Did you know that California leads the country in craft beer production?
(we like to collect local memorabilia, such as this porcelain cap for a local bottling company)
Did you know that breweries were a significant part of Silicon Valley’s economy over 100 years ago?
There were several breweries, but the largest was the Fredericksburg Brewery.
Photo credit: History San Jose
http://historysanjose.zenfolio.com/p374905565#h2bcd6de7 (You can order prints from History San Jose from their archives)
You can now visit that old Fredericksburg/Falstaff location and do some wine tasting, as the J. Lohr Winery is located on the site of the old brewery:
http://jlohr.com/visitus/sanjose
We are seeing the re-emergence of San Jose as a center for beer brewers, something that ended about 100 years ago. Here is a great article by Scott Herhold about the origins of the brewery business in the area:
http://www.mercurynews.com/scott-herhold/ci_26244421/origins-beer-santa-clara-county
Current NEW craft breweries in San Jose include:
Clandestine Brewing: http://www.clandestinebrewing.com
Strike Brewing Co: http://www.strikebrewingco.com
Mission Creek Brewing Co: http://www.missioncreekbrewingco.com
Santa Clara Valley Brewing: http://www.scvbrewing.com
And here is a nice summary of the history of historic Fredericksburg Brewery:
