Gordon Biersch Brewery is an American

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

founded by Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch. Gordon, a graduate from the five-year brewing engineering program at

Weihenstephan Weihenstephan is a part of Freising north of Munich, Germany. It is located on the Weihenstephan Hill, named after the Weihenstephan Abbey, in the west of the city. Weihenstephan is known for: * the Benedictine Weihenstephan Abbey, founded 725, ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and Biersch opened their first brewery restaurant in

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, in July 1988. In 1999, the restaurants were sold to what ultimately became

CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries CraftWorks Holdings, Inc. was a multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee with an additional Restaurant Support Office (RSO) in Broomfield, Colorado. The company owned several casual dining restaurant chain brands, inc ...

. In November 1995, the two founders and their original investors, wanting to expand their then $20 million business, accepted a $11.2 million investment from the Fertitta family of Las Vegas.

Lorenzo Fertitta Lorenzo Joseph Fertitta (born January 3, 1969) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is chairman of Fertitta Capital, director of Red Rock Resorts Inc, and former CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Early life and education L ...

became the controlling owner. , Gordon Biersch brews beer for

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (Trade name, doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only Big-box store, big-box retail stores (warehouse c ...

and

Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores headquartered in Monrovia, California. The chain has over 569 stores across the United States. The first Trader Joe's store was opened in 1967 by founder Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, Californi ...

under contract. The Gordon Biersch brewery and bottling plant is located in

Japantown is a common name for Japanese communities in cities and towns outside Japan. Alternatively, a Japantown may be called J-town, Little Tokyo or , the first two being common names for Japantown, San Francisco, Japantown, San Jose and Little ...

in San Jose, California. In 2016, Gordon Biersch released a dry-hopped red ale called "Chum" in honor of the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

Awards

Gordon Biersch Brewing Company has won several American awards. At the

Great American Beer Festival The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual beer festival hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado. Typically held in late September or early October, the event is currently held at Denver's Colorado Convention Center. ...

, they won gold in the category of Bohemian-style

pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (german: Pilsen), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Bre ...

in 2004, and in the category of German Style Schwarzbier in 2007, and the Rauchbier brewed at the Gordon Biersch Restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland, won gold in 2014. In 2018, Gordon Bierch at Tysons Corner, by brewer Justin Damadio, won a gold medal in the Bohemian Pilsner category at

. At the World Beer Cup 2002, they won gold in the category of sweet stout and bronze in the category of Vienna style lager, and at the World Beer Cup 2006, they won gold in the German style schwarzbier category."World Beer Cup 2006 Winners List"
(retrieved on August 15, 2017).

References

External links

* {{Authority control Beer brewing companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area American companies established in 1988 Restaurants in San Jose, California Food and drink companies established in 1988 Restaurants established in 1988 1988 establishments in California Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020

Awards

See also

References

External links