Harry's Hofbrau

adsomers

California

4.58/5  rDev +3.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $

San Jose, CA hasn't seen the level of excitement around craft beer that you can find in San Francisco and Oakland. Harry's Hofbrau is changing that with their recently installed new tap system and a passion for bringing craft beer to the South Bay. When you go to Harry's for beer, you are witnessing a microcosm of what's been happening in the last decade all across the U.S. I think it's ironic that this is happening so late in game, as Northern California is so well-known as being one of the birthplaces of the American craft beer industry. Ironic as it may be, Harry's has finally seen the light, and they are the first to do so. In my opinion they are doing an excellent job leading the charge in these parts.

Examples:
- They host 'pint nights', featuring a particular beer or brewery. Often representatives from the breweries show up, free food is served, the beer is discounted, and glassware is given away.

- They host festivals, such as the recent Double-IPA festival where a lucky few, myself not included :(, were able to get Pliny the Younger among dozens of other hard-to-find hop bombs.

- They have many rotating taps and it seems their beer menu is constantly evolving with some the best-chosen selections you can get anywhere in the Bay Area. They're the ONLY joint on BeerMenus.com right now and the selection is fantastic.

So what's not to like about Harry's? Well, it's a classic hofbrau, and if you aren't already familiar with this kind of atmosphere it might be somewhat of an acquired taste. Many of the best beer spots are "gastropubs" and this place is certainly nothing like that. But the food is tasty and inexpensive, and the place is HUGE with ample, comfortable seating. The bar itself is vast and very comfortable, and the staff is friendly.

03-09-2012 02:49:54 | More by adsomers

Philousa

California

4.24/5  rDev -3.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Harry's Hofbrau is going through a massive overhaul, and it's good news for fans of craft beer! A new bar manager was hired a few months back and he switched out a lot of taps. Now they have a ton of craft beer on tap, both domestic and imported. Tap highlights from my visit include Speakeasy Betrayal and St. Bernardus Abt 12.

I was there for their weekly tasting, which features a 'rare' beer from the featured brewery. Pizza Port Brewing was featuring their Mongo DIPA and Anniversary Ale. It's not a true tasting of what the brewery offers, but you get to keep your glass if the distributer has enough glassware to give out.

I overheard that Harry's has standing orders for limited brews that are coming out later this week, so this might be the place to go in the South Bay for rare, local beers.

08-09-2011 18:40:18 | More by Philousa