Carneros Brewing Company

I think it was good. I got something dark. I dunno, I was already tipsy, so I don’t remember necessarily having a BAD experience, but I do remember not liking the stupid narrow table by the window.
They got a really rough start in the brewery scene, but the people we’ve talked to say they’ve upped their game and I wasn’t disappointed. I don’t think.
Might be back!

This is a follow up to my first review this place because after. Of time you can get a sense of how business is running. I love coming to this place every single time when I come here I am made to feel like I’m a friend or a family member. The beer is awesome they have nice bar snacks it’s a spacious place. You can learn the process of beer making while you’re there you can sit in the garden you can sit inside if you like. The employees there are over the top wonderful to all the gas I come to visit them I love coming to this place. One of the things that I love about this is its family run and you get the feeling that is family run the minute you come through the door and everytime I come here Martha Ceja is the tap room manager. She is a wonderful lady and she goes out of her way that make all our guest comfortable they train cater as best they can without having a restaurant on premises. But then courage you to come down and enjoy the property have your lunch drink there are fine fine beers and enjoy yourself it’s all about family. So please understand that when you come here you’re going to get a brewery the Care about its customers. I will see you there save a seat for me.

Randomly found Carneros Brewery on Unilocal and we are so happy we did! We went on a rainy weekday and there were only two other small groups there.
Pros: friendly atmosphere and great beer.
Cons: no food (although they have nuts, jerky and potato chips for sale).
Our favorites in bottles $ 7.50 each: Jefeweisen and the Negra IPA.
Growler favorite: Lupolos de Los Muertos… we which they bottled it because it was amazing!!!

Amidst our self-​guided wine tour, we decided to switch it up and check out Carneros Brewing Company. The building and grounds were under construction when we were there so parking was kind of confusing. We had to drive all the way around and I felt like we were encroaching on the construction vehicles domain.
Once inside things were calmer. The tasting area was pretty small, but there were only two other groups in the brewery besides us, so it wasn’t an issue. We shared sampler, some of the beers were ok, and others we were not so good. Overall, we weren’t that impressed and went back to the wine.
The bathroom setup was also strange, I had to go outside, and walk around to the other side of the building and enter a single bathroom from the outside. Maybe this was due to the construction, I am not really sure.

I loved it and can’t wait to go back! Great staff, great atmosphere, and delicious beer. Their lupulo de muertos was my fav! Gracias!

Beer is ok. Run of the mill brews. Nothing special about them except for their names. 15 dollars for a flight which I think is a little much

Stopped here on the way to Sonoma and was super impressed by the beers and the selection. Tried 10 beers 8 of which were great and the other two were pretty good.

Took a beer stop between visiting some wineries in the area. The Brewery is beautiful. They have put a lot of money into this place. We tried two different IPAs and liked both of them. We enjoyed talking to the bartender and as we were leaving and mentioning lunch he suggested the Fremont Diner just down the street. And that was fantastic too.
FYI, we took the beer tour at Sierra Nevada in Chico and visited Anderson Valley Brewery this trip so we are «into» IPAs!

I have to be fair. The location and setting is beautiful. Well-​manicured, polished appearance to the place. Tons of parking. Winery and distillery in the same complex. Fresh air. Sounds good, right? So far so good.
But then I ordered a beer…
An IPA isn’t supposed to taste like a flat Miller High-​Life. In fact it was worse; I would’ve finished a High Life. During my visit to Carneros, I encountered the very first and only time that I’ve left a full beer behind.
Terrible beer. Just god-​freaking-​awful. And a strange staff that almost seemed irritated by the presence of customers.
I won’t be back.

Descriptive phrase: solid family-​run brewery.
My Wisconsin-​blood wouldn’t let me survive on just wine while in California, and luckily Carneros Brewing Company had my beer «problem» covered. It’s located in a really new-​looking complex, attached to a separate winery and distillery. The space itself inside is obviously converted from industrial space, but it’s still comfortable. The servers were extremely friendly and helpful.
I had the seasonal Primavera Bock, and got to try the Jefeweizen, Negra IPA, and Morena Amber Ale. Their take on the classic Maibock was well-​executed, and I loved their malty Morena. At $ 5.50 for a pint, it wasn’t a bad deal either. Carneros is a great place to stop for the thirsty traveler in the Sonoma area, and it’s good to support the little local guys (and one of the only Hispanic-​owned and operated breweries in the country).

My wife and I live in Petaluma and just took out toddler for a picnic at Carneros Brewery and really loved it. The tasting room and grounds are very nice and so are the beers. The service was excellent as well. We went into the Ceja Vineyards tasting room too since it is owned by the same family and right there. This place is relaxing and well run and definitely a new area favorite.

I love beer. I love beer samplers. So I naturally love Carneros Brewery. Great service thanks to Steve and great beer samplers with large pours. Staff was bottling by hand in the brewery as we watched and drank. They have great dark beers and a really good sour on tap as of today. Go get!

