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Kevin Youkilis, a former Major League Baseball all-star who won two World Series with the Boston Red Sox, has made a career out of being something of an underdog. A key figure in the bestselling book Moneyball by Michael Lewis, Youkilis was lightly regarded as coming out of college in 2001. His stock was low, mainly due to his physical appearance, but the league was transitioning to a new era of data-driven player values, and his were off the charts. Teams that were tuned in to the new approach gave him a chance to find success in the big leagues.

A decade in the majors, in turn, helped him find out about great beer.

“[Baseball] allowed me to travel around the country. I got to sample a lot of different styles of craft beer, go to breweries, just become more educated,” Youkilis recalls. “I always made it a point to try new craft beer wherever I went. Some guys on my teams would look at me like I’m weird because they were so into their domestic beers.”

As his baseball career wound down, Youkilis and his wife decided to settle in the Bay Area, where she had grown up. He and his brother Scott, already a successful restaurateur, began kicking around the idea of starting a brewpub together. Kevin reached out to his longtime friend and former college teammate Dan Reineke, who had been working in the food and beverage industry in New York, for advice on finding a restaurant manager.

“About 24 hours later, he emailed me saying he wanted to come out here and do it,” says Youkilis.

“It wasn’t hard to twist my arm to get out to California,” Reineke adds. “It’s beautiful.”

The brothers acquired the defunct Los Gatos Brewery, which had closed rather suddenly after having been open for about 20 years as a staple in the city’s small downtown. Youkilis wanted to freshen up the place by renovating the interior, overhauling the menu, and focusing a lot more on the beer. When the new Loma Brewing opened in August of 2016, some longtime customers resisted the changes.

“We want this place to be where everyone comes in and comes together.” —Kevin Youkilis

“Some people hated what we did with the place, some people really loved what we did,” he says. “Getting over that hurdle took a good six months to a year. Now people finally have come around and really enjoy it. Our focus is truly on trying to make really good craft beer—to be one of the best in the South Bay and try to compete around the Bay Area with really good recipes.”

In just two years, four of their beers have placed in the California State Fair’s Commercial Craft Beer competition, and while they have focused on a lot of traditional styles, more unique flavors are on the horizon as brewmaster Brogan Hunter is being let loose to experiment.

“She’s been amazing for us,” Youkilis says of Hunter. “Part of her DNA is to get better and better, so we’re excited to see her grow. The bottom line in this industry right now is if you don’t have new and creative stuff, you’re going to lose the demographic that you need to grow your business.”

Hunter is joined by Executive Chef Aubree Arndt for an all-female culinary leadership team. Arndt’s menu attempts to sew together traditional pub fare with a diversity of flavors that represent the Bay Area clientele: bratwurst, wings, and flatbreads are joined by Korean style pork belly and kimchi nachos and pan-seared octopus, to name just a couple. The result seems high-end for a brewpub, but perfectly suited for the upscale Los Gatos crowd.

“Aubree makes really great food,” Reineke says. “People coming here are surprised by how progressive the menu is, [not just] a bunch of stuff that’s dumped in the fryer. She keeps it creative. Our food is very Pinterest and Instagram friendly.”

In addition to great beer and food, the team recently added a coffee shop to a side room that had been previously reserved for private events but otherwise went unused for much of the day. A coffee snob in addition to being a craft beer connoisseur, Youkilis found a roaster in Portland and is confident that Loma Coffee can be a leader among local coffee roasters in terms of quality and taste.

Ultimately, the goal is to make Loma a family destination and a community hangout spot. “We want this place to be where everyone comes in and comes together. Start off on a good note by getting the caffeine in them…and then at night, when they’ve had a crazy day and need something to bail them out, have a nice craft beer. It’s pretty perfect.”

Tucked away on a Los Gatos side street, Youkilis and Loma Brewing Company may be regarded as an underdog yet again. But with beer, food, coffee, and a vibe that stands out, people are noticing. Much like in Moneyball, the best will rise to the top.

Loma Brewing Company
130 North Santa Cruz Avenue
Los Gatos, Ca 95030
408.560.9626
Facebook: lomabrew
Instagram: lomabrew
Twitter: lomabrew

This article originally appeared in Issue 11.1, “Sight and Sound”

 

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