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348 - Herlinda Heras at Bahia Beer in Brazil
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- 348 - Herlinda Heras at Bahia Beer in BrazilBrew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today features a call from Herlinda in Bahia, Brazil, where she is a judge at Bahia Beer, part of the Brazilian International Beer Awards. Mark Carpenter is also joining Steve Jaxon in the studio today. He was head brewer at the now-closed Anchor Brewing for more than four decades. He was also this show's co-host for many years.
Herlinda is in Bahia, which is in the north of Brazil. It is a city and region with a mixed history. Since it is the port closest to Africa it was a center of the early slave trade into Brazil. It remains one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the country.
There are over 1000 beers up for tasting and judging and about 25 judges. The resort on the beach is delightful and cost only $70 per night. They are judging beers from 8am to 6pm for two consecutive days.
Visit Russian River Brewing Co. on 4th St. and at their Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for hours, menus and beers on tap.
Mark in Romania
Mark will have to come back to hear more about Brazil when Herlinda returns. He describes his time in Romania, where everything is less expensive on the exchange. For example, his friend spends $7 per month for TV and cell service. Mark recommends Romania to everyone. The food is great and the people are very friendly. Up in the north the picturesque homes and villages seem stuck in past time.Thu, 14 Nov 2024 - 9min - 347 - Griffo Distillery PetalumaMichael Young, Kat Prescott and Mike Griffo, Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras enjoying the Thursday Drive Brew Ha Ha.
Mike Griffo and Kat Prescott are in from Griffo Distillery in Petaluma on this edition of Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras.
Jenny Griffo was on the schedule but is not available. Jenny has been on the show before, on this episode of April 18, 2023. Kat is the Griffo Distillery events coordinator. Every weekend they do put on music performances which are kid friendly and dog friendly. They had a sound engineer come in to help them design the room and the acoustics are great. The bands and audiences always appreciate it.
Griffo Distillery Gin won "White Spirit of the Year" at the ASCoT Awards. They serve cocktails that use their spirits and a year-round rotation of seasonal ingredients. You can also purchase a cocktail kit to bring home. Plus, there are cocktails in cans. Their version of a Tom Collins uses a little blood orange juice and cardamom clove syrup from Phaedra Achor’s Flora Luna Apothecary.
Visit Russian River Brewing Co. on 4th St. and at their Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for hours, menus and beers on tap.
“We are driven to lift and defy expectations of flavor through ingenuity and precision and to enliven moments of togetherness.” – The Griffo Distillery website
Espresso Corretto
Mike has a doctorate in physics and he explains that doing experiments in quantum mechanics is less interesting than operating a high-tech custom-designed distillery. Griffo Distillery also makes cocktails with cold brew coffee, such as the espresso martini in a bottle that Steve is going to taste. Their Espresso Corretto is aged in grappa barrels and uses cold brew because it is less acidic.
"Corretto" literally means "corrected" in Italian, and "caffé corretto" is a shot of anything into some coffee, usually grappa, whiskey or an Amaro like Ramazzotti, Amaro Lucano or Averna. The common Italian term is "caffé corretto" because in Italian we don't say "espresso" most of the time, we just say "caffé" and assume that all of it is espresso of one kind or another (stovetop or pressure machine). I'll have a shot of Amaro in mine, grazie. -cd
“I told them we shake cocktails in studio.” – Herlinda Heras
Espresso Martinis may be the most popular cocktail in America right now, says Herlinda. The Old Fashioneds, Espresso Martinis and the Gin Gimlets are their three most popular cocktails. They are located close to Lagunitas, five doors down. Kat has worked with the Mystic Theater. She has a lot of experience with live music show production which she applies to organizing concerts and community events. They have local partners like COTS which assists the homeless in Sonoma County who use the concerts to get attention to their work assisting people in need.Thu, 07 Nov 2024 - 32min - 346 - The Block in PetalumaCody Hildreth from The Block, Petaluma and Lorraine Barber both join Herlinds Heras and Steve Jaxon on Brew Ha Ha today. also organizes cool events in Petaluma. Lorraine was on this show recently talking about Barber Lee Spirits and Barber Cellars. She is also organizing a Petaluma Craft Cocktail Week and The Block is one of the featured bars.
Cody has brought two cocktails that The Block will be featuring during Petaluma Craft Cocktail Week. The first is a barrel-aged blood orange Negroni. A Negroni is usually made with gin, Campari and red vermouth, but The Block's version is unique.
The Block has been open for about seven years. They have live music, pizza, tacos and food trucks outside. Mombo's Pizza is making pizzas there, too. It is an indoor/outdoor space, with dog-friendly space on the outdoor side. There are picnic tables and booths, so it's good for everything from a family night out to a date. The Block is located right next to the ten-story grain mill that dominates the horizon in downtown Petaluma.
Lorraine is present in Petaluma as a partner in Barber Lee Spirits and Barber Cellars and she also organizes community fairs that focus on local producers and provide a marketplace to connect local producers with customers.
@Petaluma_Cocktail_Society
This first week, Petaluma Craft Cocktail Week is focussing on a Whiskey Sour. All the participating locations will make one. You can get a card at any destination and you can take your card to the other bars to try the whiskey sour there and get the card stamped. Find it with the hashtag " @Petaluma_Cocktail_Society " Lorraine explains how Whiskey Sour is a recipe that lends itself to "riffing on it." They also use Bitter Girl Bitters exclusively.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
The Block also has Trivia Night and Bingo Night. "It gets rowdy on Wednesday nights." They have a roster of bands that come through playing lots of music, from rock to country to what not, anything from two-person band to a big band with horns.
Holiday Food Fair, Tues. Nov. 26
Also, don't miss the 8th annual Holiday Food Fair on Tuesday, November 26, at the Petaluma Hotel. This got started in 2017 when businesses needed extra support, as a way to connect local producers to customers. They will have a Santa and snow, and admission is only $5. Then, on Dec. 3rd, is the annual Petaluma Holiday Makers Fair. This is another opportunity to connect local craft makers to customers.Thu, 24 Oct 2024 - 32min - 345 - Russian River Brewing Co. News with Natalie CilurzoNatalie Cilurzo
Natalie Cilurzo is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Russian River Brewing Co. is celebrating 20 years in Santa Rosa and 6 years at the Windsor location. The special beer called Pliny for President 2024 is back. Pliny has been running for president every time around since they opened the brewpub. They have quarterly releases of Pliny for President, so this is the last batch until 2028.
The beer is very hop forward, featuring Simcoe, Amarillo, Citra, Zumo and Nectaron hops. Pliny is the candidate of the Keg Party.
Vinny is known as the Hopfather, and also for his Belgian-inspired sour, barrel aged beers. He grew up in a winery in Temecula where his parents planted the first wine grapes in 1968. He grew up in the vineyard and in the cellar and on the bottling line.
Intinction
This beer called Intinction, which is dipping bread into wine. It is almost like a Lambrusco, red and bubbly. The grapes are Petite Syrah, which is a dark grape and gives a dark color. The ABV is high because it went through 2 fermentations, it is 10.26%. It won a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
They are installing some new equipment for CO2 recovery from their closed top cylindrical fermentation tanks which will reduce their need to purchase CO2. They also have a wastewater treatment plant. The purple pipes carry this water which is treated water and is used for landscaping. They built their Windsor facility with dual plumbing, so they are ready to make the switch to the purple pipes when the regulations catch up to the new law.
Shadow of a Doubt beer is named after the Alfred Hitchcock film which was shot in 1943 in Santa Rosa. The beer is a dark imperial porter. A local graphic designer designed the label. Tonight at dusk they are showing the movie in the beer garden in Windsor.
Thu, 17 Oct 2024 - 45min - 344 - Barber Lee Spirits co-founder Lorraine BarberMike Barber, Lorraine Barber and Aaron Lee.
Lorraine Barber, co-founder of Barber Lee Spirits, is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. This is her first time on the show, but Lorraine’s husband Mike Barber was on Brew Ha Ha on this episode recorded on Nov. 4, 2019. Lorraine and Mike Barber also operate Barber Cellars which produces estate grown, hand-crafted Sonoma County wines.
Lorraine describes their operation as “grain to glass” which means, “from the raw ingredient to the finished product, everything is fermented, distilled, aged, and bottled under their own roof.” They opened in the beginning of 2019, just in time for the pandemic. The name Barber Lee Spirits comes from the three partners, Lorraine Barber, her husband Mike Barber and their partner Aaron Lee. Read their whole story on this page of their site.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Barber Lee Spirits' address is 120 Washington St., Petaluma, CA 94952, which is located next to the Petaluma hotel in downtown Petaluma, on a lively street near many other restaurants and bars including Volpi’s Ristorante and Bar. They are open Wednesday through Sunday. See their 'visit the distillery' page for hours and phone. Wednesdays are Happy Hour All Day with half-priced cocktails. They serve tasting flights of their spirits and also have an extensive cocktail menu.
Deviled Egg Competition
This year they held their 3rd annual deviled egg competition which is a lot of fun and is a benefit for Petaluma People's Services. They also organize the Holiday Food Fair the Thursday before Thanksgiving, at the Petaluma Hotel. The annual Holiday Food Fair got started in 2017 when many local businesses were depressed. They set up an indoor farmers market featuring only local producers, to connect them with customers.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Among the spirits they make in Lambanog, a Philippine specialty made from coconut juice. Their partner Aaron Lee tried it on a visit there and he was able to source dehydrated palm nectar for their production. It is 100 proof so at that strength it makes an excellent mixer. It's not sweet but has a toasted coconut flavor. It is a white spirit so they don't age it.
Lorraine describes their pursuit of spirits that are interesting and unusual, like absinthe and rum made with piloncillo sugar from Mexico. There is also a locally sourced Gravenstein Apple Brandy. She's Canadian so she also thought of doing the most Canadian thing she could, which is a maple finished rye. The maple syrup aged in the whiskey barrels is delicious.
Barber Cellars has been making wine for about 18 years. The wine tasting room and distillery tasting room are next to each other in Petaluma. They are busy right now "doing punchdowns" after harvest.
They also have a cheese shop and she has brought some cheeses, like a Brabander from the Netherlands and a Mimolette fro...Thu, 10 Oct 2024 - 32min - 343 - Hurricane Helene Relief with NC Craft Brewers GuildClick the logo to visit Pouring for Neighbors at the NC Craft Brewers Guild site.
Lisa Parker, executive director of the North Carolina Craft Brewers’ Guild, talks about Hurricane Helene relief in North Carolina on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Steve Jaxon. She is calling from Ashville, North Carolina, which Hurricane Helene hit hard. She will talk about Pouring for Neighbors, their fund raising initiative.
The map at the top of this episode page, from NOAA, reports rainfall from Helene, as of Sept. 27. You can see that Ashville is in the area that got the most rain. In fact, Lisa describes the conditions in the majority of western North Carolina as a war zone.
The area is a hotbed of craft brewing. They have 120 breweries in the counties designated for FEMA relief. The devastation is heartbreaking but the collaboration among the breweries and the neighbors is vigorous and inspiring.
Most of the area was not a flood zone so a lot of residents did not carry flood insurance. There are linemen out in the field restoring power. Many bridges and roadbeds have been washed out and there are many landslides.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Pouring for Neighbors
Most of us remember the fires that hit Sonoma County in 2017 and 2019. At that time of need, many brewers around the world united to produce special beers whose proceeds went to local relief, supporting services for the people affected. This kind of campaign has become an occasional event after other disasters and Hurricane Helene is an example of that.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Being in western North Carolina, Ashville was in the middle of Helene’s path of destruction at the end of its run up the south-eastern United States. Pouring for Neighbors began "right off the bat" to raise money. It is a tap designation program. Any brewery or taproom or restaurant can designate a tap and donate at least a dollar from each sale to Pouring for Neighbors. There are three options at the website. The web page has all the information you need to participate, and there is also a long list participating breweries.
There is a coalition of breweries assisting in delivering supplies. The National Guard and FEMA are all on the ground helping out. Any reports to the contrary are false. :)Thu, 10 Oct 2024 - 9min - 342 - Golden State Cider and Sonoma CraftGolden State Cider Unfiltered
Breanne Heuss, Marketing Director for Sonoma Craft, is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Sonoma Craft is the umbrella organization that holds Golden State Cider, Sun & Shine Cocktails and Seismic Brewing. Visit Sun & Shine on Instagram, here.
This is Breanne’s first time on Brew Ha Ha but co-owner Christopher Jackson was on this episode of the show on May 19, 2022, to talk about Golden State Cider. He was also on this episode in July 2019 to talk about starting Seismic Brewing.
Breanne is responsible for marketing the three brands that share their company values of making high quality products using sustainable practices.
Seismic Brewing has refocused as a craft lager brand, with distribution at the tap room and in selected locations in the Bay Area, but on draft only. They still make their different lagers, including Tremor and the Red lager. Breanne has been with Sonoma Craft for three years, and she worked for Golden State Cider before that. Herlinda mentions that spirits have overtaken beer in terms of annual sales in the US.
Unfiltered
After they taste their Unfiltered cider, they will taste a cocktail too. Golden State Cider has different tiers of cider. The base tier, called the core tier, includes the Mighty Dry, Brut and Jamaica. They have added one that is unfiltered, which is very dry and has big rich apple flavor. They also have a non-alcoholic cider, called “Dry and Mighty.”
