Corralitos Brewing Company

I was hoping to really like this place but it fell short, way short!
The parking lots was full of cars, we were lucky enough to find a spot! The inside of the brewery was small, and seemed a little smaller because there were multiple strollers and kids running around. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for kid friendly breweries, but people keep in mind that it is a brewery and not a play ground. People are holding beers that will spill when hit, just in case you didn’t know.
I saw a lady holding a beautiful red type beer, by just looking at it, it looked like it tasted awesome! It was the Hibiscus beer saison. They poured it… I paid… I put the beer to my lips and took a big gulp-​_​– my exact face. I didn’t like it at all! I had to finish it, because we don’t waste beer. And the more I drank it, I didn’t dislike it as much, but I still didn’t love it.

Just had their pale ale in Capitola. Not sure what specific one it was but one of the best beers I’ve ever had. Seriously.

Great beer ! My wife and I were introduced to this beer at farmers market in Campbell. We fill up our growlers every Sunday ! We decided to drive down today to the brewery. Incredible beers!

I love this place, great beers relaxed chill atmosphere. A good spot to get a beer after Mt. Biking Soquel Demo Forest.

Delicious beers, relaxing ambiance, love the natural wood inside. Great place to hang out, and great service! Love the Mandarina Saison. Will definitely come back!

Really cool little brewery with a friendly/​knowledgable staff. Richter Red & the Hop Kiss were both solid. Hit this place in the late afternoon and was kind of shocked to see people coming in to buy shirts and hats and leave! WTF? Get a brew too already. Regardless definitely be back for a refill in the near future!

I finally got a chance to stop into this place, I first tried their beers at a grazing on the green many years back before they actually had a tasting room. Many days and many pints have gone by since then and I’m happy to report that they are doing great!
They share the building with pacific firewood and the Saturday afternoon I stopped in there was a steady flow of thirsty beer seekers pouring in for the couple hours I was there. I read some reviews that said they typically have a food truck there but this day there was none. Having such tasty beer it made me crave some tasty food and the drive to the local taqueria which wrecked our order and turned it into two trips to the local taqueria was a hassle. I can’t fault them for the poor taqueria performance but a suggestion would be to expand and offer food…
Now for the beer. It was awesome! We had a full flight of all 12 beers that cost us $ 20. The prices are not posted that I could see but I was led to believe we got the 2 extra samples (over the 10 that makes up 2 flights) were freebies. The flights were mostly dominated by pale ale and IPA varieties that seemed to follow a cascade hop flavor profile. There were a few saisons that added a more tart spectrum to the flights. 2 barrel aged sour beers that were quite good. And finally one dark beer, an oatmeal stout that rounded out the color spectrum.
I settled on an equinox pale ale for my final pint as the sampler had me feeling pretty calibrated. At 5.8% ABV it was tasty and not too strong so I could make through to the evening. There imperial IPA was very good but at close to 9% I would have still been sleeping in the parking lot instead of enjoying the fair. The Holi water hybiscus saison was an interesting offering worth mentioning. I’m admittedly somewhat of a beer purist but this was one time I could veer from the Reinheitsgebot and feel good about it. I felt the same way about their sour beers, having 12 beers to sample side by side makes beer tasting more of an adventure.
Well, you get the point, if you love beer, this place is a real treat. Don’t count on the food truck and bring your own take in and you will surely love this place.

Wowfeels like high school heaven in Stuttgart Konig straBBe’s heffe weisen. You may sit here and look at a farmfield in adorable CorraLitos just feels like you read a book of Russian Tolstoy or French Gide and enjoy the peace of existence as Sartre very tasty beer and friendly ppl

On my way to 5 breweries today, probably the least favorite. All beers are real hoppy and bitter. But I have to say that their blonde ale was real good.

Great beer, nice staff and low key. The only thing I wish they had was food or snacks. My boyfriend liked their ipas and I loved their stout and Sasoin. I am glad we stumbled by this place while leaving the beach! They do an awesome flight that I will try next time.

Something cool in Watsonville? Oh Yeah.
Fresh cold beer in a relaxed setting and hopefully a rock’in food truck out front… sweet.
Not in a hurry vibe with a good mix of culture and collars. You have some farmers, a few bikers, some soccer moms and a handful of good ol boys… love it.
Kids and pooches seems like no problem.
Any town U.S.A. could use a place like this, now I have a good reason to come back after leaving town 26 years ago.
Last word… pint.

Super great location with farms across the street and horse riding up to the bar for beer. The food truck was a nice addition. I recommend calling ahead to ensure there is a food truck there that day.

