Gordon Biersch Brewing Company

The Gordon Biersch Story

The Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants are a showcase for the vision of two extremely talented and enterprising young men. Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch have received national recognition for their winning formula of meticulously brewed German-style beers, which are made on the premises at each of the five Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, combined with an international menu of appetizers and entrees designed specifically to complement the award winning lagers. A success since the day the doors opened, the brewery restaurants have garnered extensive critical acclaim and enjoy a devoted clientele. There are three Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants located in Northern California - downtown Palo Alto in the former Bijou Theatre, downtown San Jose, and in the historic Hills Brothers Plaza on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. They were joined in 1993 by a Southern California location at the One Colorado complex in Pasadena. In November, 1994, the Gordon Biersch name reached across the Pacific with the establishment of the GB Brewery Restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii. Gordon Biersch microbrewery beer is also available at the San Francisco Airport, 3 Com Park at Candlestick Point, Los Angeles Airport, Oakland Coliseum, Concord Pavilion, and more than 500 other retail locations throughout Northern California and Hawaii. By early 1997, the first Gordon Biersch bottled beers will roll out of the companyís new brewing, kegging and bottling facility, currently under construction in San Jose. The 114,000-square foot, three-story building will house state-of-the-art, automated brewing equipment imported from the historic Grandau-Grafing Brewery in Bavaria, established in 1615. With an annual production capacity of 50,000 barrels, the facility will support the companyís long-awaited entry into the bottled beer market, annually producing over 11 million bottles in 12-ounce six-packs and 35,000 kegs. The brewing process for all Gordon Biersch sites is supervised by Dan Gordon, the first American in over 30 years to graduate from the rigorous five-year brewing engineering program at the Technical University of Munich in Weihenstephan. The Gordon Biersch breweries produce three unique beers: Export, Marzen, and Dunkles. Gordon adheres to strict German purity laws; the hops are the finest, most expensive, aromatic Hallertauer variety and the yeast is a pure strain culture from the Weihenstephan yeast bank and supplied exclusively to Gordon Biersch by the Schwarz Brauerei in Zusmarshausen, Germany. Dean Biersch, director of restaurant operations, is a master of the dining experience, with an extensive restaurant and hospitality background. Biersch has designed and refined an inventive and carefully crafted menu, ranging from Southwestern, Mediterranean, and Asian specialties, that perfectly complements the flavor of the critically acclaimed, fresh-brewed beer. In April of 1996, Tom Allin was appointed President and CEO of the Gordon Biersch Brewing Company. Allin brought to the post an impressive 23 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, working from 1973 to 1996 for one of the most successful and expansion-minded entities in the industry, McDonaldís Corporation. The Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants feature a friendly, open and warm ambiance. In each location, guests have a clear view of the huge brewing tanks gleaming behind large plate glass windows, and can observe the brewing process as Gordon and his brewers create the famous lagers. The San Jose location is one of Northern Californiaís premiere jazz venues and features live jazz performances in its spacious outdoor beer garden throughout the spring and summer months, the San Francisco site hosts jazz on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and island musicians perform year-round out on the lanai at the Honolulu location. The establishments are open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. Reservations are recommended and all major credit cards are accepted. Gordon Biersch caters private functions of all sizes at the breweries and elsewhere.

Contact: Glodow Coats & Nead Publicity Services, (415) 864-2333 or (707) 935-6203.