Carneros Brewery is all about the experience. For me personally– I lived 5+ years in Germany, Austria and Ireland and grew accustomed to excellent beer. What I learned from this time abroad– beer is all about the feeling of the beer going down and a great after-​taste.
The beer at Carneros has both of those. This seems like a place that listens to their customers and modifies quickly to accommodate– which I argue is quiet delicious.
I profess this place is going to keep getting better too. Sorry goes out to all those who had a bad experience here– those who are on the fence– give this place a shot– bring your friends, a cooler with fruit, salami, cheese and bread, and get your fun started in the Wine Country with one of the best brew pubs in the making. This is the type of place that will if not today, soon will have a cult beer in the making just how Philz Coffee hit Silicon Valley by storm.

we enjoyed this brewery much more than the overly popular lagunitas brewery in petaluma. Carneros is located in a beautiful area in Sonoma, surrounded by much greenery & nature. It wasn’t too crowded so we were able to get a parking spot and order our beers quickly. We tried the sampler which allows you to choose any 5 to taste. We loved the raspberry ale and the Carneros Bock. Unfortunately they are both seasonal, but if they have them… try em!
We loved the outdoor area with cornhole. So fun! We just wish there was food other than chips, pretzels & jerky. Who doesn’t want a nice burger with great beer?!
Overall, this brewery is worth the beautiful drive and much more laid back and enjoyable than the more well-​known, touristy ones nearby.

I really really really (no serious) want to like this place. Location = Awesome. Staff = Awesome, Beer = :Insert sound of Airplane crashing:. This place seemed really new when I was there so I am not sure how long they have been in business but I didn’t like one beer they had on tap, nothing was memorable about the beer and I felt like I sampled all of them.
A huge plus for this place is that they have Loteria (Mexican Bingo) and they at least had variety of beers. Fix the beers, add some food items that isn’t cheese marked up 100% and you got yourself a solid brewery.

Okay was torn a bit between 3.5 stars (which you can’t do here) and four stars. A restaurant would certainly be a huge plus but lets get to the people that say they don’t like the beers. Seven of us stopped in today so I was able to get a wide variety of different tastes from everyone. Some I like some where just not my thing. But as a craft brewery I give them a thumbs up. To the «people» that didn’t like their beer I have to ask why would you call yourself a beer fan let alone go to a brewery when you obviously drink out of a can or «enjoy» a label with «moon» in the title. Is this my favorite brewery? No. Will I stop in when I’m in the area? Hell yes. Seven people rode in and where all able to find a beer that met there taste and needs. Oh to the person that wanted lower alcohol… GET REAL! Coors light is calling you.

Nice staff. Tasty beers. Wish they had food and a heater. I like the Negra IPA and their new sour.

Very pleasant experience today. They have 5 beers that are year round plus one rotating seasonal item. The brewmaster was 20+ years with A-​B. He apparently traveled the world trying interesting beers. This place appears to be his way of making the beers he’s always wanted to make. Very well balanced with unique, rich flavors. The Hef had a creamy nuttiness that made it extremely pleasant and rich. The cerveza was amazing, the best I’ve ever had. IPA was solid and rich in flavor. The beers are all under 6% alcohol which means the flavor comes out and you can drink several choices without getting too tipsy… quite nice when sampling a range. There is also a very nice picnic area with an outside bar and a pond with a fountain. Definitely worth checking out.

A day after visiting & touring the largest American craft brewery West of Boston, visiting little Carneros Brewing Company on the outskirts of Sonoma was quite the contrast. The girlfriend & I were joined by our favorite East Bay Elite vegan couple.
While Carneros Brewing’s grounds weren’t too difficult to spot from Highway 12/​121, the entrance can take an eagle-​eye to pick out at highway speeds. Once in the gate, the building with the tasting room & brewery was to the right at the end of a long, narrow driveway.
Parking was ample. The grounds were lovely & well-​manicured, but we were there to drink beers so we didn’t linger outside. Inside, we met up with our Elite compatriots & got down to business. The entire staff was very friendly & attentive while we contemplated & ordered.
Although I’d already tried most of Carneros’ beers at beer festivals, our friends were cashing in a voucher deal, had an extra round of tastings & offered to treat. Hey, I’m not 1 to turn down free tastings. There was also a DIPA on tap that I had not yet tasted so I got a pint of that too.
All told, I had Carneros Brewing’s renditions of Hefeweizen, Amber Ale, Pilsner, IPA, Black IPA & DIPA. All were OK, but none especially stood out. Maybe the IPA, which seemed to have a hint of a sweet corn flavor. 1 thing to consider with all of these beers, except the DIPA, is that they’re all 5.0−5.8%abv. That makes all 5 of Carneros Brewing’s standard offerings reasonably sessionable.
Tastings concluded, we all packed up & moved on to our next beer stop. Carneros Brewing Company is a good looking little brewery with a really friendly staff & OK beers. The beers weren’t quite dazzling enough for me to go particularly out of my way for. But if I’m nearby in the Sonoma/​Napa area & thirsty, I may stop by again.

Oh Jefeweizen, your sweet banana bread-​tasting deliciousness with a kick of spicy cloves makes me want to take a growler home of you and drink blissfully.
OK, enough of that. This brewery is definitely worth a trip to Sonoma. On tap, you can choose from a crisp and fruity Cerveza Pilsner, the aforementioned awesome Jefeweizen, the highly smooth, caramel-​rich Morena Ale, the hoppy and floral Carneros IPA, or the dark and noble Negra IPA that tastes of coffee and chocolate. While all were great brews, my boyfriend and I noticed that none would cater to a sour beer lover. Oh well!
The service inside the place is very prompt and kind! There are plenty of seats at the main bar, and more at tables placed inside the tasting room. It is a brightly lit space, with views of the brewery in the rear. The grounds around the brewery are beautifully kept, so it is a great way to walk off the flight of beers you’ve tasted.