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
The Sun & Shine Cocktail is the Valencia Mimosa. It is made with fresh Valencia orange juice, and a bit of apple eau-de-vie. Each can holds two mimosas. The ABV is 10%.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
All the Sonoma Craft companies are dedicated to sustainable practices and to supporting local and statewide charities. They are also involved in hurricane relief in western North Carolina, with the local Craft Brewer’s Guild. And they support local farmers by using fruit and other ingredients as much as possible from growers that are local, California-based or on the west coast. Golden State Cider has the Core series, the Harvest series and the Radical series. You can find all of them here on the Ciders page of their website. They are open Monday through Sunday from noon to nine.Thu, 03 Oct 2024 - 37min - 341 - Rio Nido Roadhouse OktoberfestThe Rio Nido Roadhouse Oktoberfest crew.
Raena Jones-Metzger from Rio Nido Roadhouse joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Brew Ha Ha is a double show and podcast today. Claire Elaine from Wooden Petal Bake Shop is also with us today. Since we have two guests on one radio show, we make two podcasts from the one live show, so that each guest can have their own podcast audio and a sharable (and indexable) web page. So over here is Claire Elaine and Wooden Petal Bake Shop’s podcast episode page. Gioia Merrill, the sous-chef and Tricia Bagley, one of their bartenders, also join Raena in the conversation, after the break (at about the 9:30 mark).
Raena was on the radio with Herlinda five years ago, just before her daughter was born. Reyna has brought some Oktoberfest beers to taste. They will offer flights and pints of these beers.
The Rio Nido Roadhouse fifteenth annual Oktoberfest will be Sunday, September 29, from 1pm to 4pm. There is no entry fee. They will be serving a Warsteiner German pilsner, Headlands Brewery Festbeer and another from Cooperage. There is also a German dark beer only on draft.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
They have a bratwurst, knackwurst and a weisswurst combination, chef-made spaezle, caramel apples, braised cabbage and a whole German menu. They also have games, live music and kids activities. Costumes are encouraged. Keith Church and David Albini, accordionists, will play the music to make it sound like Bavaria. The weather forecast is good, too!
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
For more information, visit their website Rio Nido Roadhouse dot com.
Photos from the Rio Nido Roadhouse website.Thu, 26 Sep 2024 - 23min - 340 - Wooden Petal Bake ShopClaire Elaine from Wooden Petal Bake Shop in Santa Rosa, joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Brew Ha Ha is a double show and podcast today. Also in the studio is Raena Jones-Metzger from Rio Nido Roadhouse. Occasionally, if we have two guests on one radio show, we make two podcasts from the live show, so that each guest can have their own podcast audio and a sharable (and indexable) web page of their own episode. The Rio Nido Roadhouse podcast episode page is over here.
Claire describes her day in the bake shop which begins at 3:30 or 4:00 making dough and then sandwiches from her pretzel buns. Wooden Petal is a name that Claire came up with, based on her grandmother’s catering company Wooden Spoon. Also, she was “an English granny” and used to call Elaine Petal, hence Wooden Petal.
She and her partner built their shop a couple of years ago, from scratch. They had to re-permit the location to serve food. Moonlight Brewing Co. is where she did her first pop-up selling pretzels. Wooden Petal is at 4984 Sonoma Hwy. near Middle Rincon Rd. They are open 7am to 1 pm.
Pretzel Buns Make Great Sandwiches
Wooden Petal’s pretzel buns make great sandwiches. Turkey or Salami with chive butter, with cheddar is called the You Betcha. The East Coaster is a classic deli sandwich with mayo mustard and cheddar, and the Valencia has fresh mozzarella, pesto and house tapenade.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Tomorrow, Friday Sept. 27, (as we are live on Thursday Sept. 26) Wooden Petal debuts the Meatball Grinder, which is meatballs, ricotta and parmesan, on a pretzel bun.
Claire and Wooden Petal Bake Shop were featured in the Press Democrat recently, here is the article.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Claire suggests ordering ahead online, or by phone. Her original idea was that pretzels would be popular in Beer City. At first, she started by doing pop-ups, and the response was always great because her pretzels always fit into the events where she appears. She is very proud of having a lot of loyal local customers.Thu, 26 Sep 2024 - 11min - 339 - Barley and BineLindsey, Connor and Jeff. Connor was about 5, now he's 12.
Jeff Reitz and Lindsey Osborne from Barley and Bine Beer Café in Windsor, join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. People often confuse bines and vines. Hops grow on bines, not vines, which grow vertically.
The Barley and Bine Oktoberfest party is Saturday, September 28, from 2pm to 11pm. They have a large selection of beers, almost all are California-based breweries.
Herlinda remembers that they have been through a lot since they opened the café seven years ago. They have survived fires and a pandemic. Now they are getting ready for their sixth year celebrating Oktoberfest. Their Oktoberfest party feature the Steve Balich Band which plays authentic German and Bavarian music.
Herlinda suggests watching their social media for updates about special events, including appearances of special beers that have a cult following.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Oktoberfest
Marzen means March which is Festbeer brewing time, so they are consumed in the fall. These are not necessarily high-alcohol beers. They are tasting one from Cooperage with is 5.7% ABV. Jeff and Lindsey have brought two items from their Oktoberfest menu. This will be their sixth year celebrating Oktoberfest. They will have 15 different beers on party day.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Barley and Bine makes a half-liter size beer stein, which is a German beer glass. Oktoberfest is also a chance for them to serve brats, which they do in great numbers. They also have 5 different kinds of mustard. They change the menu every month including lots of kinds of street tacos and tater tot nachos of all kinds. The soft pretzels are probably their #1 item.
They also have a digital menu board that shows up-to-the-minute information about the beer including when the keg was tapped and how much beer is left in the keg.Thu, 19 Sep 2024 - 29min - 338 - Fogbelt Brewing Wet HopsPaul Hawley and Miguel Smith from Fogbelt Brewing are the guests on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Fogbelt first brewed beer in 2013 and started brewing commercially in 2014. They also have a pub in Santa Rosa and a new larger production space. They were among the first brewers to emphasize fresh hops and wet hopped beer and this is the time of year when that is happening.
September 16-22 they have interesting corn dogs, not the normal kind. Each month they work on different beer and food pairings. Today they have a wet hop IPA that goes with a jalapeño corn dog. One is made with Fruity Pebbles. Another is a Ramen noodle corn dog, with a cheese sauce.
“These are the wildest looking cord dogs that I have ever seen.” -Steve Jaxon
Wet hopped beers are very seasonal and you would try to drink them as soon as you can. Their wet hop Oktoberfest celebration takes place in their parking lot on Saturday, September 21. They will also have a full German menu with sausages and potato salad, sauerkraut, etc.
Monthly Beer & Food Pairings
Every month they do a week-long food pairing, alternating between their two locations. In September the wet hopped beers go with these exotic corn dogs. Then, this October, the Santa Rosa location will feature tamales.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Miguel came to Fogbelt as Head Chef, after having worked in fine restaurants in San Francisco and many other places, since age 14.
The morning of a hop harvest, Paul will go out to the fields and inspect the crop. They bring the hops directly to the brewery. Meanwhile, Remy in getting the wort made in the brewery, and he then adds the hops to the empty clean vessel, then they pour the boiling wort back in, for kind of a tea extraction before going into fermentation. The requirements of logistics make it fun and challenging. Picking window on hops is usually a couple of weeks, so they have a little wiggle room. But if the weather changes suddenly they might have to react fast.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
They have a dog costume contest, and the winner gets featured on a beer the following year. There was mastiff dog dressed as the joker that won last year and his beer is coming soon.
Herlinda has bad news, that Hopland Tap is closing. Ron Lindenbusch kept it open as long as he could.Thu, 12 Sep 2024 - 24min - 337 - Mad FritzNile Zacherle of Mad Fritz Beer and Melissa Luci of Alexander Valley Hop Farm join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. It’s hop season!
Mad Fritz Beer is known as a cult brewery, since it is small and has a dedicated following. Mad Fritz is based in Napa. Nile has brought some beer made with fresh wet hops.
The hops come from Alexander Valley Hop Farm. Melissa Luci has been on BHH before, on this episode almost exactly a year ago, on Sept. 15, 2023.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Alexander Valley Hop Farm is located on a lot that has an unusual shape, it is very long and narrow, but the hops don’t mind that. The AV website is small but their Instagram page is great. The plants are trained to crawl up 18 feet of a string made of coconut fiber, that are 15 feet apart. Their goal is to have it reach the top by summer Solstice, so that the branches that produce the cones will mature at the right time.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Brewers can only make wet hopped beers at this time of year at hop harvest time. They have to get the hops from the farm to the brewery as fast as possible. Starting at sunrise, they deliver to the brewer the same day. Nothing is left from this year’s harvest!
Nile and his wife are partners in the brewery. Their two children Madeleine and Fritz gave Mad Fritz the name. The Ost House IPA is always available at their tap room and brewery. It uses Triumph hops, 100%, grown at AV Hops. They age the beer in neutral French oak, to allow the beer to settle to a clear beer, slowly.Thu, 05 Sep 2024 - 32min - 336 - Leah Scurto from PizzaleahLeah Scurto and Herlinda Heras.
Leah Scurto from Pizzaleah joins Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke who is sitting in for Steve Jaxon on Brew Ha Ha today. Herlinda Heras is back from another trip to Liverpool, this time to see Pete Best and his band.
Leah Scurto is Herlinda’s neighbor and friend. This is her first time on Brew Ha Ha but she was a guest on our other podcast, California Wine Country, on this CWC episode of April 27, 2022. In that show we hear about how Leah was getting ready to serve pizzas at the 2022 Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience.
Herlinda brought Leah into beer judging. Leah will be cooking at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO, in October later this year. “They get the best of the best of the chefs, paired up with breweries.” It’s Leah’s fourth year doing it.
Leah's partner this year is a brewery from Iowa called Big Grove, which is the official craft brewer of the Iowa Hawkeyes, check out their website^. Big Grove making a double IPA and an Oktoberfest for the Great American Beer Fest. Leah is cooking for Thursday and Friday nights. To pair with the double IPA she will make pickles with that brew, then make a pickle dip. She will make a mushroom pizza to go with the Oktoberfest.
Pizzaleah in Windsor, near Oliver's
Pizzaleah is located in Windsor near Oliver’s, at 9240 Old Redwood Hwy, #116. Their beer list includes a tap where she rotates local brewers in and out. Right now there is a beer from Ghost Town in Oakland.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Leah has brought some pizzas including the Old Graybeard which is the people’s favorite. It’s a sweet, spicy and salty with a little orange zest. They make their own sausage for the pizzas. Everything is in-house including the peperoni which is a recipe that Leah worked on for years. They pair that pizza with the Old Caz Free Craig’s.
Leah participates in international pizza competitions This summer she was at the Caputo Cup in Naples. Caputo is a brand of flour from Naples and they put on the pizza festival and the competition. Leah placed third!
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
When Leah needed a job in Santa Cruz in college, she got hired at a pizza shop where she eventually stayed for more then 2 decades. She opened 20 restaurants for them so she sure knows the business. She opened her restaurant about four years ago and survived the pandemic as the first order of business. It happened to be just as the pandemic was closing everyone down. She weathered the storm by being available for delivery at a time when that was the only way to get food to the people.
The beer selection at Pizzaleah is important to Leah. She wants to support local brewers by featuring their products and also whenever possible she tries to support small local suppliers and organic production.
The Lola pizza, with pesto, potato and caramelized onion, is paired with the Crispy Crusher from Cooperage.Thu, 29 Aug 2024 - 40min - 335 - Moonlight Brewing 32nd AnniversaryThe Moonlight Sonata is indeed in three movements.
Brian Hunt and Erin Latham-Ponneck are on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras, for the Moonlight Brewing 32nd Anniversary. Brian has been on Brew Ha Ha many times, the most recent was this episode in October of 2023.
On Saturday, August 24, from noon to 10 pm, Moonlight Brewing Co. will celebrate its 32nd anniversary, with music from The Sam Chase and the Untraditional, and others. There will be food trucks, attractions and activities for everyone including children, in addition to lots of delicious beer. In addition to all that, they will have a kids zone with a jumpy house and a magician.
32 Years of Moonlight Brewing
Moonlight Brewing is now the oldest brewery in the county. Brian tells about getting “the beer guy”, Dr. Michael Lewis as an advisor when he changed majors to fermentation science at UC Davis. Then he went to work for Schlitz in Milwaukee. At that time, they were not invested in making great beer there. So Brian got away from that scene, with the lesson that people won’t be attracted to crappy beer. He came back from Milwaukee in 1981 and worked for a series of breweries before starting his own brewery 32 years ago in 1992. Brian is Erin’s stepdad. At first, he “poached” her away from her job to hire her for the bookkeeping. That led to more, as we will hear.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
In the meantime, they taste the beer called Sulla Luna, a Czech-inspired amber lager that Brian originally made with Birrificio Italiano. He met them in Milano at a beer convention and when they visited here, they brewed this collaboration.
Several months into the job she learned that there were actual offices above the brewery. So she moved into a proper room with a desk. Erin’s official title is Chaos Management Specialist and Adult In Charge.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Brian has some interesting opinions about hops, especially that beer can be flavored with plants other than hops. Listen to him tell the history of hop use in beer in Europe.Thu, 15 Aug 2024 - 32min - 334 - Old Caz UpdateToday Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras is an Old Caz update directly from co-owner Brian Rengel. He has been on this show many times, the last time was this episode on May 23, 2024, along with cidermaker Jeffery House.
Old Caz is now open in its new location. It has “…the same vibe and the same feel as the old spot,” says Brian Rengel co-owner of Old Caz. They have used the same flooring and bar tops from the old place, which was built completely with free stuff. But it’s bigger and it has parking and real bathrooms.
