Tap Handle #111: Gordon Biersch - Czech Pilsner

This is a very nice tap, featuring a brewmaster drinking straight from a barrel tap, and the "never trust a skinny brewer" caption on the barrel is quite funny. All varieties are similar, with the difference being the "label" on the stand. The whole tap unscrews into multiple pieces, which allows the piece with the variety name to be changed out for another.

Gordon Biersch Brewing was found by Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch in 1987. Gordon had completed a 5 year brewing program at The Technical University of Munich, the most renowned brewing school in the world, and was in high demand. Biersch was looking to open a restaurant & brewery chain. They were introduced and agreed to produce beer according to the German Purity Law of 1516, using a special yeast imported from Germany. in 1988 they opened The Gordon Biersch Brewery restaurant in Palo Alto, California. In 1995 the two founders and their investors were looking to expand the business and accepted an $11.2 million investment from the Fertitta family of Las Vegas, who became the controlling owners. The investment allowed the building of a new brewery and bottling plant in San Jose by 1997. The restaurant business also expanded, with Gordon Biersch opening 29 locations and 18 states and Washington D.C., and even two locations in Taiwan. In 1999 the restaurants were sold to Big River Brewing. In 2010 the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group merged with Rock Bottom Restaurants to form CraftWorks Restaurants and Breweries (I first mentioned CraftWorks in Tap Handle post #52, as Boulder Beer does contract brewing for them). Over the years Gordon Biersch beers have won many medals, including several gold.

Czech Pilsner is a golden beer first brewed in the Czech town of Pilsen in 1872 when a special yeast was smuggled out of Germany by a Czech monk. Pilsen is famous for its hops, which along with pilsner malt is imported for this beer. Recommended food pairings are spicy foods, especially Thai, Mexican and Chinese. Weighted average on ratebeer.com is 2.84 out of 5.

Gordon Biersch Official Website