Stike Brewing Co. "Cheers to 2 Years" anniversary party on October 8th

One of San Jose's first craft breweries is celebrating two years at their S. 10th street location! To honor the occasion, Strike Brewing is throwing a huge party with killer beer, food trucks, live music, and a silent auction.

Tickets to the event cost $20 in advance or $25 at the door. That includes a special glass that's yours to keep and 3 pints of your choosing (everything is a pint that day).

To help absorb some of the delicious beer, the Gow Chow food truck will be on site from 1-5pm, followed by Kushi Yaki at 5-9pm. It all goes down on October 8th at 2099 S. 10th St. #30, San Jose, CA 95112.

Tickets are on sale now right over here. For more info, check out Strike's Facebook page.

Strike Brewing Company Scores a Hit with its Bullpen Series

The Bullpen Series from Strike Brewing Company has been all about the chance to offer guests a wider variety of beer styles at the taproom. It's also provided an outlet for Strike to develop and try out new recipes.

Recent beers coming out of the Bullpen Series have included Berliner Weisse with blueberries and pomegranate, Rained Out Pale Ale with pineapple and toasted coconut, Bergamot Breakfast Pale Ale with local lemon zest and Earl Grey tea, Milk Stout and Big Wall Imperial Stout with Madagascar Vanilla Beans.

With such creative beers coming out every month or so and only available at the taproom, it's not a surprise that these Bullpen beers don't last long upon their release.

I was curious about how the Bullpen Series came about and was able to connect with its developer, Strike brewer Ryan Bridge, a South Bay native. My Q&A with him can be found here on my local beer site.

Strike is also celebrating the 2nd anniversary of their taproom opening on Oct. 8. Click here for more info. and tickets.

Cheers!

Hermitage Brewing Company to Tap Very Limited Barrel-Aged Beers

On Thurs., May 15 at 4pm, Hermitage Brewing Company is set to tap four very limited amounts of barrel-aged beers in their San Jose brewery and tap room at 1627 South 7th Street. The aged beers will be a brown, vanilla porter, Maltopia Scotch Ale and Maltopia Scotch Ale made with apricots. The tap room will be the only place offering these beers, and I can't wait to try them.

Hermitage Brewing, established in 2009, provides contract brewing services for other brewing companies, but they've been making impressive beers of late, such as their Single Hop IPA series and their seasonal Ryetopia Barrel-Aged Rye Barley Wine.

The unique beers that Hermitage is making, along with the tapping parties, certainly go a long way to enhancing San Jose's beer scene.

If you haven't visited the Hermitage tap room yet, it's a bit tricky to get to as I indicated earlier today in my SanJose.com article (which also has more info. on the barrel-aged beers). Basically head south on 7th towards Phelan Ave. and look for signage at the last driveway on the right before hitting Phelan Ave. Proceed towards the back of the large industrial buildings.

If you do make it, please let me know what you think of the beers via comments.

Prost! Gun bae! Cheers!

Hermitage Brewing Company tasting room, Credits: Hermitage

Help Launch Strike Brewing Company's Taproom

Strike Brewing Company's own production brewery is scheduled to open shortly, hopefully this June, at 2099 S. 10th St., but to make sure that their taproom -- where people can actually have a place to visit, taste, and hang out -- opens around the same time, they're calling on the community for assistance.

Strike has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $20,000 to help fund the taproom. The campaign is more than half funded, but there needs to be more backers as the campaign closes this Saturday, April 26.

Visit the Kickstarter page to read more about Strike and the taproom story. As both a San Jose enthusiast and South Bay beer fan, I'm excited that Strike chose to build their brewery in San Jose. It'll be great if we could help them get to the $20,000 mark and play a part in building their taproom.

I've written a bit more about the Strike campaign on Examiner.com.

Prost! Gun bae! Cheers!

~Andy

Strike Brewing's Jenny Lewis (c) and Drew Ehrlich (r) joined by Santa Clara Valley Brewing's Steve Donohue (l), Credits: Andy Lee