Los Gatos Beer

I'm posting a whole week late, but better late than never I guess. We took an adventure down towards Santa Cruz and met friends for dinner and beers in Los Gatos. Dinner was planned at Los Gatos Brewing Company, and we had a bit of a wait, so we first stopped at the local dive bar.
The Black Watch, 141 1/2 N. Santa Cruz Ave, is a fairly basic bar, almost too clean and orderly to be called a dive bar, really. It had a small but decent selection of beers on draft, and we snagged a booth to enjoy our beverages. It was quiet while we were there and seemed to have a good crowd.
Once we made it to dinner, I managed to try three of the house brewed beers. The Cask Conditioned Porter was first, and it was smooth and very fresh. It was a bit milder than many porters, though full bodied and very drinkable. Next up was the Scottish Ale and maybe the porter whacked out my taste buds, but the Scottish Ale was very mild. I was expecting a little more malt flavors and it seemed just a little too bland. I quickly moved onto the Oktoberfest and I found my favorite of the evening. It had a good level of caramel flavor, nice hop balance, and a clean dry aftertaste. If this had been my first of the night, I would have stuck with it for the evening, but I guess for the sake of adventure, I'm glad it wasn't.