ShaKa Brewing, a Year Later

"I should go back to ShaKa Brewing soon," I've been saying for a year now. "Maybe this Friday." Well, Friday finally came yesterday. I put a stake in the ground when I texted a friend, "I'm heading over around 4:45/5pm". Surprisingly he offered to meet me there! (Surprising because he has standing commitments on Friday evenings.) Once it was a date I couldn't back out of going by forgetting about the time, deciding I was too tired, etc... like I've procrastinated numerous times over the past year.



Since our first visit a year ago— which I realized was actually 14 months ago when I looked up this link— ShaKa has grown. Oh, they're still in the same light-industrial alley show in the photo above, but they've moved a few doors down the row. Their new space is nearly 4x the size of the old one. They have a bunch of casual seating inside, though with this week's warm weather the ideal place to sit was outside, in the shade, with a gentle breeze making the 80°-ish temperature more pleasant.

ShaKa has grown their portfolio of beers. Last time I enjoyed the Riley Red and Sunnyvale Lager. This time they had at least 4 others in addition. I started with a glass of Gemini, a summer ale with mild fruit flavors and a hint of sourness. It seemed like great choice for sipping outside on a warm afternoon.

Co-owner Shawn, the "Sha" of ShaKa Brewing, came by to chat with us. We asked him about what style of beer Gemini is. He explained that it's not a sour beer because they don't use any bacteria in it to produce the sour flavors. That's what distinguishes sours from other beers. He calls Gemini a "tart" rather than a sour because it gets its mildly sour, gently fruity flavors all from carefully chosen hops and yeast. He agreed that it was crafted specifically as a great sipper on a warm afternoon, much like certain styles of white wine— which is exactly what I was thinking about as I drank it.

For my second round I tried a glass of Gaia Scotch Ale. Going in this beer was my #1 choice as I like darker ales, but I tried the Gemini Summer Ale first because it's better to try lighter flavored drinks first. The heavier ones kind of crush the palate and make it harder to enjoy the lighter ones. And, oh boy, was Gaia heavy.

Gaia has all the flavors you expect in a Scotch Ale. It's dark, rich, and mildly sweet with notes of toffee. It's also higher strength, at 7.2% ABV. Overall it's just too much for me, kind of like the other Scotch Ale I've tried in my long-running beer tasting project, Kilt Lifter— except even more so. As I remarked to my companion, it's not a beer I'd kick out of bed, I just wouldn't order a second one.

Speaking of second one, two was enough for me on Friday afternoon. Both beers were on the high side of alcoholic content: Gemini at 6.2% and Gaia at a whopping 7.5%. If they were lighter, like around 4.5%, I might have sat to enjoy a third. Instead I grabbed a 4-pack of cans to take home to enjoy over the coming week. I bought 2 cans of Gemini, 1 each of the Riley Red and Sunnyvale Lager I liked last time, and none of the Gaia.

Update, Jul 27: ShaKa Brewing made the (local) news! Mountain View Voice article, 27 Jul 2023. The article talks about how the co-founders Shawn and Karl got together to create ShaKa Brewing, how they survived starting days before the Pandemic kicked in, and how they've grown recently.

Hot Weather. Gaming.

It's been hot recently. That's not just a "here" story but seemingly an everywhere story right now. Much of the US is roasting under a heat wave, as are many other countries around the world.

Fortunately the weather here in Sunnyvale has not been all that extreme. The worst day was Saturday a week ago, when temps topped out at 93°. What was especially surprising about that was for most of the previous several months we'd had cool weather. I'd been joking it was like the 113th day of March, weather-wise. Then, all of a sudden, *wham!* July heat wave.

This past week wasn't as bad as that, and not as bad as much of the rest of the country. Temps topped out in the 80s most of the week. I think there were two days that didn't even hit 80. Both our summer and winter temperatures here are moderated by proximity to the ocean— but not as badly as San Francisco, where 68° (20° C) is still a perfectly normal summer high.

Today was in the 90s again, at least according to my weather app. It says Sunnyvale reached 91° today. I don't know for sure if it got quite that hot in my neighborhood. It was certainly cooler mid-morning when we went out to the pool and hot tub, the after lunch I was inside all day playing games with friends.

Games day with friends was fun. I played an old favorite, Power Grid, with people who've played way more than I do. I play, like, once a year. It sounds like they play at least once a week. I also played two new games, 6 Nimmt, and (I think) One Word.

When I left my friends' house at 9pm the temp outside was still 75° (measured by my car's air-intake thermometer). It's unusual for it to stay that warm in the evening. Even when it's hot during the daytime around here it tends to cool more off at night. That's good for sleeping, of course. I have no end of trouble falling asleep if I'm hot. But on the other hand cool evenings make it hard to enjoy being outside late. This evening I'm sitting on the balcony at 9:30 and it's still pleasantly warm.