Fantastic beer and friendly, knowledgable staff. I roll down there to have a couple pints, shoot the shit with the brewers, fill my growler, and eat something. All of there beers are very good. I rock my Corralitos Brewing Company sweatshirt with pride around town and am always stopped by other beerficianados asking about the taphouse. the longer lines at busier times is a drag but a testament to the quality of their beer. Interesting mixed crowd. I like seeing farmworkers, teachers, hipsters, retirees, families, and the ball cap over the ears shades inside type of folks all drinking together and chatting.
go there.

Some of the best brews in Santa Cruz. The staff is very inviting and there is a gourmet food truck out front every night. If you have not tried it yet you should.

Came here with my Compa to have a couple of beers!!! Awesome food truck outside if your hungry. Beers and food are awesome for a good price!!! Cheers

Update (Original Review Below): «Natalia L.» reached out to me today and said, «We have every intention of giving tours when [Brew Cruz] her groups come in, but had not anticipated these kind of crowds, so are not yet fully staffed. We’ll plan on having an extra person on hand, so that Luke (my husband) or myself is able to give tours of the brew house.»
Oddly enough she also said that Sunday (Mothers Day, I assume) the Brew Cruz came in again and they weren’t available for tours. On Mothers Day… throw a wine barrel on its side in the middle of the brewery, setup tasters, and when the bus rolls in, usher everyone to the «magic area»…
I wish she had offered me a 2:1 pint coupon or something. I still want to go back because some of the photos of the brewing area look really nice. I suspect they don’t give tours normally, which is too bad. Also, how are they not fully staffed? Throw a rock in Watsonville and I’m sure you’ll hit 10 people looking for jobs. I guess if you need people qualified to talk about the beer you’d have to aim a little harder.
I’m glad she responded, means they are gathering information on any criticisms. Kudo’s CBC! Prost!
Original Review: I will say that Corralitos is a 5-​star brewery.
I’ve been a fan of these guys for a year or so, and while I thought I was on their mailing list, their grand opening elluded me, BUT no big deal, I forgive them.
My review is a bit round-​a-​bout, so bare with me. The first part is NOT about the beer, read below for that.
I recently did the New Bohemia Brewing Company Kickstarter and I bought the «Free» Santa Cruz Brew Cruz reward tier, which was good for a bus tour of Nubo and 2 other breweries. We signed up to go last Sunday (April 19^th, 2015), and chose Corralitos, Sante Adairius, and Nubu as our 3 stops.
We made our way to Corralitos on a beautiful cool Sunday afternoon, and arrived around 1:30pm. Now this is a tour bus which holds 15 eager beer drinkers. (OK, we only had 11+2 kids, but you get the idea) We get off the bus to what we expected would be a warm greeting, maybe a tour or some questions answered. Unfortunatly the bar was a bit busy and we got our tasters to enjoy on the front patio, and that was about it.
I went back before we left to get a growler filled, but there wasn’t much in the way of pomp and circumstance. I mean if businesses are made or broken on first impressions, you’d think a brewery tour bus would at the very least get you a discount on some glasses or t-​shirts. We all left with a LOT of cash burning holes in our pockets.
THE BEER:
Amazing, for such a young brewery these guys had some pleasant surprises. 10 beers on tap ranging from a couple barrel aged brews (one a blend of 3 tasty beers), a Belgium Tripel, an IPA, a few Pale Ales, all very unique and fun to drink. Everyone got 5 beer tasters and swapped tastes with one another.
Kids played in the mustard grass and everyone enjoyed the beautiful sunny day.
Summary:
Beautiful place, but I wish I had been pampered a little bit more.

Super stoked about this place! Definitely what the area needs. Visited the first time on Valentine’s day and tried the Blonde and the Pale Ale. Good stuff! This place is definitely the new hot spot, whenever i drive by there are people out the door. They dont have food their but food trucks do visit. I recommend they bring in a taco truck! Im excited for their future and hope they continue to be successful.

Wide selection of amazing beers and the space is really cool. Definitely worth a trip out. Be sure to talk to the owners, you can tell they put a lot of work into this place and really have found their nitch. Dont forget to try the IPA.

Our new favorite local spot to get a brew. Beautiful tasting room and friendly staff!

Good solid brews in a good space. This is just what Watsonville needs. Brewer/​co-​owner Luke was very welcoming and looking forward to bike parking and dog-​friendly (on leash) porch seating! Come on down for a pint; I’ll see you there.
On the opening night, there was a hot dog truck there… A nice touch for a tasting room.