They will be making beer in their new facility and you will be able to drink fresh beer straight from the tank on the anniversary party. They have a brand new lunch service with wraps, sandwiches, salads and sides and they get homemade pretzels from a nearby shop. Of course there are deserts. The menu includes all the Old Caz beers, as well as hard kombucha, wine and sparkling mead. Every evening there are food trucks for dinner.
Tuesday Night Trivia
The Tuesday trivia night is packed. People start coming at 3 and you might not be able to get a table after 4. Their taproom manager Rob is in charge and they had 45 teams competing.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Old Caz is open Monday through Thursday 11-9pm, Friday and Saturday 11-10pm and Sunday 11-8pm.
This year’s Old Caz anniversary party will take place Saturday and Sunday August 24-25 at the new location in SoMo Village.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
The Chismosa is a Mexican Amber Lager which is similar to a Modelo. It happened to win Gold at the World Beer Cup!
"I've been saying this to everyone, all of our friends and our customers and our regulars. I'm excited for everyone to see where we are right now, because we've come this far in a very short period of time. If you give me another five years, we're going to be putting beer on the moon. So, pay attention!"
Another Old Caz beer is the Bukovany Pivo, a Czech style. Co-founder Tom's family had a small brewery and pub in the Czech town of Bukovany, and Pivo means Beer in Czech. Breakfast Skaggs beer is an oatmeal-based stout, with additional flavor of maple syrup and vanilla bean. Brian mentions a couple of ideas, such as a Mexican Imperial, which would be an original, and a quad IPA. Trust Tom to make it great.
Catastrophe is a Rye Beer in an orange caution-cone colored can. Not everyone likes rye IPA but this one has die-hard fans.
Instead of having to manage a kitchen with a large menu, they have a rotation of food trucks. To make it easy for them, Old Caz is installing a reinforced concrete pad where the trucks can park, with power hookups.Thu, 08 Aug 2024 - 29min - 333 - Ethic Ciders founder Ned LawtonGolden Rule Cider from Ethic Cider.
Ethic Ciders founder New Lawton is back on this crunchy episode of Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras, to promote this year's Gravenstein Apple Fair. Ned Lawton appeared on Brew Ha Ha on this August 25, 2018 episode, promoting Cider Week that year.
Herlinda is going to Italy next week to visit some friends who have bought a house near Lake Como, which they will be converting into a bed and breakfast.
The Gravenstein apple is to cider makers what Pinot Noir is to local winemakers. It is the go-to fruit for their art. It is tart and sweet and ripens early. Ethic Ciders got started with their acquisition of an old apple orchard which was in need of renovation. Once that was done they were able to produce a crop and make the cider from that.
Gravitude: Grateful for Gravensteins
They are tasting a cider called Gravitude. Its name means "grateful for Gravensteins. It is sparkling and very food friendly. The tartness is what makes it combine with foods in the same way that a wine with strong acidity does.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
They will be pouring ciders at the Gravenstein Apple Fair on Aug. 10. There they will also be launching a new product, Gravitude in cans. Some of their ciders are traditional and others are their creative recipes that combine flavors. You will also be able to meet the cider makers. There are also styles that come from different countries. It is popular in France, from Brittany. There will be cider producers and also cheese and gelato "It is a really classic country fair," says Herlinda.
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There is also a press where you can press apples. Some producers will have special ciders to pour. The arts and crafts are true local artisans and you can find stuff you won't see anywhere else.Thu, 01 Aug 2024 - 33min - 332 - Ron Lindenbusch visits BHH
There is no new Brew Ha Ha show today, due to travel schedules, so for this week's podcast edition here is an encore show of a visit with Ron Lindenbush from last March. Brew Ha Ha will be back with a new episode next week, Thursday Aug. 1. Cheers!
Ron Lindenbusch, Hopland Tap founder and owner, is back again on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. He has been on Brew Ha Ha several times, including this episode on July 5, 2018, again on May 28, 2020 along with Natalie Cilurzo, and again on May 6, 2021. These episodes chronicle Ron's career with Lagunitas up to and including the Heineken purchase.
Today's live radio show is a triple-header. We have two other guests in the studio along with Ron today. The episode with Cynthia from Homerun Pizza is here. Ryan Frank, brewmaster at Headlands Brewing, also has his own podcast episode on this page.
Since he left Lagunitas at the end of a very successful run, Ron Lindenbusch found the perfect location in Hopland to set up the tavern that he always dreamed of. Steve remembers when it was the Hopland Brewery, they had bands including some pretty famous ones. Hopland Tap also does live music. This Saturday the band is Left-Hand Monkey Wrench.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
On Tap at Museum of Sonoma County
Herlinda Heras is helping the Museum of Sonoma County develop its upcoming exhibition ON TAP about the history of brewing in Sonoma County. Ron Lindenbush was with her at the museum today to record some video that will be used in the exhibition. He personally holds a lot of the stories of the history that is the subject of the exhibit.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
They are tasting a non-alcoholic beer that Ron makes. It actually tastes like beer. One is called Electro Lime. Ron explains that it is made just like beer, then the alcohol is removed. What remains is a beverage that actually tastes like beer. The non-alcoholic beer scene is completely different than it was ten years ago.Thu, 25 Jul 2024 - 22min - 331 - New Albion’s story: Renée DeLuca plus Don Barkley (Part Two)Renée and Don.
The New Albion story continues here in part two of Renée DeLuca and Don Barkley's visit to Brew Ha ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Part one of today's show, with Renée DeLuca as the featured guest, is on this other podcast episode. Herlinda Heras' father is also in the studio with us today.
Don Barkley was on Brew Ha Ha three weeks ago on this episode of June 27. Today he is back to meet Renée and to bring some of Jack McAuliffe's New Albion Ale that he has brewed for the Beer Garden event this Saturday.
Don was studying fermentation science at UC Davis when he asked his professor, Dr. Michael Lewis, how he could get a job in the brewing industry. Professor Lewis told him he would have to cut his hair. Don didn't like that idea so the professor suggested he contact Jack McAuliffe, who wouldn't care about long hair. Jack was known for coming to the library and going over all the books about brewing, although he was not enrolled. Don tells the story of going to Sonoma to meet Jack, who initially refused Don. But when Don came back he talked to Susie Dennison and made a deal to work for a case of beer a week. Don still has the recipes.
Russian River Brewing Co. will have three race cars on display at their Windsor pub, on Wednesday, July 24. Two top fuel dragsters and one funny car and drivers, will be there to greet visitors. It's a promotion for the NHRA Sonoma Nationals that are taking place at Sonoma Raceway on July 26-28.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
New Albion Pale Ale
Kevin Lovett is the brewer at Wolfhouse Brewing Co. He is also the son of Michael Lovett, Don's dearest friend. Michael and Don both started at the New Albion brewery together. Now they are brewing the old recipe at Kevin's brewery. Kevin Lovett was a guest on Brew Ha Ha on June 9, 2022, here is the episode page. In that interview with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras, we hear about how Kevin literally grew up at Mendocino Brewing Company.
Jack McAuliffe has a name for today's beers flavored with ingredients like cinnamon or cardamom. He calls them hula hoop beers, which is hilarious.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Albion is the name of Britain in ancient Greek and t is also a poetic name for Britain. Sir Francis Drake sailed on his ship The Golden Hind and was the first European to sail into San Francisco Bay. The Golden Hind is the ship on the New Albion Pale Ale label.
The best place to get a taste of the New Albion Pale Ale is at the Museum of Sonoma County Summer Beer Garden. It's open from 4-8pm, $15 general admission, ample shady parking available across the street.
Fri, 19 Jul 2024 - 21min - 330 - Renée DeLuca, Jack McAuliffe’s Daughter (Part One)Renée DeLuca and Don Barkley
Renée DeLuca, Jack McAuliffe's daughter, is our special guest today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. This is Renée's first time on Brew Ha Ha. Her father is one of the most famous figures in craft brewing history. She is visiting Santa Rosa to attend the celebration at the Museum of Sonoma County this coming Saturday, July 20 from 4pm-8pm. It will be in the sculpture garden which is becoming a beer garden for the event. Don Barkley is also in the studio today. He was our in-studio guest on this episode just three weeks ago. This is part one of the podcast of their live radio show, featuring Renée DeLuca with Herlinda Heras and Steve Jaxon. In part two of the podcast, Don Barkley joins them in the studio. That episode is right here.
Brewer's Daughter Beer Company
Renée DeLuca now runs the Brewer's Daughter Beer Company which is producing the New Albion brand. She was able to revive the brand in 2011. By then, Jack had retired from beer and wasn't interested or aware of the craft brew scene. She took him to visit the Great American Beer Festival in Denver and everyone wanted to meet him. Listen to how Renée tells about how she bonded with her father over the beer. Jack had never been to a beer fest. At one point, there was an awards ceremony for a home brewer who won the Sam Adams contest. At that time, Jim Koch, the founder of Sam Adams, revealed that he had retained the business rights to New Albion so that nobody else could do something unworthy with it.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Today, the recognition has been coming from all corners. In 2019 they were in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Part of the exhibit FOOD: Transforming the American Table is dedicated to beer and New Albion is a big part of that story.
New Albion Beer Reborn
When Jim Koch invited them to come to Boston to make the beer again, she invited Don Barkley, who had the recipes. Renée tells the story of how Jim Koch returned the IP rights and the LLC to Jack. The New Albion beer will be served at the Museum of Sonoma County Beer Garden event from 4-8pm on Saturday, July 20. Brewers who will be pouring include Russian River Brewing, Moonlight Brewing, Lagunitas and Pond Farm.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Jack was in the Navy in the 1960s, where he worked as welder stationed in Scotland. There he learned to like the Porters, Ales and Stouts he found in Scotland. Discharged from the Navy in California, he decided he had to make those beers himself.Fri, 19 Jul 2024 - 14min - 329 - On Tap at the Museum of Sonoma CountyBeer Historian John Burton and Eric Stanley, curator of the Museum of Sonoma County join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. John Burton also operates the Santa Rosa Bartending School.
The exhibit ON TAP has been open at the Museum of Sonoma County since April. Check it out before it closes on September 1.
This Saturday, July 20 there is a reception from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, where they will serve a very special beer. They will convert their sculpture garden into a beer garden. They will serve an original recipe from Jack McAuliffe, one of the co-founders of New Albion Brewery. Herlinda has brought some of the beer to taste today. It is a pale ale with Cascade hops. It’s not very hoppy by today’s standards but it was considered hoppy in 1977. Albion is the name of Britain in the Greek language. The Cascade Hop was the first type created in a university laboratory, in the early seventies.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
John lent the museum a lot of pieces from his collection, for the On Tap exhibit. Some bottles are as old as the 1800s. He also has a lot of pieces from the Grace Bros. brand, which was the great local brand from 1897-1966. John Burton knew Virginia and Cathy Grace.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
The exhibition traces the brewing business from the arrival of German immigrants in the 1840s. This inspired the idea to transform the Museum of Sonoma County sculpture garden into a German-style beer garden for the event on July 20.Thu, 11 Jul 2024 - 32min - 328 - Tony Magee Tells His Story
Tony Magee tells his story.
There is no new Brew Ha Ha show today, Thursday July 4, since our home station 95.5 Wine Country Radio is taking the Independence Day holiday. So here is a chance to listen again to our interview with Tony Magee, the now-retired founder of Lagunitas. He may be elusive and seem to have gained mythical status, but Herlinda Heras has just finished interviewing him for the Sonoma County Museum's ON TAP exhibit, along with Don Barkley and Mark Carpenter, and today he tells his story for us. This interview was recorded live on the radio on April 18, 2024.
Tony Magee, the now-retired founder of Lagunitas, is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. The last time Tony Magee was on Brew Ha Ha was this episode in 2014. Today he and his wife have a ranch where they host retired horses and also some cattle.
Herlinda Heras has been working with the Museum of Sonoma County to organize On Tap, the exhibit about craft beer history that is opening this weekend. Tony sat for a video interview for the exhibition and he is pleased to be part of it. He started Lagunitas in 1993 and grew it into one of the largest breweries in the country. In 2017 Heineken acquired the company. Tony tells the interesting back story to the acquisition. Lagunitas was beginning to sell beer outside the US, which is not easy to do. He also had grown Lagunitas to a point where the US market was starting to feel saturated with new beer brands as the popularity of craft beer grew. He started to think about a longer term plan for the company, rather than endure infinite domestic competition. Heineken was (and is) the last family-owned global brewer.
Click to visit the Museum of Sonoma County website.
Finding the Right Partner
All the other big companies are multinationals. Tony says Lagunitas never really discussed the acquisition with other companies because none of them had Heineken’s character. Hearing him tell the story, he sounds really pleased with how it all happened. He says he thought of the brewery as an art project, with an artist will eventually sell and once that happens, that’s it. He gives credit to Heineken for updating the structure of the business operation but for not changing the beer or the recipes and the brew master is still there.
This is the best time in the last thousand years to be a beer lover. -Tony Magee
Herlinda asks what the inspiration was for the brewery. For Tony, he was doing a completely different job. He was in commercial printing sales and he was a home brewer. His brother got him a home brew kit for Christmas of 1992, in January of ’93 he brewed it, and by December of 1993 the brewery was open. He recognized things in brewing that reminded him of music. As musician that helped him understand brewing.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
A lot of Lagunitas beer is IPA style and hop focused. His friend Grant Johnston who was a brewer at Marin Brewing would also homebrew. He was experimenting by adding his hops late in the boil, which boosted the flavors and didn’t let bitterness develop by boiling too long. This was how they created a hop-forward style that became the central thesis of the brewery.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location.Thu, 04 Jul 2024 - 36min - 327 - Don BarkleyLegendary brewer Don Barkley is again our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today. His last appearance on BHH was this episode of March 28, 2019.
