Blender

Recipes 

Yep, Gordon Biersch is a German brew house. You are going to have a hard time finding a brew house within walking distance of Stanford. There just aren't to many in the San Jose area in general.

david_42

Recipes 

I think the WineO's keep good beer out of the local area. Tied House in San Jose isn't much better than GB. Sad to be so close to great beer & not get any.

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Remember one unassailable statistic, as explained by the late, great George Carlin: "Just think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are even stupider!"

Quercus

Recipes 

Definitely check out Sudwerk in Davis...I've always heard great things.

I've heard that the Lagunitas tour/experience is better than Russian River, but I have not done either.

As far as interesting beers, Russian River wins hands down...their pub is in a cool location, but the food mostly sucks (get pizza ONLY). However, the beers...Pliny, Damnation, the Brett beers...really good and unusual stuff.

I don't know of any brewpubs in Palo Alto, but I have to believe there are some bars that serve primo beer. I just don't know where they are.

MoreBeer now has an outlet on San Antonio Expressway, about two miles south of Stanford...you could give them a call to get the scoop.

I gotta say...if you're coming through Marin, and driving through SF to get to Palo Alto...do yourself a favor and make a stop or two in SF.

Brewery-wise you could do Anchor Steam (gotta reserve ahead of time for a tour), or Speakeasy (killer West Coast-style beers).

Bar-wise, gotta do Toronado. Just Google and check out their beer list. Or, 21st Amendment if you want food, too.

City Beer Store if you need to stock up for your hotel room...go ahead, Google it...I dare ya!

Or, if you just wanna chill with a beer and have a bite to eat, overlooking the ocean, stop at Beach Chalet at Ocean Beach...a very short detour off of 101 South.

Have fun!

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Primary: Bee Cave Pale Ale
Secondary: ~nada~
Drinking: yes