1. Coachella Valley Brewing (Thousand Palms)
Brewery just opened this year. Currently the only one in the valley.
Pretty nice tasting room at the brewery. They had about 8-10 of their beers on tap.
Did two tasting flights, all the beers were solid. Good variety too.
Not bottling yet (they said within a month or two), but they do have growlers to go.
2. Schmidy's Tavern (Palm Desert)
Irish pub in a nondescript strip mall. In addition to the usual suspects, there were about 6-8 craft taps when we went there (about 50% local, 50% other good US craft).
Wait staff were very friendly and helpful. Good job with promoting the craft taps over the macros.
They also have weekly/monthly tasting nights. We were there on a Monday afternoon, so pretty much the only ones in the bar.
3. Backstreet Brewery / Lamppost Pizza (La Quinta)
Part of a California chain.
About 5-6 of their own house beers on tap. Pretty safe in terms of styles on offer.
Pizzas were nice and tasty.
We were there on a Wednesday afternoon, again pretty much the only ones in the bar.
4. Yard House (Rancho Mirage)
Part of the national chain.
Massive place, was busy when we went for dinner.
150+ taps, pretty much covers everything. Decent local representation.
Obviously with that many taps I was worried about some being stale, but everything we ordered was OK.
Food was tasty. Usual US restaurant massive portion size.
General travel tip: You'll need a DD to get around the area. Everything is a 20+ minute drive apart, and I think I saw a grand total of one taxi the whole week.
