This East County San Diego breweries guide covers taprooms in Santee, La Mesa, Alpine and up the hill in Julian. We checked every one on Oct. 30, 2026, against its own website for open status, address and hours. It’s a field guide for drinkers heading inland, and a companion to our countywide San Diego brewery list.
Hours change, especially around holidays, so treat this list as a snapshot from Oct. 30 and confirm before you drive. Places that have closed, or that we couldn’t verify, are left out. More on those below.
East County San Diego breweries at a glance
| Taproom | City | Address | Hours (checked Oct. 30, 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunny Grove Brewing | Santee | 8665 Argent St., Suite B | Mon–Thu 3–9 p.m.; Fri–Sat noon–10 p.m.; Sun noon–9 p.m. |
| BNS Brewing & Distilling | Santee | 10960 Wheatlands Ave., Unit 101 | Mon–Thu 2–9 p.m.; Fri–Sat noon–10 p.m.; Sun noon–6 p.m. |
| Oggi’s Sports Brewhouse Pizza | Santee | 9828 Mission Gorge Rd., Suite A | Sun–Thu 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–10 p.m. |
| Helix Brewing Co. | La Mesa | 8101 Commercial St. | Mon–Thu 3–9 p.m.; Fri–Sat noon–10 p.m.; Sun noon–7 p.m. |
| McIlhenney Brewing | Alpine | 2363 Alpine Blvd. | Tue–Thu 2–7 p.m.; Fri–Sun noon–7 p.m.; closed Mon |
| Mike Hess Brewing Alpine | Alpine | 1347 Tavern Rd. | Mon–Thu noon–8 p.m.; Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m.–8 p.m. |
| Julian Beer Co. | Julian | 2307 Main St. | Mon–Thu 11 a.m.–8 p.m.; Fri 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sat–Sun 10 a.m.–9 p.m. |
| Nickel Beer Co. | Julian | 1485 Hollow Glen Rd. | Mon–Thu 1–7 p.m.; Fri 1–8 p.m.; Sat 11 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m.–7 p.m. |
Hours and addresses are from each business’s website, checked Oct. 30, 2026.
Santee
Sunny Grove Brewing
Start in Santee. Sunny Grove Brewing’s Rain Delay, a 6.8% West Coast IPA, was named San Diego Beer News’ Beer of the Week on Oct. 30, and it shares tap space with the brewery’s core IPA, Hammerhead. Sunny Grove took over the former Pacific Islander Beer Co. space and was named Best New Brewery at the 2025 San Diego Beer News Awards. There’s no kitchen. Food trucks rotate weekly, and pours come in 4-, 10- and 16-ounce sizes.
BNS Brewing & Distilling
BNS bills itself as a Santee original since 2012 and makes both beer and spirits at its Wheatlands Avenue home. Sunny Grove, BNS and Oggi’s are the three remaining brewery-owned venues in Santee, according to a September 2025 report in San Diego Beer News, which also said BNS had quietly been up for sale for more than a year.
Oggi’s Sports Brewhouse Pizza
The Santee location of the Orange County-based Oggi’s chain is the city’s third brewery-owned venue, per San Diego Beer News. Its menu lists Oggi’s own beers, from Crushable Light Ale to Torrey Pines IPA and Black Magic Stout, alongside pizza, wings and build-your-own sampler trays.
La Mesa
Helix Brewing Co.
Helix Brewing pours from an industrial stretch of Commercial Street and shares the space with its sour-beer project, Sourworx. Per Helix’s site, Sourworx closes 30 minutes before Helix. San Diego Beer News profiled the taproom staff in December 2025, calling it “an out-of-the-way spot that’s worth discovering.”
Alpine
McIlhenney Brewing
McIlhenney is a family-owned brewery in the foothills of the Cuyamaca Mountains. San Diego Beer News’ East County guide explains the backstory: the McIlhenney family ran the original Alpine Beer Co., sold it in 2014, and in 2020 Patrick and Shawn McIlhenney reopened under their own name in the same spot. SDBN says the portfolio still leans on IPAs and New Zealand hops.
Mike Hess Brewing Alpine
North Park-based Mike Hess runs a taphouse and kitchen on Tavern Road in a venue that, SDBN reports, Green Flash originally opened in 2015 as an Alpine Beer Co. bar and restaurant. Mike Hess says the Alpine location has more than 20 beers and seltzers on draft, a full kitchen, a grass area and a patio with a fire pit, and that it’s kid- and pet-friendly.
Julian
Julian Beer Co.
On Julian’s Main Street, Julian Beer Co. describes itself as a brewery, eatery and venue serving handcrafted beer with pizza, BBQ and small plates, plus events and live music.
Nickel Beer Co.
Nickel Beer Co. is half a mile east of downtown Julian, just past the library and high school, according to its directions page. Look for the green building on Hollow Glen Road.
What’s missing from this East County San Diego breweries list
El Cajon has no entry right now. Burning Beard Brewing closed its Vernon Way taproom this spring, and its planned move to a Gillespie Field hangar is waiting on approvals, San Diego Beer News reported on Oct. 5. Lakeside has no brewery taproom open today, and several former East County spots, including Bolt Brewery’s La Mesa location and Three Frogs Beer Co. in Santee, have closed. Ramona’s Smoking Cannon recently opened a new tasting room, but we couldn’t confirm its hours from the brewery, so it’s not in the table.
FAQ
Plot your East County route
East County’s beer map is small but varied. There are three brewery-owned spots in Santee, a La Mesa taproom with its own sour program, two Alpine stops with deep family and brand history, and two Julian taprooms for an apple-country day trip. Start with Sunny Grove’s Rain Delay, then work your way uphill.
For the rest of the county, from the coast to the border, use our San Diego brewery list. Hours were checked Oct. 30, 2026, and our scanners will update this guide as East County changes.
Transmission complete.
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