By Amy Pizarro

for the Mercury News

Posted: 06/04/2009 12:00:00 AM PDT

A sprawling, charmless business park was the last place I expected to find one of the coolest brewpubs in Silicon Valley.

As you wend your way through the Sunnyvale office complex, the first thing you’ll notice about Faultline Brewing Company is big steel tanks towering above the neighboring buildings. You can tell right away this place means business about beer. A picturesque lakeside setting and eclectic food menu make this a hidden gem — and a terrific place to shrug off a long day at the office.

The scene: Indoors or out, you’ll be comfy and content at Faultline. The interior has a rustic, tin-shed atmosphere with rough exposed wood and accordion-style aluminum siding. But the industrial feel is lightened considerably by floor-to-ceiling windows that surround the restaurant, providing a view of the lush outdoors. More windows behind the bar give a cool glimpse into the guts of the brewery.

Outdoor patio seating is lovely, with softly swishing trees, verdant landscaping and a lake complete with frolicking ducks and geese. This oasis of calm is just begging for you to grab a frosty beer and sit under an umbrella.

One drawback is that Faultline is closed on weekends, but who would want to hang out in a business park on a Saturday, anyway? The after-work scene is hopping most days — and you can play a fun game counting the number of Applied Materials shirts you see — but Faultline is so spacious that seating isn’t a problem.

Killer drinks: Faultline added a full bar in April (maybe because the economy has tanked so badly people needed a good stiff drink), but you could drink nothing but beer here and be all the richer for it. The brewpub’s 10 varieties are listed on boards hanging behind the bar and range from the ordinary (pale ale, hefeweizen and stout) to the exotic (Belgian Tripel, a cask-conditioned ale and the nitrogen-dispensed Best Bitter).

A good suggestion is to go with a sampler menu. Our bartender brought us a handy place mat with squares for each of 10 sample glasses ($1 each) that included descriptions and alcohol content for each brew.

The India Pale Ale wasn’t as hop-flavored as we’re used to, but a manager explained that Faultline’s recipe is a more traditional IPA with less bitterness than you’d get in a modern version. The lighter kolsch, hefeweizen and pale ale were all perfectly suited for summer drinking.

Our hands-down winner, though, was the Best Bitter. The amber ale has a creamy head like Guinness stout, but the sweet malt flavor and bitter hops made for a smooth and delightful drink.

Killer apps: It’s all about the cocktail meatballs, people. For $9.25, you get a platter with eight good-sized seasoned meatballs cloaked in an awesome “spicy drunken barbecue sauce.” The meaty masterpieces are just misshapen enough to seem house-made. Each one comes already speared with a toothpick, a sure sign that these folks know how bar food should be eaten.

Pork and shrimp pot stickers ($9.25) are also a tasty choice. Soaked in a rich, red chili-mint sauce, eight soft dumplings burst with flavor. The mound of Nishiki rice on the side was a little mushy, but it did balance out that tangy sauce.

And what’s not to love about cheesy spinach artichoke dip ($8.95)? But this one is unusually rich, so a little goes a long way — you may want to drop the $1.25 to get the extra bread.

The people: The chatty and jovial crowd — mostly drawn from surrounding companies — is as apt to be checking Blackberries as watching sports on TV. During one visit, my husband and three strangers struck up a lively discussion about the meaning of “Jagermeister” and then toasted the answer (it means “master hunter”) with a clink of their pints. A telling point: The guys in question, forgetting they were no longer in their 20s, ordered Jager accidentally when they really meant to buy shots of Jameson’s Irish Whiskey.

The service: Faultline is exceptionally well-staffed with happy, helpful servers hustling all over the place.

The extras: Happy hour runs from 4 to 6 p.m., with $3.50 pints and $2 off select appetizers (including many of the favorites). Faultline also holds special events, like the weekly comedy show held in May, and has a chili cook-off coming up in August. Free Wi-Fi, of course.

The bathrooms: Sufficiently roomy, contemporary and clean.

The parking: Seems like there’s more parking here than in all of downtown San Jose.

The details: Faultline Brewing Company, 1235 Oakmead Parkway, Sunnyvale. Open Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. (Lunch served from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner 5 p.m.-9:30 p.m.; bar menu from 3:15 p.m.) 408-736-2739, www.faultline brewing.com.