Don founded the Mendocino Brewing Company in 1983 as the Hopland Brewery. It was the very first brew pub in the United States. They had a big hit with Red Tail Ale and their brew pub was the model for all subsequent ones.
They are brewing a revival of one of Jack McAuliffe's original New Albion Brewing Company recipe. New Albion was the first craft brewery. Jack made all of their equipment himself. Michael Lovett and Don Barkley worked for New Albion and left to start Mendocino Brewing after New Albion closed. Don kept all of Jack's notes and instructions, that is how they have the exact recipe for New Albion Pale Ale to make today.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
At a time when everyone else was producing lager beer, Red Tail Ale was a unique new flavor. They tried to expand the business with some outside investors, but in Don's opinion they were never able to figure out how to make a craft brewery work. Wolfhouse Brewing in Cloverdale is making the beer although they can't call it that.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
It is hard to make it just right. Herlinda remembers a brewer that tried to make it and it wasn't quite right. They also made Blue Heron which was an IPA.Thu, 27 Jun 2024 - 17min - 326 - Admiral Maltings of AlamedaThe Admirals, on the sea of malt.
Dave McLean from Admiral Maltings in Alameda is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Admiral Dave has been on Brew Ha Ha before, including this interview recorded on June 28, 2018. Dave is also the Beer Lands coordinator for the Outside Lands music festival. On Saturday June 29 they are putting on It's The Malt, which they hope will become an annual event.
Admiral Maltings' three partners all have backgrounds perfect for their roles in the company, in beer and agriculture. They wanted to have locally grown organic malt to use as brewers and now the company supplies many other brewers too.
Dave explains the role of malt starting with the fact that beer is made mostly from barley but as it grows in the field it is not ready to use in brewing. The malting process involves steeping the grain in water, germinating it and then stopping that process. Then the brewer takes it and does all the other steps in the brewing process. Admiral Maltings is the first floor malting facility in California since Prohibition.
They do different types of malt, to follow specifications that their customers, the brewers.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Admiral Maltings also operates The Rake pub, on the same site as the malting facility in Alameda. They only serve beers and distilled spirits that use their malts. The Rake has windows that overlook the malting floor, which is a unique feature.
"Watching malt germinate has never been this much fun!" - Admiral Maltings
Herlinda is just back from judging at the Aro Rojo 2024 competition in Monterrey, Mexico and she has brought some beers back from there, for tasting.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
The festival on June 29 will feature some beers brewed with the special malt made for the event. The Rake pub menu will offer their BBQ-centric menu. The Rake is a full service restaurant so kids and dogs are ok.Thu, 20 Jun 2024 - 45min - 325 - Herlinda Heras, Judge at Aro Rojo 2024Herlinda Heras
Herlinda Heras calls into the studio from the Aro Rojo 2024 in Mexico, to speak to Steve Jaxon on Brew Ha Ha today fro Monterrey, the capital of the state of Nuevo León. She is a judge in a competition called the Aro Rojo 2024. Aro Rojo means "Red Ring" and their logo is a dragon in the shape of a ring. There are both professional and home brew competitions with a total of 715 beers in the competition. There are judges from all over the world, including Charlie Papazian, the godfather of home brew in the United States. Pete Schlossberg from Pete's Wicked Ales is also there as a judge. About a quarter of the judges are women, this year.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Getting Through Customs with Beer
Herlinda brought a lot of beers to show at the presentation, two suitcases worth. She always brings beer wherever she travels and she has never had issues at customs. This time the passport folks waved her through but the Mexican National Guard stopped her. They were looking for beer, and she was not supposed to have more than three liters. But they didn't open the other suitcase and they eventually let her through.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
She explained that the beer she had may have been over three liters. When she said they were commercial samples and not for sale, they let her pass. Monterrey is also the home of the largest beer factory in the world.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!Thu, 13 Jun 2024 - 7min - 324 - Freshtival 2024 with Colin McDonnell, HenHouse BrewingFreshtival 2024 is this weekend and Colin McDonnell from HenHouse Brewing is here to tell us all about it. It takes place on Saturday, June 15, 2024 at SOMO Village. There is no beer older than seven days.
Colin explains that beer is a lot more perishable than a lot of people realize. Especially when craft beer is made with carefully chosen flavors, it need to be enjoyed while fresh. So they wanted to create a festival to celebrate freshness and to show people how tasty fresh beer can be.
The festival is also a chance to taste new flavors, and to taste familiar beers but fresher than ever. Early access tickets open at 12:30 and general admission is at 1:30. There are bands performing until 5:00. There are also several food vendors there. This is their fourth edition. Humboldt Cider will also be there, with seven different ciders. Cider is different than beer so it's not subject to the seven-day rule. Hoppy beer doesn't have a long shelf life.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
No Beer Older Than Seven Days
They are tasting an IPA that is only 10 days old. Even if it's past the Freshtival limit, it's still very fresh. There is no bar in the world where you can taste over 150 fresh beers from 63 breweries. The people who make the beer are really into it. "The Freshtival is the largest gathering of fresh beer in the known universe." They will even be printing fresh shirts there.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Colin says, "Give me something insane to do and I'll be inspired." 7-day beer a very unusual task and it inspires great beer.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Thu, 13 Jun 2024 - 28min - 323 - Beer Fest: The Good One with Gary SapersteinGary Saperstein, organizer of BEER FEST - The Good One, joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today on Brew Ha Ha. Gary holds the title of Development Director for Face to Face, the organizers of Beer Fest - The Good One. It takes place Saturday, June 8, 2024 at the Luther Burbank Center. Visit Eventbrite for tickets. Face to Face has for 40 years been working to end HIV in Sonoma County, 1983-2023.
This year is the 31st annual edition of Beer Fest, which makes it the oldest beer festival in Sonoma County. The event is held outdoors and there will be tents and shade as well lots of beer, food and music.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Face to Face
In 1983 Face to Face started, right at the beginning of the Aids crisis. A group of angels saw a need for help and set up the organization to help terminal patients. Over the years, the agency has evolved and does much more work than before, but their mission is rooted in the history of HIV.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
There will be many local breweries attending and pouring beer at Beer Fest, including Lagunitas, Hen House, Lost Coast, Farmers, Moonlight, Russian River and many smaller labels you don’t see every day. Herlinda had her first taste of Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat Ale at the Beer Fest.
"My favorite beer is the one in front of me." -Mark Carpenter, founding father of Brew Ha Ha
Today, Herlinda has brought two beers fresh from the Hen House, brewery which is about to hold its annual Freshtival on June 15, 2024. One is a refreshing IPA called Frozen Envelope. The other is Virtuoso, a West Coast IPA.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Herlinda's Next Competition: Aro Rojo in Mexico
Herlinda is leaving soon for Mexico City where she will be a judge at Aro Rojo, the big Mexican beer competition. She will also give a talk there about the history of beer in California. That's a hot topic for them to hear about there, because of the international importance of our local craft brewing industry. They saw that Herlinda had a lot to do with setting up On Tap, the exhibit at the Museum of Sonoma County about the history of hops and brewing in Sonoma County.
Oliver's Market is the biggest sponsor of all of Beer Fest: The Good One. They will be serving Korean street tacos for the event. Trader Joe's is a sponsor. Visit Santa Rosa is a sponsor, always interested in promoting Santa Rosa and its title Beer City. Gary describes how Face to Face has evolved, and managed to keep its services free. They also provide mental health services. They do needle exchange and supply Narcan. This has saved over 3500 lives, according to Gary.Thu, 06 Jun 2024 - 322 - Jessica Christensen, Mixologist at Graton Resort and CasinoJessica Christensen, Mixologist and Beverage Manager, and Robb Stites, head of Communications and Community at Graton Resort and Casino join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today.
Jessica is a Sonoma County native. She is responsible for all of the drinks at nine different bars at the Graton Resort and Casino. She started as a bartender at Negri's in Occidental when she was 21. After a few years she worked at Calistoga Inn and Brewery. After that, she was recruited to the Graton casino and soon got into management there.
The first drink served today, after the soothing and inspiring sound of the cocktail shaker, is an Apricot Pisco cocktail. Pisco is a distilled spirit from Peru with a flavor that is close to rum.
Robb Stites had a background in public relations before coming to the casino about two years ago. He describes the philanthropy and in-kind donations that they do as an expression of their commitment to the community.
Jessica describes the Apricot Pisco cocktail that is in Steve's glass. It is made with Pisco, Luxardo apricot liqueur, fresh lemon, some acqua fava for the foam and some simple syrup. Acqua fava is technically garbano bean juice, which can produce a foamy texture. (Sometimes bartenders use egg whites for foam, but many people prefer this vegan alternative.)
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
There are several bars in the resort; G-Bar is a sports bar and Sky Bar in the lobby has won several polls from Casino Player magazine. Sky Bar is a lounge bar at the center of the venue, Lobby Bar is a little more for craft cocktails, away from the gaming floor. There are also frequent concerts and comedy shows.
The swimming pool is open not only to hotel guests now. You can buy day passes now for a cabaña, a lounger or a day bed, those are available seven days a week. Guests can bring food in from another restaurant or order from the poolside menu. The pool bar is right nearby.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
The next cocktail they taste is a new take on a traditional recipe, called a Jalapeño Margarita. It will soon be on the Lobby Bar menu. It has Jalapeño-infused tequila, plus Cointreau, lime juice and agave. Floating on top, there is an Aperol and lime citrus foam.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Jessica describes the pool menu, which is the same as last year and is designed to be quick, fresh and delicious. Kiwi, blueberry, watermelon, mango and spiked lemonade. They also have a cocktail competition called Full Tilt. The first year the competitors were mostly from north bay but this year they will open it to bartenders from all over the Bay Area. One portion of the competition will be Iron Chef style, where the competitors get a set of ingredients they have to work with. This year it will focus on agave-based drinks. The Campari group is the sponsor.Thu, 30 May 2024 - 321 - Jeffery House’s Book and Old Caz OpeningHerlinda Heras, Bryan Rengel and Jeffery House.
Jeffery House, founder of Ace Cider is here, so is Bryan Rengel from Old Caz Beer, on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Bryan's last time on Brew Ha Ha was this episode back in January 2024. Jeffery's last BHH appearance was this episode in August of 2022.
Jeffery House, founder of Ace Cider, has a new book. The Cider King is a story of how he came from England and ended up on the west coast. He got handcuffed for not having a green card but the judge gave him voluntary departure instead of deportation. A friend of his was importing cognacs and Armagnacs and various spirits, so he started working with him. He noticed an opportunity to import British and Belgian beer. Then, on his friend’s suggestion became the first to import Sonoma wine to the UK, beginning in 1981.
Bryan Rengel tells the story of how he built Old Caz with his partners, using materials that were entirely DIY, found and acquired for free. Now they are building the new location bringing in the same materials. He and his partner love cycling in the mountains and named the brewery after a very challenging road that they love to ride, which is Old Cazadero Road.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Old Caz new location Opens June 1
They are definitely opening on June 1, having passed the health department inspection last Tuesday and the City of Rhonert Park gave their official approval today. There is some work to do still. Noon on June 1, they will have a grand opening ribbon cutting. The Old Caz Cavalcade will be a 3.5 mile march from the old location to the new one. Join the cool kids for that.
The Cider King is the name of Jeffery House’s new book. It’s on Amazon and Kindle as of a couple of weeks ago. The Kindle version for 90 days is free. He will do an audio book version of it in his own voice.
He started Ace Cider with seed money from a settlement from the end of a distribution agreement he had in England.
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Somebody told me they were growing apples in west (Sonoma) county. I drove up here one day to Sebastopol. It was like England with sunshine. The cows were happy, the fields were green…” In 1993 they made their first cider.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location.Thu, 23 May 2024 - 320 - Taylor Lane of Pink Boots Society plus Simone YingstThe Pink Boot Society national conference
Taylor Lane is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. She is local chapter president of the Pink Boots Society. She is also a Lab Supervisor for Gallo Sonoma, and used to do the same job for Russian River Brewing. Also in the studio today is Simone Yingst from the Santa Rosa Central Library.
We also have a special guest, Simone Yingst from the Sonoma County Library. She is an adult services librarian at the downtown Santa Rosa library. There is a talk series called The Future is Fermented, happening at the library on May 22.
The Pink Boots Society
The Pink Boots Society is a national organization founded in 2007 by a woman brewer who realized that she was often the only woman in the room at beer events. They work on education, offer scholarships and support networking among its members. They have expanded their membership from beer people to people who work with any fermented beverages, and from women to also include non-binary persons. The Pink Boots Society National Conference will be in Philadelphia, June 24-26, 2024.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Taylor Lane has a Bachelor's and a Master's Degree in Microbiology. She thought that would lead her into the veterinary or pharma field, but she discovered fermentation when she took a class in fermentation while in grad school. That made her realize that she knew all about the processes of making beer and other fermented foods and beverages. A job at Russian River would soon follow, as the lab supervisor. Taylor continues to thrive in the same role at Gallo Sonoma.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
A delivery has just arrived from Old Possum and Flagship BBQ who are putting on a birthday event soon. As we know, Flagship is now operating the kitchen at Old Possum. They were here on BHH in January to announce it.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
The subject of the talk on May 22 is Burnout in a Passion-based Business. The Future is Fermented, happening at the library on May 22.Thu, 16 May 2024 - 42min - 319 - Raven Brewery of Pilsen, CzechiaHerlinda Heras with Raven Brewery guests.
