Silicon Valley is the engine that drives innovation in the global technology industry. This is where entrepreneurs and visionaries come to chase their dreams and get their ideas out of their heads and into the hands of consumers. It’s a competitive, fast-moving place, and working here can be just as stressful as it is fun.

Tom Clark, CEO of  Santa Clara Valley Brewing in San Jose has an app for that. Well, it’s actually a line of tasty beers—all of them delicious and all of them designed to help take the edge off after a long day at the office. Clark spoke to SanJose.com about how he decided to leave his job in tech to spend his time engineering hops.

Name: Tom Clark

Occupation: CEO of Santa Clara Valley Brewing

How long have you lived/worked in Silicon Valley?

Since 1991, when I started working for Apple. I had always home brewed—for 20 years—and in 2012, I traveled up and down the West Coast. Cities like Portland had great breweries, but San Jose didn’t. I talked to some friends and they asked, “Why don’t you do something about it?”

They knew a head brewer, Steve Donohue, who was trying to start something on his own. He was a head brewer at Firehouse in Sunnyvale, and the two of us started Santa Clara Valley Brewing together.

What do you like most about Silicon Valley?

I think the weather, compared to Boston, is a lot milder. And I like the diversity of people here. It’s a very tech-oriented area, and that was my primary business when I came. It was always a reason to stay.

If you could change one thing about San Jose and the South Bay, what would it be?

We need more breweries. We (Santa Clara Valley Brewing) are just one of about four right now, and it would be great to have a thriving craft beer scene here for people to see San Jose as a destination for great craft beer.

What San Jose event do you most look forward to every year?

The blues festival is one that I really enjoy and my family and I love going to Christmas in the Park.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I love the restaurants. There seem to be new restaurants popping up all the time in the region. My wife and I love to go out. One of our favorite places is  Orchard City Kitchen over in Campbell, they serve a great brunch; I also like to try the many sushi kitchens around.  If it’s for a casual meal, we love Willow Street Pizza.

Who is the most interesting person you know in San Jose?

Besides my brewing partner, Steve? I would go with him. We’ve only known each other for, like, three years, but he’s a funny guy, makes fantastic beer, he’s won awards and he’s got a great personality.

Besides your own brew, what are the top 3 beers that make you the happiest?

I love a good Belgian Dubbel. That’s one of my favorites, along with a lot of other Belgian beers. I really like Citra Ale at Hermitage Brewing. It changes every day depending on the mood I’m in. I also like Pivo Pils at Firestone Walker; it’s a refreshing summer beer.

What are the top brews of this season?

We have a nice Blonde Ale, Dry Creek Blonde which came out in the summer and our Imperial Oatmeal Stout—which we call “iOS.” It’s 10 percent alcohol with a lot of flavor and body to it. Our pale ale Umunhum, named after the mountain, it’s the first beer we brewed in our own brewery equipment in April. Our house Pale Ale

When’s the best time to visit the brewery?

We’re open Wednesday through Sunday and the best time is anytime. We’re open Friday nights and they are pretty rockin’ with a food truck. People come by after work, grab a beer and hang out. Saturdays and Sundays are fun with people stopping through before going out to an event. Just come out and spend some time with us.