Craft Beer in Ventura County
Welcome to craft beer in Ventura County, one of California's most underrated beer destinations with some of the most amazing brewers, lively beer bars, and well-stocked bottle shops in the state.
Bordered by Los Angeles to the south and Santa Barbara to the north, Ventura County is topographically divided into two main sections:
The Conejo Valley is also known as East Ventura County and is the area of land that lies on the east side of the Conejo Pass bordering Los Angeles County. It's comprised of Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Moorpark, and Simi Valley and features great breweries, beer bars, and bottle shops scattered along the 101 and 23 freeways.
West Ventura County is everything on the north/west side of the Conejo Valley, including Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, and Ojai. The majority of the land in the area is either coastal or farmland, with many spots setting up shop inside industrial warehouse complexes.
Between Ventura and Ojai, you have two significant vacation destinations, so visitors to these areas have strong on-premise craft beer drinking options in both cities, while residents scattered throughout the region have access to prime local craft beer watering holes and to-go beer stores.
Because of Ventura's proximity to Central California, you're also more likely to come across hard-to-find craft beer from producers on the Central Coast and Bay Area in the areas better beer bars and bottle shops
Whether you're staying in Ventura County or just passing through on the way to/from Los Angeles or Santa Barbara, there are no shortage of craft beer options for you to try.