Pints on the Peninsula: The Six Fifty’s guide to winning Silicon Valley Beer Week
Everything you need to know about what’s brewing during the big South Bay beer fest
Beer Week is back in the Bay! From July 20–29, the Sixth Annual Silicon Valley Beer Week will be showcasing everything from tastings to tap takeovers throughout the South Bay. In celebration of the vibrant craft brew culture in the region, our local bars, breweries and restaurants are putting their best beers forward, alongside some epic eats to match. So don’t let this coming week of hoppin’ festivities pass you by: here’s our guide to the best Beer Week happenings around Silicon Valley.
TAP’T Beer & Kitchen
The perennially popular downtown Sunnyvale-based taproom will be hosting a lengthy list of special events throughout Silicon Valley Beer Week, beginning with a Barebottle Brewing tap takeover on Friday before getting tart with their locally-made sour beers for Sour Sunday. Other events throughout the week include outdoor Taco Tuesday on the patio, a meet-up with the founders of shandy-specializing brewery T.W. Brewers and a blind-tasting contest where correctly guessing six unmarked IPAs will win you a prize.
TAP’T’s full kitchen is well worth a visit on its own, serving up breakfast, lunch and dinner — from pancakes to fried chicken (or go all in with a serving of their Clucking Jacks: pancakes topped with fried chicken). So grab a pint, order up some snacks and settle into their patio for some summer atmosphere.
TAP’T Beer & Kitchen // 259 W Washington Ave, Sunnyvale (408) 617–8278
Steins Beer Garden
Get Frucht at Steins! The always lively Beer Garden celebrates the summer fruit harvest by showcasing specialty barrels (cellared Frucht kegs) from SoCal’s Bruery Teurreux. They’ll be tapping peach, cranberry orange, raspberry, guava and passionfruit fruit beers, during what is likely to be one of Beer Week’s most popular events.
Of course, don’t sleep on their Speakeasy Patio Party the weekend prior with a variety of beers from the heavyweight San Francisco brewery.
Steins Beer Garden // 895 Villa St, Mountain View (650) 963–9568
Golden State Brewery
Bring your pup to the pet-friendly Golden State Brewery and get a beer of your choice along with a goodie bag filled with fun items for your pooch.
Not an animal person? Not to worry, three other collaborative events will be taking place including their showcase of a passion fruit beer that they developed alongside Six Rivers Brewery, a White Donut Peach & Strawberry Kettle Sour they made with Hapa Brewing Co., and a Beer and Treat pairing provided by Mama Bear’s Oven Baked Treats that will include four beer tastings and four perfectly paired eats.
Golden State Brewery // 1252 Memorex Dr, Santa Clara (408) 727–2337
Nom Burger
The Sunnyvale burger masters have lined up a lengthy list of tap takeovers this year, kicking off with a colorful cross section from Stone Brewing, before moving through the week with the likes of Lost Coast, Firestone Walker and Hapa’s Brewing.
End the week with their annual Beer Pong Tournament and see if you’ve got the touch to be crowned South Bay champ.
Wow, busy week! Factor in their menu of epic burgers and we might be sleeping over.
Nom Burger // 251 W Washington Ave, Sunnyvale, (408) 720–8880
Alpha Acid Brewing
We’d be remiss not to clue you into the always anticipated Barrel Constrictor Day (July 21st) with the offbeat brewers of Belmont — Alpha Acid. Savvy Peninsula hop-heads know that this is a rare opportunity to bring home their highly-touted barrel-aged Imperial Stout. Bourbon and Vanilla Bourbon will be on sale in 375ml and 750ml sizes, while the in-house taps will feature other variants of the popular black brew. Supplies are limited, highly sought after and very delicious, so arrive early…but, you know, pace yourself, too.
Alpha Acid Brewing // 121 Industrial Rd #11, Belmont (650) 394–4728
Faultline Brewing Company
It’s a full week of events and specials at Sunnyvale’s Faultline including beer flights and food pairing specials all week long. Drop by to watch the Giants play the As on Saturday and enjoy all day happy hour (yeah, might get rowdy).
But plan accordingly, because the big beer specials come later in the week, first with a Golden State Brewery Tap Takeover (all day happy hour for that one, too!), and then a limited edition release of Faultline’s Bottle Conditioned White Wolf Witbier (starting at 4pm and limited to the first 100 participants).
Faultline Brewing Company // 1235 Oakmead Pkwy, Sunnyvale, (408) 736–2739
Jack’s Bar & Lounge
Gear up for the Beer Can Cornhole Tournament (July 24th) at Jack’s Bar & Lounge in San Jose’s Japantown. Register your team of two for $10 and get two complementary 12oz cans of beer.
Or skip the cornhole and settle in to watch some baseball on Jack’s numerous HD flat screens.
Jack’s Bar & Lounge // 167 E Taylor St, San Jose (408) 287–5225
The Counter
Design a custom beer and burger pairing at The Counter in Cupertino and then mention Silicon Valley Beer Week on Pint Night and enjoy $1 off any of their 14 local beers on draft. But leave room for dessert, because the main attraction will be their Firestone Walker Nitro Velvet Merlin Beer ice cream floats (a mouthful, in more ways than one) to knock out both your alcohol and sugar cravings in one go.
The Counter // 20080 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino (408) 477–2917
Also worth noting during Silicon Valley Beer Week:
- Ballast Point Patio Party—Sushi Confidential (7/20)
- Breweries, Bars & Brothels Walking Tour (7/21)
- Jane’s Beer Store 6th Year Anniversary—Special Bottle Saturday (7/21)
- Earthquakes vs Manchester U Pre-Party—Smoke Eaters-Santa Clara (7/22)
- Sapporo Black Lager Ice Cream and Draft Saporro—Ozumo Santana Row (7/24)
- Mission Trail Cider Tap Takeover—The Cider Junction (7/26)
- The Big LeBREWski Fest—Clandestine Brewing (7/27)
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