The brewer and co-founder of Pivovar Raven, or Raven Brewery in Pilsen, Czech Republic are our guests today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. They are Ladislav Vrtiš, co-founder, and Jiří Vašek, whose first name translates to George in English. Miroslov Puc is also in the studio but we won't hear from him on the broadcast.
They are friends of Lana Svitankova, Herlinda’s fellow international beer judge and a recent guest on BHH. The crew from Raven Brewing in Pilzen is on a beer tour of California. First they spent 5 days in San Diego, now it’s Sonoma County and environs, including Beer City, Santa Rosa. Sierra Nevada and Russian River Brewing Co. are on the itinerary too. They just came back from a driving tour through Yosemite National Park.
Czech Pilsner and German Pilsner are different. For the Czech, they have softer water, especially in the town of Pilzen. Second, the brewing process, they use decoction to brew the beer. The Germans and US use infusion.
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Pivovar Raven, or Raven Brewery
The Raven brewery was founded in Pilzen in 2015. A law was proposed to require bars that serve beer to also offer a non-alcoholic beverage at a price that is lower than the cheapest beer. But the law did not pass.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
Pilsner Urquell is still a very popular brand in Czechia. It might cost $3 in Prague. In smaller cities, you can get a good local pilsner for a buck. The local bars are also the meeting place for social life and also to find service people.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
The California IPAs are a bit strong, around 7 or 8 ABV. The Czech beers are lighter.Fri, 10 May 2024 - 39min - 318 - Anderson Valley Brewing Co. CEO Kevin McGeeAnderson Valley Brewing Co. CEO Kevin McGee joins Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon, and Herlinda Heras. The last time Kevin was on Brew Ha Ha was this episode from last November. Also, AVBC brewmaster Fal Allen has been on Brew Ha Ha many times. His last appearance was this episode in September 2023. Tara Nurin is also in the studio today for the live Brew Ha Ha radio show, and her part of the conversation is on this podcast episode.
Wellness and mental health is an important topic in the brewing industry, especially after the uncertainty and stress of the last few years. Listen to Tara Nurin speaking about that today, on this podcast episode. Under the new owners of AVBC, the company expanded its suite of mental health benefits for employees. They also have opened pathways for people to have access to therapy.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Their first tasting is the Black Light, 95 calories, and it is black like a stout even if it is a light. It won the European Beer Star Award, another silver medal two years ago and it won the Brussels Beer Challenge last year. They love this beer. It's great to have a new beer that is so successful. There weren't a lot of good light craft beers. They started with the intention of making a good tasting beer and it happened to be light, at 3.8% ABV. It gets its black color from black rice, not from blackened malt as usual with dark beers. This was Fal Allen's invention.
He also wanted to make a Pilsner, which is The Pilsner under ABVC's label. Summer Solstice is another periodic beer that has some devoted fans.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Anderson Valley Brewing Co has been practicing sustainable brewing for long before Kevin became CEO. They use only water drawn from wells on their property and they return all their used water to the ground. It is a zero-effluent operation.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
They expect about 3000 people at the Booneville Beer Fest on Sat. May 4, May the fourth be with you, Star Wars fans. It is a benefit for local charities all within about 10 miles of the brewery. It is their 26th edition.Thu, 02 May 2024 - 26min - 317 - Beverage Industry Mental Health with Tara NurinTara Nurin
Beverage industry mental health is the subject with Tara Nurin today on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon, and Herlinda Heras. Tara has been on Brew Ha Ha many times, the last time was this episode just last week.
The day before yesterday, Lana Svitankova, Herlinda and Tara were at UC Davis speaking about the brewing industry. Tara was there to discuss her book and to read a part of it. The students at UC Davis in the brewing program come from all over the world. Lana and Herlinda talked about international judging and they took questions from the students. The members of the panel at UC Davis were an all-star lineup of the craft brewing world.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
A Beautiful Mind
Last night they attended Lo and Behold's event called A Beautiful Mind, a fund raiser for NAMI, the National Association for Mental Illness. They held a cocktail competition and a raffle and it was sold out. May is National Mental Health Awareness month. You can order the Beautiful Mind cocktail at a roster of local restaurants and the proceeds go to NAMI.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
People in the beverage and hospitality industry can suffer physical and mental ailments due to work stress. She has been developing ways to teach resilience to managers, owners on how to create holistically healthy workspaces. In addition, Tara teaches workers to understand their own needs and to be able to maintain a stable state of mental health for the long term.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Tara practices Transcendental Meditation and she also applies it to her efforts to reduce stress in the hospitality workspace.Thu, 02 May 2024 - 21min - 316 - Smith Street Taps of SingaporeSmith Street Taps 10th Anniversary commemorative glass.
Meng and Kim Chow, owners of Smith Street Taps in Singapore, join Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today. It is their first time on Brew Ha Ha. Lana Svitankova is also in the studio today. Her full conversation with Herlinda can be heard over here on its own podcast episode.
Meng and Kim have brought a Smith Street Taps glass like the one pictured here, as a gift for Steve. They have just celebrated their tenth anniversary. They also have another stall now, called by a similar name, Smith Street Taproom.
Herlinda met Meng and Kim in Singapore when she was judging in the Asia Beer Cup. The city is obviously very clean and well organized, and Herlinda remembers feeling safe in the city, even when she got lost at night.
Singapore's Hawker Stalls
Smith Street Taps is located among the hawker stalls in Singapore. These are large food courts with many restaurants serving a wide variety of styles of food. It is Singapore's way of organizing what would otherwise be street food.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
Kim explains that Smith Street Taps is the first and only hawker stall dedicated to craft beer, among all the many hawker stalls in Singapore. They have craft beer on tap from all over the world.
Hawker culture in Singapore is heritage, so it is protected, promoted and highly appreciated." -Kim Chow
Rumble in the Jungle (photo by Lana Svitankova).
Meng has opened a beer called Rumble in the Jungle, a Stout which he produced in a collaboration with Brewlander, a local brewery, and Jungle Beer, formerly of Singapore and now based in India. It is a stout flavored with chickory from India, with an 8% ABV. "Works for me!" says Steve Jaxon.
Herlinda remembers a 16 hour flight from California to Singapore, which Meng and Kim also just did. Thinking out loud, next time, she might fly 9 hours to Japan first, then fly the next leg from Japan to Singapore, another 9 hours.
The Singapore Sling
The Singapore Sling is the number one local cocktail. It is a gin-based cocktail believed to have been created by a bartender at Raffles Hotel in Singapore. They still serve them there, so go get one if you're visiting Singapore, it can't be missed. Spoiler Alert! --> In a shaker with ice, add gin, cherry liqueur, Cointreau, Benedictine, pineapple juice, lime juice, Grenadine syrup and a dash of Angostura bitters. Serve strained into a hurricane glass.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Meng had the first craft beer bottle shop in Singapore, before Smith Street Taps. He is on his way to Boston for his son's graduation from Northeastern University. Meng's great wish is to find out how he can get to drive a hop picking machine like the one at the museum.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Thu, 25 Apr 2024 - 15min - 315 - Tara Nurin, Historian of Brewing plus Lana SvitankovaTara Nurin, historian of brewing, at UC Davis
Tara Nurin, historian of women's role in brewing history, is our guest again on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. She was on the show on this episode on February 23, 2023, with her book A Woman's Place Is In the Brewhouse.
Lana Svitankova is also here, she is a beer judge from Ukraine and a judging colleague of Herlinda. She is visiting for some events associated with the opening of the Museum of Sonoma County exhibit ON TAP on Saturday April 27 at 4pm.
On Tuesday, April 30, at 1 pm, Tara Nurin, Lana Svitankova and Herlinda Heras will be appearing at a conference at UC Davis as part of the Professional Brewing Program.
On Saturday, April 27, Tara will be reading the chapter about Sonoma County, at the exhibit. That is the story that starts with the opening of New Albion, the first new brewery post-Prohibition, which opened in 1976. Tara tells the story of the man and two women who founded New Albion. Tara’s book tells about the women have been involved in brewing throughout history.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Lana has translated some books about brewing into the Ukrainian language. She is also a promoter of the Ukrainian style of beer, a golden ale. She describes it as a cousin of British and Belgian golden ale, the difference is that the Belgian is stronger and the British is lower in ABV and not that sweet. Ukrainians like it sweet and not very bitter.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Ukrainian Golden Ale
Until recently, a Ukrainian golden ale has been available in markets in Los Angeles. The one that Lana has brought has a name that is hard to pronounce. Lana used to work for a Ukrainian brewery called Barbar, who made golden ale and stout, mostly. Herlinda met Lana when they were judging in Finland and Poland.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
The Museum of Sonoma County exhibit ON TAP is about the history of hops and beer in Sonoma County. Don Barkley did a video interview with Herlinda, that will be playing in the exhibit. It opened with a big crowd on April 20 and will remain open until September 1. Click on the green the On Tap logo (or that link) to visit the museum's website:
Thu, 25 Apr 2024 - 12min - 314 - Tony Magee Returns to BHH
Tony Magee returns to BHH with Herlinda Heras.
Tony Magee, the now-retired founder of Lagunitas, is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. The last time Tony Magee was on Brew Ha Ha was this episode in 2014. Today he and his wife have a ranch where they host retired horses and also some cattle.
Herlinda Heras has been working with the Museum of Sonoma County to organize On Tap, the exhibit about craft beer history that is opening this weekend. Tony sat for a video interview for the exhibition and he is pleased to be part of it. He started Lagunitas in 1993 and grew it into one of the largest breweries in the country. In 2017 Heineken acquired the company. Tony tells the interesting back story to the acquisition. Lagunitas was beginning to sell beer outside the US, which is not easy to do. He also had grown Lagunitas to a point where the US market was starting to feel saturated with new beer brands as the popularity of craft beer grew. He started to think about a longer term plan for the company, rather than endure infinite domestic competition. Heineken was (and is) the last family-owned global brewer.
Click to visit the Museum of Sonoma County website.
Finding the Right Partner
All the other big companies are multinationals. Tony says Lagunitas never really discussed the acquisition with other companies because none of them had Heineken’s character. Hearing him tell the story, he sounds really pleased with how it all happened. He says he thought of the brewery as an art project, with an artist will eventually sell and once that happens, that’s it. He gives credit to Heineken for updating the structure of the business operation but for not changing the beer or the recipes and the brew master is still there.
This is the best time in the last thousand years to be a beer lover. -Tony Magee
Herlinda asks what the inspiration was for the brewery. For Tony, he was doing a completely different job. He was in commercial printing sales and he was a home brewer. His brother got him a home brew kit for Christmas of 1992, in January of ’93 he brewed it, and by December of 1993 the brewery was open. He recognized things in brewing that reminded him of music. As musician that helped him understand brewing.
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A lot of Lagunitas beer is IPA style and hop focused. His friend Grant Johnston who was a brewer at Marin Brewing would also homebrew. He was experimenting by adding his hops late in the boil, which boosted the flavors and didn’t let bitterness develop by boiling too long. This was how they created a hop-forward style that became the central thesis of the brewery.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
22:50, they mention Cappuccino Stout, which Tony says may be one of the earliest coffee beers in the US. (In a Kurt Vonnegut story written long before the craft beer era, there is a mention of an award-winning beer in a fictional Indiana state fair, and coffee was the secret ingredient.)
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
They also mention the 420 Waldos and the Lagunitas beer that celebrates the story....Thu, 18 Apr 2024 - 36min - 313 - John Burton, Beer Memorabilia CollectorJohn Burton, beer memorabilia collector, is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today. He is working with Herlinda Heras who is assisting the Museum of Sonoma County with its upcoming exhibition ON TAP, about Sonoma County hops and the history or craft brewing.
John Burton made a great collection of beer memorabilia while he worked as a bartender in Santa Rosa for a long time. He also operates a well-known bartending school called Santa Rosa Bartending.
Herlinda has organized interviews with some of the biggest names in local beer history, like Tony McGee and Mark Carpenter, for the museum. She connected them to John Burton and he will be providing some choice items for the exhibit.
Grace Bros. was a local brand that started in 1897 in Santa Rosa and the brand continued until the late 1960s. John’s collection of bottles and cans starts in their first year. John has a lot of Grace Bros. pieces.
A 1960s Grace Bros. Beer Commercial
In the show, we hear a 30-second commercial for Grace Bros. beer, from John's collection. It was recorded probably in the 1960s in Hollywood, California. In the 1940s, Grace Bros. was the fourth-largest brewery in California. Here is the commercial:
http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Grace_Bros_Beer_30_sec.mp3
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
John Burton is a member of a beer memorabilia organization that organizes exhibits. Herlinda’s friend Ken Hartoonian also has a collection. He was a guest on Brew Ha Ha recently. John shares memories of the Grace family and how they decided to stay in Santa Rosa instead of Southern California.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
John is also the writer and publisher of some books about his collection. He has also written an instructional book about bartending, called Bartending Basics.
Herlinda is organizing a reception for all of the ‘legends’ of the local brewing industry. She will invite the founding fathers and mothers of the business. She is looking forward to the On Tap exhibition being full of really interesting, beautiful and memorable material.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
Russian River Brewing is a sponsor of the exhibit, so is Lagunitas and Oliver’s Market. The sculpture garden is beautiful and they will turn it into a beer garden for one evening. The grand opening is April 27.Thu, 11 Apr 2024 - 23min - 312 - Battle of the Brews 2024Richard McChinak and Ben Kerstetter from Battle of the Brews are in-studio guests on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Richard McChinak, is the Battle of the Brews co-chair, and Ben Kerstetter is the newly elected incoming President of the 20/30 Club, Santa Rosa chapter n. 50.
