Hermitage Brewery

One of my favorite hang out spots in San Jose. Awesome low key vibe, great beer, open dual functioning indoor and outdoor space, plenty of games (including a giant jenga set, scrabble, etc) and a Japanese bar food food truck parked on site during tap room hours (food is sufficiently tasty and greasy to wash down the beer). Doesn’t get much better than this in San Jose. Reserving the 5^th star for when they expand their indoor space, get an additional set of taps, and add cool music.

Back when I was in Houston, I found a certain brewing company in a warehouse with tokens for great beers on taps and a food truck outside. I was convinced I would never find an equivalent in South Bay.
Boom, I just did. Hermitage Brewing is another hole in the wall that does everything right. Seriously, if it weren’t for the HBC banner on the fence, you would have no idea to drive in the back.
The location itself is great. Yet again with a tasting room in the warehouse. You have barrels outside for tables, and inside you have that plus a great selection of board games. Definitely a chill environment you could relax with friends in for hours.
The beers themselves are fantastic, a great selection of IPAs and more. When I went, there were 8 on tap. I’m a big fan of the pumpkin ale and the cherry sour.
Plus they hook you up with food trucks outside. Pretty much all of them are amazing and go well with a great couple pints or a tasting sampler.
Some days I look forward to getting a drink. Other days I look forward to drinking at Hermitage Brewing.

Hermitage is fantastic! We’ve been to the tap room a couple times and loved it! Then, when I was planning my husband’s surprise 40^th birthday party I decided to do it in a local microbrewery because he loves beer and even makes his own. Hermitage was the perfect place! I invited about 30 of our friends and he was definitely surprised. They are incredibly creative with their beer. The night we were there they had a sour raspberry beer aged in Chardonnay barrels– it was delicious! The staff are all amazing as well. They were more than accommodating to our needs for the party and we had so much fun with Joel and Dale! Oh, did I mention the giant Jenga? This is a seriously fun place to hang out, grab a beer, relax. Definitely 5 stars!

I have nothing but amazing things to say about this brewery. Hidden location isnt half as bad as I read on other reviews. If you have the waze app you will have no problem.
The beer itself is amazing we tried two samplers and I got a glass of ivy hefe.
The cherry sour is TART but amazing. I highly reccomentd!
All in all an amazing time there is even a food truck in the parking lot!

Ask for BV, she knows what’s good. She has mixes not on the menu that will knock your socks off.
Great place to try some good beer after work.

I have to admit I didn’t care for many of their beers but visiting a brewery is all about tasting things you normally wouldn’t try. We had over 10 different beers and they are one of the few breweries that offer a sour on tap.
What really made this place standout was the great atmosphere, the wonderful service, and the free pretzels were a nice touch.

Very friendly staff, amazing brews and a awesome atmosphere for all. Kid and dog friendly. Board games and and industrial sized Jenga game in the outside area. The food trucks that I have sampled are worth trying too. Citra is there Go to IPA for sure and the sours are worth trying if you’re into that. Get down there and grab a pint or two. Strike and SCVB (Santa Clara Valley Brewing) are just a few minutes away as well

The place is very hard to find, but the service and laid-​back atmosphere is great once you do. They have seating inside and out and often have a food truck at night. If you like hops in your beer then go here, simple as that. They have 5 – 6 different IPAs. I’m not a huge, over-​the-​top IPA fan so it’s just OK for me. They sometimes do sours but I wish they brewed them more often.

What a cool little place hidden in the middle of fairgrounds industrial zone.
Hermitage is quite a large brewery offering a selection of 10 great tasting beers on tap.
They offer indoor and outdoor seating. You can enjoy a variety of ales and IPA while seating around a barrel! Make sure you try the Ryetopia if you love strong beers.
The staff is very friendly and will make you try pretty much whatever you like (they will even open a bottle for you to try something out!).
There was an interesting Japanese food truck on Sunday… can’t wait to go back, enjoy great beers and try the Japanese food!

