Brewery Profile

Bootleggers Brewery

In Costa Mesa’s busy Orange County beer landscape, a visit here offers a look at a brewery with roots beyond the immediate neighborhood rather than a one-room startup. The Costa Mesa tasting room is part of Bootleggers Brewery’s broader regional presence, complementing its original location and additional venues in Fullerton and Redlands. Established in 2006 by Aaron and Patricia Barkenhagen, the brewery has built its operations around producing craft beer for the local market and serving it through its tasting rooms and external taps. When visitors walk in, the main draw is straightforward: a place to sample the brewery’s current beers, talk through the list with staff, and get a sense of how a long-running Orange County brewery presents itself outside its original home base.

Travelers exploring breweries in this part of Southern California often look for fresh draft beer, a casual tasting-room setting, and a chance to compare local producers across nearby cities. A stop at the Costa Mesa taproom fits that pattern because it connects visitors to a brewery that operates across several communities rather than only one neighborhood. The experience is less about a fixed attraction and more about checking the day’s selection, asking questions, and seeing what the brewery is pouring at that point in its rotation. The staff is described as knowledgeable and important to the brewery’s service, which matters for visitors who want guidance without needing to know the lineup in advance. For people making a broader Orange County beer itinerary, this tasting room can serve as one of several stops that show how regional breweries extend their reach through multiple venues.

Practical details should be confirmed directly with the Costa Mesa tasting room before visiting, especially hours, current pours, seating arrangements, food options, age policies, and any event schedule. The known visitor focus is the sale and service of locally brewed beverages, so the taproom is the place to confirm what is available that day. Because Bootleggers also distributes through external taps, some visitors may have encountered its beer elsewhere in the region before choosing to visit one of its own rooms. Those planning around a specific beer, group size, or time-sensitive stop should check with the brewery rather than assume a particular setup. As with many tasting rooms, the most reliable approach is to treat the posted or staff-provided tap list as the current guide and use the visit to ask about the brewery’s wider footprint in Fullerton, Redlands, Costa Mesa, and the surrounding Orange County market.

Bootleggers Brewery operates a tasting room in Costa Mesa, California, complementing its original location and additional venues in Fullerton and Redlands. Established in 2006 by founders Aaron and Patricia Barkenhagen, the brewery focuses on producing quality craft beer for the Orange County market. The operation maintains a multi-location presence, utilizing its tasting rooms and various external taps for distribution. While the brewery emphasizes community engagement and customer service, its core function is the production and sale of locally brewed beverages across its regional footprint. The staff is described as knowledgeable and integral to the brewery's operational growth and service delivery.

Website available

696 Randolph Av Ste B, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, USA, Costa Mesa, California, 92626

Phone: (714) 871-2337

Website: http://www.bootleggersbrewery.com/

Hours: COSTA MESA Sunday 11a-11p Monday 11a-11p Tuesday 11a-11p Wednesday 11a-11p Thursday 11a-1a Friday 11a-1a Saturday 11a-1a FULLERTON Sunday 11a-10p Monday 11a-10p Tuesday 11a-10p Wednesday 11a-10p Thursday 11a-10p Friday 11a-12a Saturday 11a-12a