Drink: A Silicon Valley taproom has just been named the top beer bar in California. Cheers!
For the last few years, Craftbeer.com, the Brewers Association’s consumer website, has asked readers to choose the best beer bar in each state by nominating their favorite place and explaining what makes it their favorite, whether it’s the atmosphere, knowledgeable staff, beer selection or the extraordinary events they host. This year’s California winner? Santa Clara’s Taplands, which was founded by Matt Hartenstein and Shannon Mcginley in 2016.
The Brewers Association’s Feb. 27 announcement described Taplands as “inspired by the Disneyland map — think Frontierland and (Tomorrowland) … With a vision to be the center of craft beer discovery in Silicon Valley, this California beer bar aims to be the neighborhood spot where beer aficionados and newbies alike can feel right at home.”
I was impressed by Hartenstein’s passion for beer when I first met him, shortly before Taplands opened — and I wasn’t the only one. Taplands is a beer bar with 25 rotating taps, but it’s also a bottle shop and nanobrewery producing small 15- to 30-gallon batches of beer just for the taproom. It also offers a small menu of snacks — spicy deviled eggs, charcuterie and cheese platters — and panini.
Taplands is open daily at 1171 Homestead Road in Santa Clara; www.taplands.com.
ANCHOR BREWING NEWS >> Perhaps the biggest news for beer lovers so far this year is that for the first time, Anchor Steam Beer is available in 12-ounce cans. The San Francisco brewery had previously done tallboy 19.2-oz cans, but this marks the debut of the popular size, which can be found in six-packs and in a new Anchor variety 12-pack.
A NEW FIELDWORK >> Berkeley-based Fieldwork Brewing’s expansion continues apace with the recently opening of its seventh location. This one’s in Marin County’s Corte Madera Town Center. In addition to offering 18 Fieldwork beers on draft, the Corte Madera location has a full menu that includes Neapolitan-inspired pizza, salads and appetizers.
Like the Fieldwork locations in Berkeley, San Mateo, San Ramon, Monterey, Napa and Sacramento, the Marin brewpub at 107 Corte Madera Town Center is open daily; fieldworkbrewing.com.
BEERVENTURES >> March 21 is Orval Day, a salute to the renowned Belgian Trappist beer via a celebration that raises money for charity — Safe Water Network — as you sip one of the world’s great beers. Several Bay Area restaurants and bars are participating, including Oakland’s Brotzeit Lokal, Menlo Park and San Carlos’ The Refuge locations, Petaluma’s Taps, and San Francisco’s La Trappe, Noc Noc and The Toronado. Find the full list of participating locations at merchantduvin.com/orvalday.php.
Spring beer festival season gets underway this month with the Brewing Network’s 11th annual Spring Brews Festival ($40-$50), noon to 4 p.m. March 28 at Concord’s Todos Santos Plaza; www.thebrewingnetwork.com.
April 4 brings the 20th annual Battle of the Brews ($60-$110) at Santa Rosa’s Sonoma County Fairgrounds, with sips and tastes from more than 100 breweries and 50 restaurants and live music filling the hall; battleofthebrews.com. And April 11 is the seventh annual Cider Summit ($35-$50) at San Francisco’s Presidio Civil War Parade Grounds; www.cidersummitnw.com.