I normally would never take my time to write a Unilocal review but for the Hermitage Brewery I will make an exception for this slice of paradise.
Brewery:
First, this place is in the back of a warehouse. The beer was amazing! The 408 is now one of my favorite IPAs, it is a light IPA not to bitter but packed full of flavor. The Hoptopia is a dam good double IPA and for 5.50 a glass it’s unbeatable. All the other beer was top notch. My only regret is that I drove and could not try them all. Next time I am bring a DD so i can polish off a glass of each beer on tap. 15 and ½ gallon kegs of a top notch IPA for $ 180 unbeatable.
2×4 Jenga and Cornhole, the signs of a truly great and local brewery.
Food Truck:
I want on a Saturday and they had a food truck there. BEST FOOD TRUCK EVER! It was a godly blend of top quality Japanese cuisine and what I can best describe as American bar food. They also had many other items, the fried chicken curry was amazing. The perfect level of spice that required a nice hoppy beer to wash it down with. The fries, best of my life! No clue what was on them but it was Amazing!
Fried squid legs anyone? Could life get better
Conclusion:
The only Brewery worth anything in San jose, plus awesome food truck.
Bonus:
Next to the spartan stadium. Pregame anyone?

Walked in at 12:20 pm on a Sunday, thinking they opened at noon. Turns out they don’t really open till 1. Didn’t matter though. The hospitality was amazing. They uncovered the taps, cleared the lines and started pouring beers. Upon first taste I was in love. The Citra single hop IPA is seriously amazing. Similar to Joseph James (local Vegas brew) citra rye but a little more citra and hop. It’s like the cranked up version of one my favorite local brews so I was happy (or hoppy) to say the least.
Once we grabbed a table, (re-​purposed barrel) out came the complimentary basket of pretzels. Next came the flight. Every beer we tried, except for the Indian Summer on cask, was excellent. All of the styles were perfectly executed. One of the best stops on our beer trip.

Love this place! Came by to sample a local beer culture spot. Service, environment, and beers are all top-​notch.
Like the nearby Strike Brewing Co., Hermitage is a little challenging to find. Tucked back behind a large warehouse with intimidating «Private Property» signs is this jewel of great beer.
A large percentage of the brew here is brands other than Hermitage. I. e other breweries use their equipment, so the choices vary quite a bit.
The Hermitage Tap Room provides outdoor and indoor seating. Inside, the bartender was extremely helpful, and accommodating. She kept offering me tasters to the point that I had a buzz before ordering my first beer. By far, my favorite was the Sour Pumpernickel Rye, a limited-​edition that has already been phased out. I happened to get lucky enough to come by and enjoy a glass from their last half keg. Too bad, because the beer is fantastic.
Pretzels are complementary, the music is loud, and the room was full. I will be back!

Pumpkin Ale and the Sour Pumpkin is so good!
Sour pumpkin was actually good, tasted like candy! Will certainly convert you to like at least one sour beer!
They also make their own candy! Talk about resourceful and crafty! The cookies are bomb too!

I love this place! Great atmosphere and the day I went, it wasn’t overly crowded. Very chill environment and they were super nice giving numerous samples of different beers that were on tap to try. I’m excited to go back here again. I love that it’s hidden very well and the place looks great. Will add more on the next visit!

Their beers run the gamut from terrifying to awesome. We finally got around to visiting them, and… same thing about their location. There are things are are truly terrifying about it, and there are things that are awesome beyond expectations.
So, first off. It’s not uncommon for breweries to be in industrial areas. But this one went way beyond industrial. It’s not in an cookie cutter industrial/​mixed-​use office park. It’s in the middle of a scary block, right next to a scrap metal yard and across some scary looking building that was kicking up sand and dust. We also walked by some really scary looking abandoned (or even scarier, not abandoned) cars and campers in the middle of the block. It was also about 100 degrees that day, which probably amplified the scariness of everything.
And, you can’t see H-​brew from the sidewalk (although that also seems to be common with the breweries.) You walk through an entrance with a scary looking sign in its yard and it’s way at the back.
But OMG, what a sight it is to behold. Their thing is HUGE. Tanks after tanks, barrels after barrels. This is probably the biggest brewery that I’ve seen that doesn’t distribute their beer in 6-​packs. They contract brew for just about everyone in San Jose and beyond, it seems.
The taproom was cute and very welcoming. Colorful with labels of their single-​hop IPAs everywhere (which is a wise decoration), seating and standing room with barrels as tables. Customer service was top notch, the staff was friendly, helpful with making recommendations, careful to see the glasses filled with beer (as opposed to being filled with foam) and expeditious in getting the drinks out.
Now, their beer. It’s all over the place. Some is tasty. Some is boring. Some is gross. Some is superb. Most are any and/​or all of the above at the same time. On our visit, we tried the Mosaic IPA. Looked like the only single-​hop IPA on tap at the time. Definite mosaic character but was not expecting it to be that much of a malt bomb. They passed out samples of the Hallertau Blanc single hop IPAs that they were selling cases on clearance for. I see why it was on clearance. Gross, but points for featuring a hop that nobody’s heard of. We tried the 2Tun Imperial Stout. Tasty. Really tasty. Also sharp and metallic. The Belgian IPA was boring and a little gross. Then, we tried the Sour Pumpernickel Rye, strong ale aged in whiskey and bourbon barrels. Oh, this was heaven in a cup. I needed two heavens in a cup so I got another one.

