Brewery Day Trip: Great suds stops from Danville to San Ramon

My brewery day trip series has taken me to taprooms and breweries across the Bay, from Gilroy to Martinez and Pacifica. This time, I headed for the East Bay’s Tri-Valley to sample the beer in Danville, Dublin and San Ramon. Here’s what I found.

INC 82 Brewing, Dublin

When John and Jenny Samples noticed that their hometown was heavy on the restaurant chain front, they decided to do something about it. They opened Dublin’s only brewpub in 2017 and gave it a name inspired by the city — INC 82. Dublin was founded in 1835, but it wasn’t incorporated until 1982, hence the name. Head brewer Ricky Landrum (Sunriver Brewing, Working Man Brewing, 21st Amendment) has been on board for the last four years.

Landrum keeps a dozen or so beers in a nice variety of styles. He’s got hoppy covered, of course, with six brews, including my favorite, No Tanlines, a West Coast IPA. It has a great nose of dank, vegetal aromas from Mosaic and Nelson hops, with a creamy mouthfeel and solid bitterness throughout. His Citra Clouds, a hazy IPA brewed with 100- percent Citra hops, is also nice.

If you want something lighter, there’s the best-selling Dub Light, a light lager, and Golden State Wheat, a slightly sweet, refreshing American wheat beer. Other options include an SPF 50 blonde ale, a nicely malty Night in Vienna lager and Dark Vader, a lovely, dark lager with chocolate notes and a light roast bitterness.

The taproom front is a bit obscured by outdoor tents and enclosures, no doubt leftover from pandemic measures. But inside, it’s warm and inviting, with lots of bench and table seats and a small bar along the back. There’s a mural on one side and several big screen TVs, plus a menu that includes sandwiches, burgers, pasta, tacos and fish and chips.

Details: The brewery opens at noon Tuesday-Sunday at 7370 San Ramon Road in Dublin; inc82.com.

Danville Brewing, Danville

Marcus Maita and his Maita Distributing were longtime fixtures in the East Bay beer community, so when he sold his business and began looking for new opportunities, they involved beer, of course. In 2016, Maita and local restaurateur Randy Negi open the Danville Brewing Co. and hired brewer Matt Sager.  The latter has been knocking it out of the park ever since. A 20-year brewing veteran, Sager got his degree in brewing from UC Davis, interned at Lagunitas and spent many years at Reno’s Great Basin Brewing.

Sager keeps around a dozen beers on at any given time — and sometimes as many as 18. Several of his beers have won medals at the Great American Beer Festival, the World Beer Cup and other festivals. His Chux Double IPA came in second at last year’s Bistro Double IPA Fest and took a bronze at GABF in 2017. So it’s no surprise, it’s a tasty hop blast with old-school tart, bitterness. He also makes a very nice hazy IPA, Eagle Peak, a malty Schwarzbier with lovely chocolate notes, and an easy-drinking 925 Blonde.