No brew lover's visit to San Diego is complete without a tour of one (or more) of our top areas of brew mastery. Here are the four best - and the must-see breweries to hit when you find yourself there - as recommended by San Diego beer legends.

Try this eastern loop that takes you through El Cajon, Alpine, Julian, Ramona, La Mesa and Santee. If you want to do the full loop, you'll need the entire day, but you could also break it into just the northern breweries (Ramona and Julian) or just the southern breweries (Santee, Alpine, La Mesa and El Cajon). You might also want to consider booking a brewery tour that will chauffeur you around while you enjoy a few samples at each stop.

With so many breweries producing such a wealth of different beers, it can help to focus your plans around a geographic region or even by the types of beers you want to experience.

30th Street is home to some of the city's best craft beer bars and beer-friendly restaurants, as well as a few breweries and tasting rooms.