The 20/30 Club started doing this event 27 years ago. They only had about 20 breweries back then but now there are many more. Saturday April 6 from 1-5 pm at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. There are 20/30 chapters all over the country. They do a lot of fundraising events for under-privileged youth in Sonoma County.
As musical attractions, Battle of the Brews has Painted Waves and Voodoo Vultures playing plus a local DJ Rob Cervantes, who is a Drive Hall of Famer.
Herlinda Heras has been going to Battle of the Brews since its beginning. This is Herlinda’s eleventh time judging at this event. It’s a chance to meet all her friends in the business. The weather is supposed to be good. One year the band was Digital Underground but they had to scale it back after that year.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
There is a big Raffle Station in the middle of the show. All of the money raised goes to causes related to helping kids. The $95 admission ticket gets you all the food and drinks you can manage to enjoy, plus all the music and the whole scene. They also have cider, hard kombucha as well as non-alcoholic options.
A Great Day for Barbeque
This year the Barbeque section is different, they doubled the number of BBQs and brought in many other food vendors. There is an entire parking lot full of food vendors.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
The judging is a BJCP-sanctioned event. There is also a People’s Choice award. Some brewers will bring exclusive beers brewed just for the event. There are even awards for Best Chicken and also a People’s Choice award for barbeque.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
There are so many beers and it is so much fun that it is easy to drink more than you thought you would. So plan you transportation with all the options available, except driving.Thu, 04 Apr 2024 - 23min - 311 - Ron Lindenbusch, Hopland TapRon Lindenbusch, Hopland Tap founder and owner, is back again on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. He has been on Brew Ha Ha several times, including this episode on July 5, 2018, again on May 28, 2020 along with Natalie Cilurzo, and again on May 6, 2021. These episodes chronicle Ron's career with Lagunitas up to and including the Heineken purchase.
Today's live radio show is a triple-header. We have two other guests in the studio along with Ron today. The episode with Cynthia from Homerun Pizza is here. Ryan Frank, brewmaster at Headlands Brewing, also has his own podcast episode on this page.
Since he left Lagunitas at the end of a very successful run, Ron found the perfect location in Hopland to set up the tavern that he always dreamed of. Steve remembers when it was the Hopland Brewery, they had bands including some pretty famous ones. Hopland Tap also does live music. This Saturday the band is Left-Hand Monkey Wrench.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Herlinda Heras is helping the Museum of Sonoma County develop its upcoming exhibition ON TAP about the history of brewing in Sonoma County. Ron Lindenbush was with her at the museum today to record some video that will be used in the exhibition. He personally holds a lot of the stories of the history that is the subject of the exhibit.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
They are tasting a non-alcoholic beer that Ron makes. It actually tastes like beer. One is called Electro Lime. Ron explains that it is made just like beer, then the alcohol is removed. What remains is a beverage that actually tastes like beer. The non-alcoholic beer scene is completely different than it was ten years ago.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!Thu, 28 Mar 2024 - 22min - 310 - Ryan Frank, Headlands BrewingA Headlands Brewing 4-pack with its paper collar.
Ryan Frank, Headlands Brewing head brewer, joins Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras, in studio today, with Cynthia Caughie and Ron Lindenbush. Each of the other guests have their own podcast page from today, Cynthia from Homerun Pizza is here and Ron Lindenbush is here. In this episode, we hear mostly from Ryan Frank.
Headlands Brewing started in Marin County but has recently put roots down in the East Bay. They have a taproom in Lafayette and they produce their beer in Pittsburg. They are dedicated to philanthropy and they pledge 1% for the Planet. Ryan describes Earth to Beer, a collaboration among 40 different breweries. “A better world is brewing,” is the slogan.
They are tasting a Kolsch which is a beer from Koln, a light crisp soft and floral beer, an ancient German specialty. They source all of their own materials locally, including Admiral Malting in Oakland. He chose Pacific Northwest hops, to make it a California interpretation of a German Kolsch.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Headlands Brewing is located at 3420 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette. It’s kid friendly, dog friendly and has great food. Their beer is available at Homerun Pizza, Earth to Beer Kolsch is on draft. They are also at Barley and Bine, and Beer Baron. Bottle Barn has some cans and they are on promotion at northern California Whole Foods stores.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Bingo at Homerun Pizza
Cynthia tells about Bingo at Homerun Pizza on the last Tuesday of the month. It’s free, kid friendly and a lot of fun. Ryan Frank gets to taste a sausage Knuckleball with the Earth to Beer Kolsch, just like they serve it at Homerun Pizza.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
Headlands Brewing uses paper collars on their 4-packs. This fact starts Ryan into a description of all the choices they make in packaging to reduce their footprint, use less plastic and promote recycling. You can see the paper collars in the picture above.
April 27 ON TAP opens at the Museum of Sonoma County. Herlinda describes a lot of her efforts looking for content. Make sure you don't miss this exhibition which will be a big hit.
Thu, 28 Mar 2024 - 35min - 309 - Cynthia from Homerun PizzaToday’s Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras is a Triple Header! We have three great guests. Cynthia Caughie from Homerun Pizza is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras and she brought some Knuckleballs, their specialty. Cynthia was also on Brew Ha Ha in November, on this episode. Ryan Frank, head brewer at Headlands Brewing is here. Ron Lindenbusch is also in today. He is a founding father of Lagunitas and a self-titled beer weasel, however emeritus.
Ron Lindenbusch's complete interview is on his own dedicated podcast episode, right here. This episode is all about Homerun Pizza. Ryan Frank’s talk about Headlands Brewing is also on its own podcast episode. This way, each guest gets to have a unique online destination for their own search traffic. Also, it keeps the individual podcast episodes to a nicer, shorter length.
Cynthia got to spend some time in Arizona for Spring Training, and the players loved the knuckleballs. Watch the Homerun Pizza website for evidence of how much the players like them.
Homerun Pizza is open daily.
Homerun Pizza is open Sunday Monday and Tuesday from 3:00 to 8:00; Wednesday & Thursday 11:30 to 8:00 pm and Friday & Saturday 11:30 to 9:00. Happy Hour is every night from 3-6 pm. Every Wednesday, 2 Knuckleballs for $5. It’s their signature dish, their pizza dough stuffed with mozzarella cheese and with bacon or peperoni. They are doing a special Knuckleball, with sausage, and also a vegetarian version with tomato and basil.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Right now this year they are doing one specialty Knuckleball per month. For Valentine’s Day they did Nutella and pretzel, with salted caramel. For March, it’s the Sausage Knuckleball.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
They have a dish called Homerun Fries, made with French Fries, bacon, jack and cheddar cheese and their Homerun Sauce, a spicy Ranch. Herlinda calls it Sonoma County Poutine which is hilarious!
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!Thu, 28 Mar 2024 - 10min - 308 - 2024 Pliny the YoungerThe 2024 Pliny the Younger 3-pack.
Natalie and Vinny Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing Co. join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha for the 2024 Pliny the Younger release. This is an annual event on Brew Ha Ha, for example, here is last year's release show.
Natalie has been getting ready for this year’s release. This morning they had their kickoff meetings for staff at Santa Rosa and Windsor. Everything is ready to begin this weekend. The Pliny the Younger will be available until April 4.
The recipe is mostly his year Vinny says he has added more of a New Zealand hop called Nectaron. The 2024 Pliny the Younger is 10.25% alcohol, so the idea is to hide the alcohol with lots of other flavors.
"It's still hard to believe." - Vinny Cilurzo
It was back in early 2005 when the brewery was less than a year old, that they wanted to do a promotion during the otherwise slow season. Vinny decided to take the Pliny the Elder recipe and add more of everything, more hops, more malt and more alcohol. They released it without fanfare, for a few years. But in 2010, everything changed. Pliny the Younger had been rated the best beer in the world on some influential beer websites. That is when people started forming lines before opening hours. It's great to hear Vinny tell the story again. This has become a favorite annual event for beer lovers from around the world.
Pliny the Younger has some new artwork this year, which is on the header of this web page, showing Vesuvius erupting with beer and hops.
When and Where
Both brewpubs will be open daily from 11AM to 10PM, from March 22nd through April 4th, 2024.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Russian River Brewing Co. will be a sponsor of the big beer history exhibition that is opening at the Museum of Sonoma County, called ON TAP: Sonoma County Hops and the Beer Revolution. We just had Eric Stanley from the museum on Brew Ha Ha.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
This year Russian River Brewing Co. has raised purchase limit from two bottles to three. A three bottle purchase comes in the convenient carrying case pictured above.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
RRBC has different menus at the Santa Rosa and Windsor locations. Vinny would have a Mamma Mia pizza (with halapeños) at the Santa Rosa 4th Street pub, to pair with a glass of Pliny the Younger. He remembers the time the first people met him four hours before opening time, in 2010.Thu, 21 Mar 2024 - 44min - 307 - ON TAP Sonoma County Hops and the Beer RevolutionEric Stanley from the Museum of Sonoma County is our guest, here to discuss ON TAP Sonoma County Hops and the Craft Beer Revolution, an exhibition that will open on April 20, 2024. He joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras, live in the Wine Country Radio studio.
Herlinda Heras has been in England and Ireland, which we heard about about over the last few episodes. Now she will be staying in town to assist with the exhibition. There are two paths to this exhibition, as Eric describes it. One is about the history of hops as part of Sonoma County agriculture and the other is about the more recent craft beer revolution. Brew Ha Ha will be a sponsor of this exhibition.
Herlinda is personally acquainted with many of the people who have made history in local brewing. She has been busy bringing several of them in to participate. For example, New Albion was the first licensed brewery after the repeal of Prohibition and it opened in the town of Sonoma. Tara Nurin will be appearing and reading from her book, since she interviewed a lot of the women who were part of the revolution, for the book. Natalie and Vinny Cilurzo will be participating as well as Ken Hartoonian, who was on this show recently and who has a big collection of brewing memorabilia. Famous brewers like Mark Carpenter, Ron Lindenbush and Don Barkley will be a part of it as well.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
About the Museum of Sonoma County
The Museum of Sonoma County has a permanent Sonoma County history exhibition. called Sonoma County Stories. Gaye LeBaron had a lot to do with it, she is a local historian and friend of Steve. The museum is located in the old Sonoma County Post Office building, which was built in 1910. It is a beautiful building, which had to be moved from its original location, in order to save it.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
They are looking for sponsors for this exhibition, so if you are or work for a candidate for exhibition sponsorship, please contact Herlinda Heras.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
Hops Have Made a Comeback Locally
Hop growing used to be a huge local business and recently hops have been making a comeback, as a local crop. There are several reasons for that. Starting in the 1850s this area was a leading hop region in the country, up to Prohibition. But after Prohibition it wasn't until the 1980s that breweries came back. The exhibition will tell the story of what happened to the local hops industry, from the last crop in the early 1960s, up the re-emergence of hops in Sonoma County.Thu, 14 Mar 2024 - 24min - 306 - Herlinda Heras at the 2024 British Pie Awards3.1415926535897932, or about 22/7.
Herlinda Heras is judging at the 2024 British Pie Awards and calls in to Brew Ha Ha today, and with Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon. Here is an episode of Brew Ha Ha from March 22, 2018, when Herlinda had just returned from that year's competition. The winners are listed at the 2024 British Pie Awards website.
Today we hear all about her itinerary on her current trip to the England and Ireland. She began in London, judging the National Fish and Chips competition. Then, she visited Dublin, Ireland, where she saw Teeling Whiskey, the Guiness attraction "Beer Disneyland" and a museum exhibit. Her last stop was the British Pie Awards, an annual event in the town of Melton Mobray. This is Herlinda's 10 year as a judge in this competition.
The pies at the 2024 British Pie Awards are very traditional and the judging takes into consideration all of the characteristic virtues of combining meat and crust. The categories of pies have evolved, so that today there is a category for Vegan pies, as well as vegetarian recipes and many others.
Herlinda explains how there is a hole at the top of the pie, as in the picture here. This is part of the recipe, specifically the baking process. They place a bit of jelly into the hole which bakes into the pie.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
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Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
Thu, 07 Mar 2024 - 16min - 305 - Herlinda Heras in London for the National Fish & Chip AwardsWe get a phone call from Herlinda Heras in London, she is there to judge this year's UK National Fish & Chip Awards. The National Federation of Fish Fryers of the UK sponsor the annual event.
There are contestants from all over the UK as well as other countries, including the US, which was represented by a British couple from Georgia who have a fish and chips shop. There is the usual panorama of awards, in many categories, even the potatoes. On the Tuesday night before the event, they had a reception in the Houses of Parliament. They were actually in session and voting while she was there.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Part of the awards was a recognition of extraordinary customer service, and Herlinda heard stories about how during Covid confinement, fish and chip deliveries were almost the only contact that some people had with others.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
There is also an award for best sit-down restaurant, and many other categories. See the National Fish & Chip Awards website for all the categories and winners.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
The biggest award is to the “take away” which is British for “to go” service. That award went to a shop called Ship Deck, located in Caerphilly, Wales.
Thu, 29 Feb 2024 - 15min - 270 - Hiveworks MeadThe team from Hiveworks Mead is in the studio for Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras to talk about their way of making mead. Alexander Mendoza, CEO and Head Mazer, Sean Duckworth, COO and Julian Frank, CFO, are taking turns on the two guest microphones in our small converted train car.
They will be at Beer City this Saturday, Feb. 24, in Courthouse Square.
