Like Guinness, beer tastes different/better when sampled near it's source. Staying California is likely a good thing for the quality of the product consumed.

E.g. up in Northfield Minnesota they make Marshmallow Mateys, a ripoff of lucky charms made by Malt-o-Meal. In the dorm cafeteria at St. Olaf College the flavor is like nothing else anywhere in the world. Once you taste it there where they make it, everything else is a sad stale imitation.