Really enjoyed this spot. Was a bit confused pulling up and trying to find it though. Haha it is in the back of a business area. Once you find it, it’s a great place to go to hang with some friends.
We ordered some flights. Service was really good. The pourers (is that a thing?) were friendly and helpful.
They also had corn hole to play and pretzels to eat! I had a really fun day here with a few friends.
Go check it out! I loved their varieties of beer.

We visited several breweries in this area yet this is the one that felt like it was situated in the most industrial location. It’s certainly the most established in reputation. It was also my favorite of the three.
I went with two sets of samplers, since they come on the standard 4 paddle tray. 8 in total was all they had on tap minus the two sours. They had a few brews on tap out of Mountain View from a place I’ve never heard of, called Tied House.
The Tied House beers were okay. They didn’t really add anything to the tasting experience. The Hermitage brews themselves were all pretty tasty. The Ale of the Imp was an outstanding version of a double IPA. Tangy, piny, all things a decent IPA should be.
Imp actually made their Hoptopia seem underwhelming. Not what I was expecting or I really messed up the rotation of my tasters.
Their Maltopia was a really well done Scotch strong ale. I really enjoyed this beer and I don’t normally gravitate towards this style.
Ale of the 2 Tun is my kind of beer. A strong, dark, yet not too thick Imperial Stout that leaves you wanting for more. It would’ve been my choice to get a pint of after tasting all their beers.
Service was great despite coming in at the last hour before they closed. You can tell the owner is a hands on sort of guy that loves beer. Their bottling is unique and distinctive without coming off as cheesy like many breweries are these days.
They fill outside growlers which is cool but they are on the high end in terms of cost. About $ 5 more than what I would expect to pay. I refuse to pay $ 5 per pint for take home beer when when I’ve gotten used to paying $ 10 for an entire growler fill. I don’t see myself getting a growler fill at these prices.
On my way out, my honey told me to grab a case of Ale of the Imp that was on sale. She bought me a case while I was in the restroom. Gotta love a girl that knows what you like! The oddly shaped bottles of Imp have become one of my favorite beers recently. It’s right near up there with Pliny in my opinion. I can easily say it’s one of the best beers in San Jose from maybe their best brewery.

Finally made it back to here to scratch a very irritating itch. I have been craving a hermitage brew for months! This experience was right on with what I expected last time, but sadly did not receive. This time, though, I was offered to try a couple little tasters before deciding what I wanted in my taster flight. I was able to have a one-​on-​one interaction with my pourer, and it really made the difference. So thanks guys! This visit was on point!

Delicious beer. Delightful beer servers. This place is truly worth the trek to the industrial area just South of Downtown San Jose.
These guys make amazing sours. Had their Dark Pumpkin Sour during Craft Beer Week in Denver and got to try the Pumpernickel Rye Sour here in the taproom. Fantastic!
They make great hoppy beers, as well. There’s just a great selection here.
There is plenty of parking. The beertenders are truly knowledgable about the brews and steer you toward something you will love.
Enjoyed a few too many brews? The famous Drunk Denny’s is just a couple blocks away ;)

Cute hidden brewery on a street of warehouses. It’s one of the first left’s coming from Phelan street and you’ll see an open gate that has a fancy sign with an H on it and then you keep driving down to the end.
Anyways, the tasting area itself is quite small, there’s about probably 8 barrels standing up and 2 – 3 stools at each one. The inside has cute paintings/​murals on the walls. They had 8 beers on tap, 4 were part of a single hop IPA series. Flights of 4 samplers were $ 6 bucks I believe.
The brewers were really nice and told us a lot about each beer and also even a little history of the brewery. He gave us recommendations and even the order we should drink them. We felt very welcomed for our first time, they also handed out free pretzels to snack on too!
The ones we tried — I fail at remembering their exact names
1. ??? — Chocolate and banana
2. Maltopia — toffee and caramel
3. Citra — single hop IPA
4. Galaxy — single hop IPA