Silicon Valley Beer Week 2013: Gordon Biersch Kick of Party

Felt like walking into the Wonka Factory.

It's Silicon Valley Beer Week! Michael and I attended the Kick Off Party at Gordon Biersch on Sunday. It took place at the brewhouse in east San Jose, right in the back storage and shipping area.

I will do a separate post about Gordon Biersch later on. Right now let's just focus on the event...

Do you ever think about how many random people's photo's you're in?

It consistent of several tents featuring a pairing of an appetizer from a local restaurant and a beer from a local brewery.

Yummy Pilsner

Gordon Biersch had its Czech Style Pilsner, which was my first drink. It is a pretty standard German Pilsner, maybe a little more on the malty side. Very drinkable and a nice starter for the party.

Very big golden ale

Strike Brewing Company offered its Blonde Ale, a very golden ale with a lot of malt. This is a good beer, but has a tartness that needs to be paired with something herb-y or it is overpowering. I see it going well with appetizers, maybe some thick wheat crackers and basil hummus.

I was SO happy to have vegan food. 

There was even a vegan vendor, Good Karma Cafe! We had dinner there the other night actually (I will do a post about it soon). Good Karma served jalapeno poppers, which I have not had in a long time so I was happy. The beer pairing was Lagunitas Dogtown Pale Ale.

Love this IPA

This is a crisp, hoppy beer. Prefect to cut through the richness of the vegan cream cheese in the poppers. I know from experience this also pairs very well with juicy veggie burger. Towards the end, Good Karma ran out of Dogtown, so they tapped a Maximus instead. It's a extremely hoppy IPA, also paired with with the poppers.

Biere de Chocolat, very interesting...

Almanac Beer Company had its California Table Beer: Biere de Chocolat. This is very complex beer, very chocolaty. A bit bitter at first, and finishes kind of smokey. I was not that impressed by this beer. It is a bit much to drink on its own (and does not pair well with jalapeno poppers). I'm sure the beer would have been better with the pairing, a bacon wrapped date or something, to give it more sweetness and compliment all the background flavors. I am very interested in trying more of Almanac's beers though. I love the its concept of taking inspiration from Northern California's farming legacy. Making artisan "table beer" similar to making "table wine".

Malty

Hermitage Brewing Company had two choices: Maltopia and Hoptopia. I am kind of allergic to hops, so I try to avoid extremely hoppy beers when I can. I only took a sip of Michael's Hoptopia, plus I've had it before. It's double IPA that does not skip on the hops. It's balanced out by a caramel background taste, but that fresh hops taste is definitely right in the forefront. I did have a sample of Maltopia. It is a Scottish Ale, toasty malt flavor and a little fruity too.

"Never Trust a Skinny Brewer"

This was a very fun event, nice job everyone involved!

Cannery Row Brewing Company and De Tierra Vineyards

Michael and I decided to have a little impromptu celebration of our year and half anniversary. We drove out to Carmel and Monterey for the day. We got massages from A Petite Retreat, which was soooo relaxing. While Michael was getting his I explored downtown Carmel (check out my previous post about Carmel). I received a free wine tasting coupon at De Tierra Vineyards Tasting Room from the massage, which I was more than happy to try.

When I got to the tasting room, they were technically not open yet, but let people who came by in anyways, which I thought was very nice. Anna runs the tasting room, she is very friendly and very knowledgeable. I tried the 2009 Monterey Syrah and the 2008 Montery Pinot Noir, both very nice.

She was extra nice and let me try the dessert wine, the 2006 Ekem Late Harvest Pinot Gris. I am not usually a big fan of dessert wines or liquors, but this was different. I overheard Anna say that sometimes they can be syrupy and that is exactly what I do not like. Why would you want a class of sugary goo after you just ate a delicious dinner? This wine, however, is just sweet enough and not syrupy at all. I bought a bottle :-) Although Michael is not a big wine fan, but I cannot imagine he will say no to some of this poured over ice cream.

Afterwards we headed over to Monterrey. We had lunch at El Torrito. It is just a standard chain Cal-Mex restaurant, good but nothing special. The reason we went is for the view! It hang out right over Monterrey Bay with tons a wildlife in plain sight. There were tons of gulls, adorable harbor seals just loafing on the rocks, a few sea lions went by, and I even as a manta ray jump!

The view from our seat by the window!

Afterwards we walked over to Cannery Row Brewing Company. I cannot find much information on the history of the brewing company itself, I will update this later if I get more information. I can assume they chose the name because they are located on Cannery Row. Cannery Row is located in the New Monterey Section of Monterey (New in the sense that is was not founded back in the early 1800s) right along the water front. From 1902-1973, the area was home to numerous sardine canneries. It was immortalized in John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row. However, over-fishing caused a major collapse in supply and the business had to shut their doors. Today many of old cannery buildings have been refurbished into restaurant and shops, making the area a tourist attraction.

In side of of Cannery Row Brewing Company looks pretty much like a restored cannery. Bare wooden beams and metal fixture.

There is a prohibition theme throughout the place, which I thought was a nice twist. More seaport bars either do the nautical or tropical theme (as beautiful as Monterey is, it is far from tropical).

Since we already ate dinner, we just ordered fries to munch on. They were good, no complaints.

They have chalk boards on the walls by the bathroom. 

Now for the beers...

There are so many on tap, it is hard to chose! According to the website, there are 73 beers on tap plus several bottles. 

One side of the menu is just for beer!

We arrived during happy hour, so the Signature Beers were only $5. I got the Monterey Bay Brown Ale. The Brown Ale was excellent. A simple, well-made malty brown ale. Michael wants to make one exactly like it. At first I did not know how I felt a brewery that only makes three beers but when you make that quality of beer, it does not matter.

Then I had a hard time deciding what to get next, so I consulted the bartender. I did not catch her name, but she was awesome. Not only did she know how to pour beer of the tap correctly (a lost skill nowadays), but she knew everything on tap by heart. I told her I liked wheat beer, so she gave me a few fruit ones to try. They were nice, but not what I wanted. Then she pulled out a classic German wheat, Erdinger's Drunkel Weizen. I want to make a beer exactly like that one!

I ordered one more beer, knowing that Michael would probably finish it for me since I was pretty full.  I picked something we both would like. I asked the bartender for something oatmealy and chocolately, and she brought me a glass of Port Brewing Company's Board Room. It was exactly what I wanted. We both want to make a beer like this one.

We then walked around Cannery Row for a while and headed back to the Silicon Valley. It was nice to celebrate our love and have awesome beer.

Bison Brewing Company: Gingerbred Ale and Chocolate Stout

As I mentioned in the previous post, I attended the FoodBuzz Blogger Festival in San Francisco this past weekend. In addition to the Lucky Hand I had during dinner Friday night, I got to sample two more beers during the Taste Pavilion on Saturday. Bison Brewing Company, an organic brewing company from Berkeley, had a few of its year-round and seasonal beers to try.

I had the Gingerbread Ale. It was just spicy enough and not too heavy. It was very fragrant. Michael had the Chocolate Stout. It's a medium-dark beer and not overpowering on the chocolate or malt like really dark stouts. We enjoyed both, and I am a fan because they are USDA Certified Organic!

I am going to look for their IPA at the store so look for that review in the future...