The Hiveworks Mead team all grew up in Sebastopol together and now they are partners in the company.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Skyborne
First they taste Skyborne, a simple recipe of honey, water and yeast, plus carbonation. They just wanted to make a beverage that they could enjoy with any food. The more honey you add, the higher the ABV. A lot of traditional mead could be 2-3 pounds of honey per gallon of mead. Their mead is lower in alcohol so they can use less honey.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
Kind of like wine, kind of like beer
The partners started Hiveworks Mead in Sebastopol in a shed with one fermenter, and experimented until their product was a hit at some parties. That was when it was time to go pro. Even though it is classified and taxed as a wine, mead is actually made on equipment that is much more like that of a brewery. The aluminum cans use a lot less carbon dioxide, than glass bottles.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Alexander carries the title Head Mazer. Some meadmakers fancy the term. A mazer is a type of traditional medieval wooden cup, low and wide, with a rise in the middle. There happens to be a well-known annual mead competition called the Mazer Cup, based in Colorado, whose logo is shaped like a mazer. This may have suggested the idea for that term. *
* ‘Mazer’ as a meadmaker has no root word history in English nor in any of its contributing languages. Given that mead can be drunk from a mazer, calling a meadmaker a ‘mazer’ could be compared to calling a vintner a ‘glass’ or a brewer a “mug” or a Kombuchist a “tightly capped bottle.” But if people like the term, they will use it, and if enough people adopt it for enough time, it will become documented.Thu, 22 Feb 2024 - 31min - 269 - CCBS 2024 California Craft Beer SummitChris Keeton from CCBS 2024 calls in to Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras to talk about the California Craft Beer Summit. There will be a convention, the California Craft Beer Summit, March 12-14, in Sacramento. There is the website, ^ with all the info you need. The rest of today's Brew Ha Ha episode is a conversation with the folks from Hiveworks Mead, which is on its own page.
Chris Keeton
Chris Keeton is the President of the Sacramento Area Brewers Guild and is also the head brewer for the Alaro Craft Brewery, which is located very close to the convention center. Morgan Territory Brewing won at ccbs last year, as they win a lot of competitions.
Beer City, Sat. Feb. 24 in Santa Rosa
The general public can purchase tickets to the event. The awards ceremony is March 13 during the CCBA Summit. The Competition will be held in the Crest Theater. They will have 197 breweries and 1300 beer entries, which makes it the third largest one of these in the country.
Judy Ashworth, the famous publican, was with Herlinda at the competition last year. Judy is a very famous figure in the craft brewing industry and she was on Brew Ha Ha on this episode back on December 19, 2019, along with former co-host Mark Carpenter.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
The CCBS 2024 winners will be announced on a website after the convention. There will also be a live stream on The Brewing Network YouTube channel. The results will be published at this site: https://brewerscupofca.com/
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
The Craft Beer Summit is a great networking opportunity for like-minded entrepreneurs to learn more about their business. The Guilds also provide an important service to their members. For example, the fact that we can taste beer and cider at our farmers markets is due to some lobbying done by the guilds.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!Thu, 22 Feb 2024 - 10min - 268 - Fogbelt Brewing founders Paul Hawley and Remy MartinFogbelt Brewing founders Paul Hawley and Remy Martin are back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Paul and Remy have been on Brew Ha Ha several times, including this episode last September and this other episode the previous August.
This is a busy time for beer fans with the FeBrewary promotion and Beer City all taking place.
For Beer Week, Fogbelt Brewing is making Bacon and Beer pairings. It’s as classic as pizza and beer. They serve what they call “Billionaire’s Bacon” and also Salmon belly, served with a flight of beers.
Their annual Godwood Triple IPA has just been released. It is made with Simcoe, Mosaic, Aurora and Eldorado hops, all of them. They do three separate dry hops and a touch of caramel malt.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
Ten Years of Fogbelt and Brew Ha Ha
Paul and Remy just celebrated their tenth anniversary and so did the Brew Ha Ha. They went to school together and studied moviemaking, then moved to New Zealand and ended up working for a winery and making their own beer on the side. Continuing to Australia they “became passionate” about beer. Remy studied beer and Paul studied finance and the new team was ready.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
The Fogbelt location in Healdsburg is a beer garden which is also in an old train, just like Wine Country Radio. Fogbelt Brewing Co. is located at 1305 Cleveland Ave. in Santa Rosa.
The Beer City Festival in Santa Rosa Courthouse Square is on February 24. There are three races, half marathon, 10 K and 5 K, which are optional. Next week the organizers will be in the studio on Brew Ha Ha.
Herlinda went to the SF Beer Week gala. It was advertised as a “space” theme, including Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. Herlinda was the only person in the gala in costume.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Fogbelt is proud to be making a lot of different beers, something for everybody. Their Redwood Lager won a Gold Medal at the Sacramento State Fair.
Fogbelt also organized a Beer Camp, an adult summer camp with lots of beer. They hosted it at Wildhaven in Healdsburg, which is a glamping resort. They had a few classes in search and rescue, cooking demos, a falconry demo, and most of it was all about beer. Paul’s dad is a falconer and taught a class about it.Thu, 15 Feb 2024 - 25min - 267 - Jenny Ogston from Victory HouseJenny Ogston from Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter is here to talk about their Superb Owl party this Sunday.
The Victory House Superb Owl party is this Sunday, Feb. 11. It is a ticketed event to Victory House and Chuck’s Bowling. Door open Sunday at 2:30 but the whole facility is open as usual at 9:00. As of air-time today there are some seats left at Chuck’s, although Victory House is sold out for Superb Owl. There are big screens all around and the environment of a big game is exciting.
Victory House proudly pours non-alcoholic beers from Athletic Brewing. Sierra Nevada also makes a really good non-alcoholic beer called The Trail House.
They have 24 beers on tap, at least 12 are local breweries, hard cider and kombucha too. They also have lots of appetizers and really well made fried food, cuz it’s a sports bar! There are always new items being prepared for future menu upgrades. Jenny has brought a selectin of beers including a non-alcoholic one, a Peach Sour from Cooperage, Inhume, their IPA, from a brewery in Oakland.
Herlinda Heras, Fish and Chips Judge
Herlinda’s next trip will be judging the British Fish and Chips Awards, with the reception in the Houses of Parliament. We will hear all about it from her on the Feb. 29 episode coming soon.
Epicenter has lots of TV screens and shows a lot of sports, everything from ESPN and ESPN-U games to pickleball, corn hole and extreme tag. They are open on days when schools are closed, so there’s a place to bring kids.
Poppy Bank Epicenter has soccer fields and runs adult and youth soccer leagues. There is an arcade with old-school arcade games. They also have laser tag and a giant play structure in the little kids area. Chucks has 12 regular lanes and a private VIP area with 4 lanes. Chuck’s Garage is styled like a garage where guys will hang out.Thu, 08 Feb 2024 - 25min - 266 - SF Beer Week 2024 with Joanne MarinoJoanne Marino is calling in to Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras, she is the executive director of SF Beer Week. Ed Gobbo from Harmonic Brewing Co. is also in the studio today. Ed Gobbo's complete interview and podcast episode is over here on this page. (This way, both Harmonic and SF Beer Week get to have their own search traffic and shareable location.) Check out Ed's interview, he has a lot to say.
SF Beer Week has a lot of North Bay events with Old Caz and Pond Farm, among many others. As the event has grown, more brewers than ever have a showcase.
The Gala is back at Pier 35 in San Francisco, it’s a great party that people are eager to attend again.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
The late San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee was a great supporter of Beer Week. Joanne talks about how the member breweries who run Beer Week face challenges all the time to survive. It has been proven that breweries contribute to revitalization. For example, it is sad for the Dogpatch community that Harmonic Brewing is no longer there. As brewers struggle to survive, it is important to promote the industry to try to give these business more exposure and more attention.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
The Gala has a Star Wars theme, so wardrobe and costumes are a factor. Watch out for Herlinda on that red carpet!
There are SF Beer Week collaboration brews, Russian River will be there with Pliny, and also lots of smaller breweries like Harmonic.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and in Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Let’s have some fun!
There are still tickets available so get ‘em now! A VIP ticket gets you access to brewers like Vinny and Natalie and selfies galore.
The gala ha a space theme, so all the space movies and tv shows are fair game, including star wars, star trek star search, no not that, but spaceballs definitely
There are also non-alcoholic beverages. There is a Barrel Brothers non-alcoholic beer as a sponsor. The best part is getting back together with your community. Those are the moments we missed that we want to bring back.Thu, 01 Feb 2024 - 11min - 265 - Ed Gobbo from Harmonic Brewing Co.Ed Gobbo, Harmonic Brewing Co. founder, is our guest today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. He was on Brew Ha Ha once before, on this episode of September 22, 2022.
Joanne Marino, executive director of SF Beer Week, will call in to the show. You can listen to her phone call with Steve, Herlinda and Ed on this separate podcast episode. (Separating the podcast into two allows each one to have its own search traffic and shareable location.)
Harmonic Brewing's new location in Thrive City
Harmonic Brewing’s new location is in Thrive Center at the Chase Center, where the Golden State Warriors of the NBA play. The original Harmonic Brewing location was in Dogpatch, a neighborhood in San Francisco where they began their business. Their theme is celebrating Craft, Culture and Community.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
The first beer they taste is Prague Rock, a pun on Prog Rock. It is a Czech Pilsner style. Ed Gobbo gives credit to Admiral Maltings. which is a local facility that makes malt from locally grown barley. He likes working with them because of their careful attention to quality. It is also nice to have a local supplier which lowers the carbon footprint.
Ed and his partners were home brewers for about 10 years, and they had other careers before they started Harmonic.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Harmonic Brewing will be at San Francisco Beer Week, which is coming up soon. The entire community is excited for the return of the gala at the beginning of Beer Week. Herlinda describes how Beer Week has extended into other parts of the Bay Area. February 9 – 18. The last Gala was in 2020 just before everything shut down. We will hear more about during Herlinda’s call with Joann Marino.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and in Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
There is even going to be an app this year, to help people plan their attendance to the events. On February 10 there will be an Admiral Maltings event where they can meet the brewers and the maltsters and the farmers too. There are so many events, you have to plan your visit. Ed describes some collaborations he has done, which you can sample at SFBW.
(Photo credit: Sarah Chorey from the Harmonic Brewing Co. website.)Thu, 01 Feb 2024 - 20min - 264 - Herlinda Heras’ Maui ReportToday Herlinda Heras' Maui Report takes the stage on this special podcast episode of Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon.
Herlinda Heras called in from Maui where she was travelling for her birthday. She extended her stay and she is finally back today. Herlinda had the opportunity to report on Lahaina when her friend who lives there invited her. She was hesitant to visit, not wanting to be a looky-loo. However as she was invited, she got to see, “many beautiful things to do” there.
Whereas the Sonoma County fires were huge, covering a broad area, Lahaina is rather small. A lot of old buildings from the 1700s burned and cannot be rebuilt. But the people on Maui are still operating their business and still need tourist traffic. Thanks to her very wide circle of friends, Herlinda was able to attend some exciting social events and visit some incredibly beautiful natural attractions.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Herlinda has brought a beer called Mango Stickee Rice for tasting, which as you can imagine is juicy and delicious. There is also a charity collaboration beer that lots of brewers are making, including Russian River Brewing Co.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and in Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Calling in on the phone from Maui is Leanne Pletcher, director of public relations from the Maui Tourism Bureau. They are working to encourage people to come and visit and enjoy the many other parts of the island while Lahaina is healing.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
There are breweries and distilleries on Maui too, that Herlinda encourages people to visit. Maui Brewing Co. is in south Maui, near the coast. Up country, there are small towns and parks to visit as well as a pineapple farm and distillery.
Maui Links
Here are some links about Maui brewers and distillers and about visiting and helping Maui:
Maui Nui Strong: https://www.mauinuistrong.info/
Maui Tourism, general info: https://mauitourism.org/
Go Hawaii, travel information: https://www.gohawaii.com/malama
Maui Brewing Co., makers of Mango Stickee Rice beer: https://mauibrewingco.com/
Ocean Organic Farm and Distillery: https://oceandistillery.com/
Haliimaile Distilling: https://haliimailedistilling.com/
Mahalo Aleworks: https://www.mahaloaleworks.com/
MAHALO.
Maui Brewing Co. Mango Stickee Rice beer.Fri, 26 Jan 2024 - 12min - 263 - Flagship Taproom and Old Possum BrewingOld Possum Brewing Co.
Flagship Taproom and Old Possum Brewing are both in the house today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. The last time Sandro was on the show was this episode in April, 2023.
Sandro Tamburin is back in the studio with a big announcement. Flagship BBQ and Old Possum Brewing are teaming up. Flagship BBQ will become the managing partner for retail operations at Old Possum, while Sandro will continue to manage the brewery operation. They will be in soft launch in February then Friday, February 16 they have a grand opening. They will also release their Triple Hopped beer, Tonic Immobility.
As they are tasting a pilsner style from Old Possum called La Rosita, Sandro tells the story of Old Possum. He started as a wort producer supplying other brewers. But once he realized that he had also assembled all the other necessary licenses and processes to become a brewer, that’s what he did.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and in Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Flagship Taproom has been making BBQ for years. Now they will be serving Flagship Taproom barbeque food and pouring Sandro’s Old Possum beer at Old Possum’s locations.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options. Check out the family-friendly New Year's Eve party!
Sandro also has an IPA called Garibaldi, it is a dry hazy. It uses Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
Flagship Taproom does fun promotions like comedy shows, live music and trivia nights that attract a fun crowd.Thu, 25 Jan 2024 - 14min - 262 - Pliny for President 2024Natalie Cilurzo
Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. is on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras to talk about Pliny for President 2024. Herlinda is traveling today.
