.Best Distillery Tasting Room

Located in an old airplane hangar on Alameda’s former Naval Air
Station, the St. George Spirits tasting-room bar looks across the
abandoned Navy airstrips to the San Francisco skyline. The St. George
staff also makes the experience a superb way to spend part of an
afternoon: The bartenders, together with managers Lou Bustamante and
Andie Ferman (aka the Vodka Vixen), keep your experience educational
and entertaining. Through large windows, you might catch distillers
Lance Winters and Dave Smith mixing, checking, tasting, and adjusting
along huge, beautiful copper stills. They host free informal tours of
the distillery on weekends starting at 1 p.m. for $10, which includes a
glass and one “flight” of brandy, vodka, whiskey, liqueur, or absinthe
to taste.