Gordon Biersch
brewpub is sold

A Tennessee company buys
the Aloha Tower restaurant
and the 11 mainland outlets

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

The 12 Gordon Biersch brewpub-restaurants, including the Aloha Tower Marketplace outlet, have been sold to Big River Breweries Inc. of Chattanooga, Tenn., for an undisclosed price.

Privately owned Gordon Biersch Brewing Co., based in Las Vegas, said it will continue to own and operate its large-scale brewery and bottling facility in San Jose, Calif., where it produces German-style lager made with 16th-century brewing techniques.

The Honolulu pub, the first Hawaii facility to produce its own beer on the premises, was opened in November 1994 by co-owners Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch, who began their chain with a single pub-restaurant, opened in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1988. The Honolulu brewpub cost $2.6 million to build, including $600,000 worth of brewing equipment. It has a main bar inside and an outdoor bar on the waterfront and features live entertainment several evenings a week. The bright stainless-steel brewing tanks are visible through glass windows.

Gordon Biersch sells locally produced draft beer to dozens of Hawaii bars and restaurants and its bottled beer, made on the mainland, has been available in stores since 1997.

In a joint announcement today, the companies said the facilities will keep the Gordon Biersch name and the style of brewpub-restaurants will not change.

Gordon Biersch has 12 outlets in five states -- Hawaii, California, Nevada, Arizona and Washington.

Big River Breweries was founded in 1993 in Chattanooga and operates nine brewery-restaurants in five states.

The companies said the transaction should close in 60 days.