chalet Village, Cold Water Brewery & Grill captures its alpine setting both inside and out. A quaint patio with firepit invites guests outside, while the comfortable, spacious interior is perfect for exploring the broad menu packed with bar and comfort foods, proteins, and healthier options.
Cold Water’s signature beer, Mr. Toad’s Wild Rye, has a memorable flavor, while their hop-heavy Artic IPA brings a touch of the tropics to Tahoe. A small tasting room and homebrew supply shop next door provide a more personal experience with their beers.
Hang with the locals at Sidellis Lake Tahoe Brewery & Restaurant. Nearly every inch of this dog-friendly brewery’s interior is covered in wood, evoking its rustic surroundings. Imaginative beers brewed in-house are bountiful at this boutique brewery.
Poured alongside easy-drinking staples like their lightly hopped O.B. Amber are inspired flavor combinations such as their Clockwork White, with notes of coriander and orange. Other brews are aged in tequila or chardonnay barrels, then mingled with fruits. Flights are presented in locally carved, Tahoe-shaped paddles. Games and puzzles further entertain, while sandwiches, salads, appetizers, and snacks feed hungry patrons.
If there weren’t so many tables and, well, a big bar, you may feel at home in Tahoe’s first brewpub, appropriately named The Brewery at Lake Tahoe. Since 1992, mouthwatering brews like their Bad Ass Ale have been poured in this 1930s brick home nestled in the heart of South Lake Tahoe.
A massive menu boasts everything from burgers and wraps to appetizers and hearty entrées for noshing while sipping their selections. Characteristically Tahoe, sit inside surrounded by rustic, mountain-inspired decor or on the patio overlooking the bustling main drag.
Within walking distance of the Heavenly Gondola is Stateline Brewery & Restaurant. Five taps dispense their own ales, while several others showcase other brewers’ skills. Live music keeps this place hopping seasonally, while a robust menu sates appetites and signature beers like the hoppy Acclimator IPA and mellow Avalanche Ale quench thirst.
Housed in a former hotel suite at the Basecamp Hotel, South of North Brewing Co. turns out flavor-forward brews accompanied by live music daily. Friendly for both dogs and children, two rooftop decks overlook an ambiance-inducing Airstream, firepits, cornhole, a ping-pong table, and plenty of seating. Inside, brick, steel, and wood dictate the decor.
Local ingredients are sourced to craft the signature beers here. Popular pours include the smooth, balanced Space Tiger IPA, crisp Blue Bird Blonde, and several barrel-aged sours and stouts. Snacks and bar foods are also available.
Tahoe South’s local libations are not limited to craft brews. Discover these other regional distilled options.
The Bently Heritage Estate Distillery in Minden offers tours of the historic mills that now serve as their distillery. Taste their vodka and gin made from estate-grown grains, or pick up bottles to take home.
Tahoe Blue Vodka makes the perfect Lake Tahoe memento, plus lets you contribute to the protection of the lake due to their philanthropic donations with every purchase. Tahoe Blue gets its smooth, sweet-finishing flavor from grapes, corn, and sugar cane. It’s high proof when distilled and lessened using pure Tahoe water. While there is no distillery to tour, retail bottles are ubiquitous around the lake.
