BetterBeerBlog

William Brand, beer columnist of the Oakland Tribune, wrote an interesting article that appeared in several publications. I wanted to write about is sooner but I was just barely able to get to it tonight. In the article, he asked a very simple question, what are the best beer pubs in Silicon Valley? Not surprisingly, the answer was a frustrating and resounding, “The South Bay is a (expletive deleted!!) beer desert.”

Unfortunately, I have to agree. There are no great beer pubs in the South Bay Area, let alone good beer pubs. The South Bay is a veritable wasteland devoid of good beer.

San Francisco has the Toronado, Magnolia, and the Beach Chalet to name a few. Oakland has the Trappist and even Hayward is in on the act with the Bistro. I could go on and list every single little town that has an awesome beer pub but the list would be long and depressing for the residents of the South Bay. San Jose, the city I call home and the third point of the Bay Area triangle, in particular is pathetically devoid of excellent beer pubs.

I may get a few emails telling me I’m full of myself and these people would be entitled to their opinion. There are indeed many places to get drunk in San Jose, I can attest to that personally but I should make a distinction. I’m looking for a good beer bar. You can get drunk just about anywhere but a good beer bar has a few distinctions. According to William Brand, here they are:

1. A warm, friendly, welcoming place without attitude or snobbery.
2. A beer list that goes beyond the standards and frequently offers new beers.
3. Bartenders and waiters who are interested in and care about beer.

That being said, I am at a loss to name even a single place that fits those categories. Some of William Brand’s readers have chimed in and here are their responses.

• Rose and Crown - Palo Alto
• Mission Pizza - Fremont
• El Toro Brew Pub - Morgan Hill
• BJs - Cupertino

I have personally been to Rose and Crown in Palo Alto and find that to be a good bar with an interesting selection of beers. Unfortunately, I don’t count Palo Alto to be part of the South Bay but part of the Peninsula so they’re out. El Toro in Morgan Hill has a vast selection of beers all brewed in house. I went there once for my birthday and enjoyed their beer but found their food to be lacking. I don’t even consider BJs to be a true brew pub as they import their beers from their central brewing facility in Roseville. Mission Pizza sounds to be the most interesting out of the four and a place I will have to give a try.

After all that, San Jose and it’s immediate cities and towns are still left off the map. San Jose has Gordon Biersch, which itself is a good brew pub but they don’t have a large selection and the “fun” beers are just their seasonals. The waitstaff doesn’t seem to be all that knowledgeable about their beers, either.

Luckily for us, there is a silver lining, a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Cupertino, known mainly for being the headquarters of Apple Computers, is planning on building an authentic Hofbrauhaus to be located in the Cupertino Square Shopping Center. I had written about this before but as their summer opening date is fast approaching, I’m starting to see more references to the Hofbrau Beer Hall Silicon Valley Cupertino (yes, that is their long winded name). The Wave Magazine has a small write-up about the Beer Hall you can download here.

While the article doesn’t have too many details regarding specific opening dates or what German beers will be on tap, but if this Hofbrauhaus is going to be anything like its Las Vegas counterpart, we can expect some tasty brews. One of the key points in the article comes from an interview with Stefan Gastager, President of Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas.

“Gastager, who has been overseeing Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas since it was established in 2004 believes authenticity is the key to the business’ success. ‘The quality, of course, costs money,’ he says. ‘But the people like it, and it’s been proven over four years that it’s the right route’”.

Whether or not the Hofbrauhaus will be an excellent beer location that meets the three criteria previously listed remains to be seen. At best, it will. At worst, it will be just another place to get drunk at, especially during Oktoberfest.

I will be keeping close tabs to the success or failure of the Hofbrauhaus. In my opinion, how well it does will be a representation of the demand for quality beer and quality beer establishments here in the South Bay. I’m sure I will not be the only one watching.

If anyone has any good suggestions to excellent beer bars in the South Bay, I’d love to hear from you.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 12:26 am and is filed under Craft Beer, General, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.