By Sarah Marks and Bree Mazzolani
Temecula’s beer scene has been growing since the late 1990s when Vincent Cilurzo, a founding father of wine country, launched Blind Pig Brewing Company. Russian River Brewing Company now owns the famed label, but it kicked off a brewery culture here that now includes upwards of 12 local establishments as well as Akash Brewing out in wine country. Pechanga Resort Casino even holds an annual Microbrew Festival featuring craft and small-production brews from up and down the West Coast.
The five breweries listed below are all within a mile or two of each other in an industrial area about 2 miles north of historic Old Town, and you could visit them in any order, but we like starting first with lunch at Black Market Brewing Co. to build up a solid foundation for the day. This order is also the easiest if you plan to walk from brewery to brewery. Plan your outing by choosing your first three, then see how you feel and go from there. Please drink responsibly and hire a ride-share.
📍See the pub crawl on Google Maps »
Black Market Brewing Co.
Start your adventure by building a solid lunch foundation at one of Temecula’s first breweries, Black Market Brewing Co. Order a homemade pizza, salad, or a Bavarian-style pretzel to accompany one of their award-winning IPAs or Hefeweizen. Hang out at one of their picnic tables near the cable car, or engage in some friendly competition over shuffleboard or foosball. Just remember to pace yourself; there are more than a few stops on this crawl.
In town with your wine-tasting buddies? You’re covered; they have a full list available by the glass or flight.
📍41740 Enterprise Cir. N, #109, Temecula, CA 92590
Relentless Brewing Co.
Your next stop, Relentless Brewing Co., is another great pick for an IPA. The Relentless Elevation IPA is light and citrusy and only 4.8% ABV. Regulars also rave about their sours, especially the Lost in the Tropics pineapple and coconut fruited sour ale. On a hot day, you might try the peach and lime beer slushy made with their Shapes and Sounds Hazy IPA or the Blank Canvas strawberry and watermelon hard seltzer. It’s sweet but balanced and reminded me of Jolly Ranchers. There’s plenty of seating and more than a few table-top games to keep your group entertained. On the weekends, there’s likely cornhole set up outside along with a gourmet food truck.
www.relentlessbrewingandspirits.com
📍42030 Avenida Alvarado Suite E, Temecula, CA, 92590
Prolific Brewing Company
Prolific Brewing Company is the new microbrewery-kid on the block. Though they’ve been brewing since 2019, brewmaster Evan Kadow and his wife Aubrey opened their Temecula space in March of 2025 along with business partners and brothers Eric and Tyler Bovich. They pour IPAs, lagers, stouts, and hard cider. Some favorites are the Dude! Where’s My Blackberry hard cider and Code Duello, a barrel-aged imperial stout with oranges. For entertainment, there’s oversized Connect Four, TVs, and a few tabletop games. They too have cornhole and food trucks outside on the weekends.
www.prolificbrewingcompany.com
📍42095 Zevo Dr STE A1, Temecula, CA 92590
Batch Mead
Just a block over from Prolific is Batch Mead. This is a must-visit for fans of mead or the mead-curious. Derek and Danielle Busch (and Danielle’s father!) built the space themselves and opened it to the public in 2019. The meadery has won Best in Show from the San Diego International Beer Festival multiple times and has over 15 meads available by glass or by flight. Fairy Tales Sleeping Beauty made with wildflower honey and Direwolf Ghost Mead, made with pineapple, passionfruit, orange, and local honey, are popular, as is the Golden Butter Bee Mead crafted with caramelized honey, vanilla beans, lactose sugar, and a hint of butter extract. Hard cider is available too.
Fans love the themed events that Batch Mead holds, like Axe Throwing, Viking Night, and Meadtoberfest, but maybe save the axe-throwing for a day when you’re only visiting one brewery.
📍42225 Remington Ave #A25, Temecula, CA 92590
8 Bit Brewing Company
8 Bit Brewing Company in nearby Murrieta is a favorite for its large outdoor beer garden with tables and fire pits, 22 taps of IPAs, lagers, and sours, and an enormous room dedicated to arcade games. The crowd-pleasing beer menu includes “light & refreshing” hard seltzer, Hefeweizen, and blond ales, as well as lagers, pilsners, sours, West Coast IPAs, and hazy IPAs. Mario Tart: Phantom Stronghold is a favorite sour ale as is the Conan the Barbarian Hazy IPA.
8 Bit could be a good pick for dinner on your day of brews with their decadent food menu of mac and cheese, Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese, and BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches, wings, and quesadillas. And sure, they have a salad or two as well if you need something green at the end of your day.
📍26755 Jefferson Ave Murrieta, CA 92562
A few places on this list are dog-friendly, but some only permit service animals, so please confirm with the brewery before you head out with Fido.
There are also a few companies in town that offer pub tours if you prefer to leave the transportation to the professionals, though their list of pubs to visit may be different from ours.
