College Football Playoff: Craft beer fans, you’re covered.
San Jose’s growing beer scene has options for everyone from the casual to the aficionado
There’s a rumor going around that college football fans have something of a taste for beer. Fortunately for the Alabama and Clemson fans in town for the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, there are some good options in and around downtown San Jose including several award-winning breweries.
The two breweries closest to the Championship Campus area are Floodcraft Brewing (777 The Alameda) and Uproar Brewing (439 S. First St.). Floodcraft is at the Whole Foods Market near SAP Center, and its secondfloor location provides a great view of downtown San Jose. There are plenty of food and beer options, though seating can fill up quickly.
Uproar has a cavernous space in the South First Area arts district, which is home to several galleries, theaters and coffee shops. Uproar serves its own beer brewed onsite as well as other California craft beers. The pizza, burger and mac and cheese on Uproar’s menu are all worthy choices, but if you want a little California vibe, try the Grilled Broccolini or the Queso Fundido.
Two more breweries, Camino Brewing (718 S. First St.) and Clandestine Brewing (980 S. First St.), are just south of downtown on First Street and both share a homebrewer sensi-
bility. Camino, which has a fantastic backstory rooted in Europe’s Camino de Santiago, has a slate of flavorful beers, including the Cafe Con Leche coffee milk stout, which is brewed with South Bay favorite Chromatic Coffee. Clandestine’s brewers love to push the limits with their creations, which are constantly rotating based on what someone has dreamed up, like the Black in Brack, a tart gose style loaded with locally sourced blackberries.
If you’re interested in making a brew tour of it, there are three more breweries with taprooms in close proximity to each other near San Jose State’s CEFCU Stadium: Santa Clara Valley Brewing (101 E. Alma Ave.), Hermitage Brewing (1627 S. Seventh St.) and Strike Brewing (2099 S. 10th St., #30). Each has its own character and can provide cans, bottles or growlers to take with you. And Hapas Brewing (460 Lincoln Ave., #90) on the edge of San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood is off the beaten path but worth checking out for its rustic atmosphere and creative lineup of beers like the Hipa Hipa, a brut IPA that’s amazingly light and clear.
Beer fans in search of variety also can stop by ISO Beers (75 E. Santa Clara St.), Good Karma Artisan Ales (37 S. First St.) and Original Gravity Public House (66 S. First St.), which offer dozens of hard-to-find draft or bottled beers. And if you have a group, you might want to look into booking a tour with San Jose Brew Bike, a pedal- driven tour around downtown’s top beer spots.
Cheers!