By Dennis Oda Star-Bulletin
Dan Gordon holds the Marzen and Pilsner beers
brewed by Gordon Biersch. He is in the cold storage
room where beer is held before it is dispensed
in the bar of the Honolulu restaurant.
Gordon Biersch
goes high-tech
Brings its beer to stores in bottles
By Tim Ryan
Star-BulletinDan Gordon, director of brewing operations of the Gordon Biersch Brewing Co., is standing on an as-yet-to-be-secured catwalk, overlooking the company's new $10-million, 114,000-square foot brewery in San Jose. "Every brewer dreams of seeing his or her beer in a bottle," said Gordon, 36, co-founder with Dean Biersch of Gordon Biersch restaurants. "It's the ultimate culmination of a brewing career."
Gordon Biersch's three German-style lagers had been brewed only in its restaurants. Now the company is bottling and kegging Pilsner and Marzen beers in the brewery to be sold in stores in Hawaii and Northern California.
The automated brewing equipment was imported from the historic Grandau-Grafing Brewery in Bavaria, established in 1615. The brewery is the only one in America using Winbrew, a specially designed Windows 95 computer program that controls brewing operations. Gordon leads the six brewers who oversee the brewing.
Three monitors sit in a small semicircle in the center of the control room. Each screen shows the schematics of the brewing machinery, including 16 fermenting/aging tanks, three flotation vessels and two beer tanks.
On one side of the brewery is a $400,000 bottling and labeling machine. Everywhere you look there are pumps, filters, pipes, hoses, crushers, sifters, agitators, whirlpools, gauges, coupling devices, thermostats and automated cleaning gear.
Gordon graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1982 with a degree in resource economics. Along the way he spent a year at the Georg August University in Gottingen, Germany, where he discovered that there was actually a curriculum in beer and beer making.
He applied to the Technical University of Munich for the five-year course, where he studied electrical and mechanical engineering, biochemistry, physical chemistry, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, cost accounting microbiology, materials science and process engineering. Of the 92 students in the brewing engineering program, only 17 graduated. And Gordon became the first American in more than 30 years to do so.
In California, Gordon teamed up with restaurateur Dean Biersch, taking advantage of a new California law that allowed brewery restaurants.
Gordon Biersch beer uses the very expensive Hallertauer hops which are harvested once a year, turned into pellets, put in vacuum-sealed pouches and shipped to Oakland, where the company pays $50,000 a load.
The yeast is a pure strain culture from the Weihenstephan yeast bank in Germany, supplied exclusively to Gordon Biersch. The brewery receives a new stock of starter yeast about every five weeks in refrigerated aluminum flasks for about $400 each.
Know your beers, Part 2
ALES
Hawaii brewers
offer varietyHawaii's local beers are as diverse as the population. That means there's something for everyone, from Gordon Biersch's distinctive German formula lagers, to added flavors of mango, lilikoi, raspberries, and Kona coffee.Pilsner: The lightest of Gordon Biersch beers. Pilsner is a crisp, golden, moderately hopped lager. The beer was first brewed in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, in 1842 using a sample of special yeast smuggled from Germany by a Czech monk. Until this time all beers were dark and cloudy.
GB Export: A very smooth, golden lager. Lightly hopped and medium in body, this beer is similar to a Pilsner style but less bitter.
GB Marzen: A smooth, mildly sweet, full-bodied, auburn-colored lager. It originates from Bavaria where it was brewed in March and stored in caves to be enjoyed during warmer weather.
Dunkles: A house speciality, full-bodied, malty beer served unfiltered.
February/March: Blonde Bock, a sweet, golden beer with a rich finish.
April/May: Maibock, medium bodied and rich in color.
June/July: Hefweizen, with a light, sparkling quality often likened to champagne.
September/October: Dunkleweizen, a darker version of the popular Hefeweizen beer, rich brown in color with a roasted, malty flavor.
Mehana Beer: A light ale that contains lager characteristics and is brewed specifically for Hawaii's hot and humid climate.
Mehana Red Ale: An amber ale brewed in the Northwest style. It is still light with an abundance of carbonation.
Alii Golden Ale: Alii's lightest ale, bright golden in color, with a seasoned finish.
Alii Amber Ale: Medium amber color, clean, crisp taste enhanced by a sweet, malty character.
Alii Macadamia Nut Brown Ale: Rich, roasted color, nutty aroma distinctive of the flavor of the nuts, a soft, dry finish with a touch of bitterness.
Alii Pau Hana Porter: Deep chocolate color, a roasted malty character with hints of coffee and chocolate, thick creamy head.
Kona Coffee Stout: Kona coffee lends a smooth taste, roasted malts add to the pronounced chocolate/coffee balance.
Alii Mango Ale: Light-bodied ale, crisp, with the smooth flavor of wheat and a subtle taste of Haden mango.
Lilikoi Wheat Ale: Unfiltered with a light, smooth body and the flavor of island-grown passion fruit.
Pacific Golden Ale: Blend of pale and honey malts.
Fire Rock Pale Ale: Rich amber color, full crisp flavor.
Paniolo Ale: Classic dark ale with a slightly roasted character and a hint of chocolate.
Gingerwheat: Light, crisp ale flavored with French ground ginger.
Sunset Ale: Hawaiian-style, copper-colored and a hop aroma.
Hulaberry: Combination of malted barley, malted wheat and the aromatics of red raspberries.
Kuaipa Beer: Light, crisp ale made from Iao Stream water.
Where to buy
Both mainland and local microbrews can be found at major supermarkets, in the specialty liquor section, and liquor stores.R. Field at Ward Centre and The Liquor Collection at Ward Warehouse have a particularly good selection of the local brews.