We begin with Natalie telling the story of how RRBC got started, from when Korbel started the brand and hired Vinny. Later when Korbel decided to leave the beer business, Vinny and Natalie got the brand and recipes, organized a business plan with investors, and opened their brew pub in 2004 in Santa Rosa.
That means that 2024 is also the 20th release of Pliny the Younger. When they had to postpone their retail release during Covid, it meant separating the wholesale distribution of Pliny the Younger from the on-site consumer retail release. The brewery is a lot bigger than it used to be and this reorganization has made the process more manageable.
Pliny the Younger 2024
The 2024 Pliny the Younger will be available at will begin to appear at many of their clients in the Bay Area on draft, at SF Beer Week Feb 9 – 18, and a few other events. The in-person release is March 22 to April 4, this year. The complete release plans are all listed at the Russian River Brewing Co. website and socials.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options. Check out the family-friendly New Year's Eve party!
Russian River Brewing Co. has also released the 2024 Pliny for President. It used to be just for fun, pre-social media. But now, it’s a lot more established, with branding, merchandise and a great slogan, “Hop Care for Everyone.” Blind Pig is Pliny’s running mate, as always. The 2020 release was sold online in cans, and people who were cooped up during the pandemic really appreciated it. This 2024 Pliny for President has flavors of 4 different hops, Simcoe, Nectaron, Amarillo, Zumo, so the beer has citrus and stone fruit flavors from those hops, but a but lower alcohol than last time. It’s at local retail stores and they will release it quarterly.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and in Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
The Windsor location was designed with Pliny the Younger in mind. It was important for there to be enough space for the crowds that come every year. Some travelers even park their RVs in the Windsor parking lot, with permission.
SF Beer Week is back and the opening night Gala is back for the first time since the pandemic. Russian River Brewing Co. will be there. Tickets for different kinds of entry are available at the SF Beer Week website.
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!
In lingua Latina
PS: some suggested Latin slogans for Pliny for President, suitable for carving into marble:
Ex multis cerevisiis, unum = Out of many beers, one.
Lupuli pro Omnibus = Hops for Everyone.Thu, 18 Jan 2024 - 22min - 261 - Herlinda Heras from Maui about the Kokua ProjectHerlinda Heras in Maui reporting on the Kokua Project.
Herlinda Heras is calling from Maui, to talk about the Kokua Project with Steve Jaxon on Brew Ha Ha today. Bryan Rengel of Old Caz Beer is also with us. Over here is the podcast episode of that entire show. Here is just the portion where Herlinda speaks to us from the Maui Brewing Company, looking at the ocean. She is there for her birthday and to see breweries that are participating in the Kokua relief beer project, which is raising money for Maui fire relief.
The Kokua Project
The Kokua project is a fund raiser for victims of the Lahaina fire last August. On the other side of the island from where the fires happened, it is still quite beautiful. Being from Sonoma County, we can relate to having fires and also doing brew projects to raise funds for fire relief.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and in Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Please consider making a donation to any of the following organizations for Maui fire relief:
For info about the Kokua Project: https://mauibrewingco.com/kokua/
The Global Empowerment Mission Maui Brewing Fire Fund
https://globalempowermentmission.kindful.com/?campaign=1268238
TS Restaurants Legacy of Aloha https://www.tsrestaurants.com/legacy-of-aloha/
Maui Humane Society https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options. Check out the family-friendly New Year's Eve party!
Thu, 11 Jan 2024 - 15min - 260 - Co-Founder of Old Caz Bryan RengelSteve and Bryan
Co-founder of Old Caz Beer Bryan Rengel joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras in the studio on Brew Ha Ha today. Bryan was on Brew Ha Ha last August on this episode, and his partner Tom Edwards was a guest on this other episode from March 31, 2022.
The first beer tasted today is called Chismosa Clara, their take on a Mexican Lager. There is an amber ale version. This is a lighter one, made to be like Modelo Especial. They are located in Rohnert Park which is growing and gaining popularity.
A hazy IPA is the next tasting, called Early Sunset. It’s an example of a creative process of starting with a special recipe that they make in kegs only, to see if it becomes popular. If it does, they will make a label and produce it. This is how they select which beers to produce more of.
Old Caz is opening a new location in SOCO Village, right in the middle of the square. It is under construction now and their goal is to use the old taproom only for special events and to move the public tasting to the new place. They have a specially designed concrete pad for heavy food trucks to park.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and in Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Herlinda Heras is calling in from Maui. She is sitting at Maui Brewing Company, looking at the ocean. She is there for her birthday and to see breweries that are participating in the Kokua relief beer project.
The Kokua Project
Kokua is an independently owned restaurant and brewery. The Kokua project is a fund raiser for victims of the Lahaina fire last August. On the other side of the island from where the fires happened, it is still quite beautiful. Being from Sonoma County, we can relate to having fires and also doing brew projects to raise funds for fire relief.
For info about the Kokua Project: https://mauibrewingco.com/kokua/
The Global Empowerment Mission Maui Brewing Fire Fund
https://globalempowermentmission.kindful.com/?campaign=1268238
TS Restaurants Legacy of Aloha https://www.tsrestaurants.com/legacy-of-aloha/
Maui Humane Society https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options. Check out the family-friendly New Year's Eve party!
Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!Thu, 11 Jan 2024 - 30min - 259 - Marc Meltonville Food HistorianMarc Meltonville, food historian, is our guest on today's Brew Ha Ha podcast, in a replay of a May 21, 2020 show. There is no new show today due to bad weather upsetting people's travel plans, so today's podcast episode repeats one of Steve Jaxon's favorite classic Brew Ha Ha shows. Enjoy!
Brew Ha Ha today is an interview with English food historian Marc Meltonville, on the telephone from England, talking with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Marc is the consulting food and drink historian for the historic royal palaces in the UK. So he knows a lot about what people were brewing and eating and drinking in different periods of history.
Marc Meltonville jokes that being a Consulting Food Historian doesn't feel like a real job. He entered the field when he was working in a museum and someone came to him asking about a Tudor food project. He mentions that during the 1918 flu pandemic, they did not shut the pubs, even when they closed over venues. The British pub licensing laws close the pubs from 3pm to 6pm and they close again at 10pm.
Herlinda mentions that a lot of our familiar alcoholic beverages actually began as medicinal cures. Marc agrees, that a lot of recipes were in the "physic" i.e. medicine books, not the cooking books.Distillation was reserved for tonics. Around the early 17th century the digestive drink after dinner became popular. Gin and tonic is an example.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and in Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Restoring Ancient Kitchens
Hampton Court and Kew Gardens both have extensive kitchen which have been recently explored, discovered and put back into use to demonstrate techniques and recipes from the past. Marc was also recently at Newland Grist Mill in Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia. They have a mill that can make its own malt, so they have built a colonial brewery with period equipment. "Two guys with a stick and a bukcket." Marc has also worked at Williamsburg and at Mt. Vernon where they produce George Washington whiskey without modern equipment.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options. Check out the family-friendly New Year's Eve party!
His current two brewing projects involve looking at brewing processes in the 1700s. Also, he is designing an event based on recipes of Stonehenge, 4500 years ago. He used a mass spectrometer to study the residue of old containers to understand their actual. That led to what he calls a "backwards recipe" where he reverse engineered the brew based on the residue. Yeast is from fruit skins, grapes in southern Europe or apples in the north, he realized that by mixing barley, cut apples, honey and water, he got a drink, that he calls, "a drinky thing. "He made a "pre-beer beer" like they did 4500 years ago before malting of barley or extraction of yeasts. It tasted like hard cider. Herlinda says it reminds her of braggot, which is a form of mead from barley malt and honey.
In the past, food was a luxury for wealthy classes, whether in colonial America or Europe. This was true with regard to food and drink, across the centuries.Thu, 04 Jan 2024 - 19min - 258 - Parliament Brewing Co.Adam Bosch, co-founder of Parliament Brewing in Rohnert Park, joins Herlinda Heras in studio on Brew Ha Ha today. He was on Brew Ha Ha once before, on this episode of September 8, 2022 along with Peter Lopez of Juncture Taproom.
Adam has brought several Parliament beers for a taste and talk. The first is a German style Pilsner that won best Pilsner at Battle of the Brews this year. The second glass is the same pils but dry hopped with Riwaka hops from New Zealand. That provides a little toasted spice flavor and makes a comparison with the other pils.
Patience, a perfect name
Adam also brought a barrel-aged beer called Patience, perfectly named, because time was key. The barrels had whiskey in them for more than 13 years, then the beer is aged in them for a year and a half. Then it was in the bottle for 4 years. At 13% ABV it is an Imperial Stout sipping and savoring, the opposite of a 'daytime' lager. It can be aged like a fine wine and this one is already 4 years in the bottle.
On February 9th of 2024 they will be attending San Francisco Beer Week, and this is the first year that the gala is back. For the occasion they are preparing some special releases. One is a lambic made with cherries that they get from a grower near Sacramento. They call it the Bridesmaid because it took second place in several competitions.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and in Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Parliament
Who can resist a musical pun? Parliament Brewing company deserves a little bit of Funkadelic in the break. After the break, we hear a quick history of Parliament Brewing. When his brother got out of law school, he got a home brewing kit. He fell in love with the science of beer. They and their father and some partners opened 5 months before the pandemic shutdown, and survived. Adam gives thanks to his staff and vendors and collaborators who all contributed to making it work. They changed their business plan, under the suggestion to "react, don't over-react."
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options. Check out the family-friendly New Year's Eve party!
Two other hazy beers are next to taste. The first is Prism, very hoppy and fragrant 6.6% with herbal tea flavors. The second is Crash, 7.1% ABB, with Riwaka hops. Herlinda was stuck at the airport the other day and got to taste some Parliament Kaleidoscope in the airport bar. We also hear about a trip to Washington that the Bosch brothers took, to see the hops that they use.Thu, 28 Dec 2023 - 37min - 257 - Heidrun Meadery Meadmaker Josh McCarthyHerlinda and Josh.
Our guest today on Brew Ha Ha is Heidrun Meadery head meadmaker Josh McCarthy. The Heidrun is the name of a mythical viking goat. Mead is the oldest alcohol in the world, brewed with honey.
Heidrun takes the still fermented mead and then turns it into a sparkling beverage using the traditional champagne method. They are the only meadery that we know of so far that does champagne mead.
Honey is very sweet, Josh explains. They add water to the honey to dilute it to the sugar proportion desired, and they also remove other parts like wax. Then they chill it down and handle it like wine. The bubbles are done the same way as in traditional champagne. The only difference is the ingredient they start with.
The mead is able to carry flavors of the forage that the bees covered, so you can taste radish blossom, carrot blossom and more in the mead. They do brut naturel, so they are bone dry.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Hawaiian Christmas Berry
They also have an estate at Point Reyes Station, and they collect honey there. They also bring in honeys from around the world. This honey comes from Hawaii. Josh points out that whatever flavors come from the honey are the only flavors in the finished product. They never add any other flavors, just the honey itself. Their small community of bees includes feral hives and domestic hives. They don’t like yellowjackets which come and destroy the hive. Herlinda reminds us, don’t use Round-Up which takes out the good bugs too. Honey, water and yeast make mead. Josh explains, they start like beer but treat it like wine.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
They use the same fermenting yeast that champagne producers use. It does not impart any of its own flavor. They ferment about 10 days for the wine to get through fermentation. Then they do a natural settling process, four to six or eight weeks, depending on the honey. Each variety is very different. Their tasting room is located in a greenhouse and it is a nice visit. There are many flowering plants that are for the bees, and you can taste the garden in your glass.
Every wine they make is 12.5% ABV, which is the same as sparkling wine.Thu, 21 Dec 2023 - 41min - 256 - Norman Greenbaum visits Brew Ha Ha
Today's podcast episode is a replay of a fun episode from May 9, 2019, featuring Norman Greenbaum, longtime Sonoma County resident famous for the song Spirit in the Sky (because today, the live show is pre-empted). Enjoy this episode from pre-Covid-19 days!
Norman Greenbaum and his portuguese guitar.
Norman Greenbaum is our guest on Brew Ha Ha today, joining Steve Jaxon, Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras. He wrote and performed the iconic 1969 song "Spirit in the Sky." Herlinda Heras is back from her trip to Portugal and has brought three Portuguese beers to taste.
Norman Greenbaum is a longtime Sonoma County resident. Steve asks Norman if the success of his song still surprises him. It has been in movies and commercials and continues to have its own life. Any band or singer wants to have a hit record, and he was lucky to have a hit on the charts. He says he may have been a one-hit wonder but it has been in over 60 movies and a couple dozen commercials.
The song in commercials
It was in an ad for Audi in the last Super Bowl. Spirit in the Sky was in the Budweiser Discovery Reserve American Red Lager beer advertisement. The beer was brewed to commemorate the 1969 moon landing. The song was recorded in San Francisco.
Herlinda asks Norman to tell the story of the song and he remembers various scenes and themes from old Western films. The Stovall Sisters were his backup singers, they were from Oakland where they also sang in church. Mark Carpenter remembers the environment of the late 1960s and remembers the song as a really big hit.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Beers from Portugal
Herlinda Heras has brought beers from Portugal, including an "APA" which they call an American Pale Ale. Praxis Brewery is in Coimbra which is famous for having really good water. The Praxis family younger generation has revived the brewery and Mark says it's a great example of Europeans doing an American style. It is 6% alcohol which is reasonable. There is also an 8/5% double Bock from Vaida Brewery outside of Aveiro which is south of Porto. Herlinda has also brought a beer with a woman on the label.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Norman Greenbaum remembers that New York was a center of music recording but he was not fond of the city. He knew that Hollywood was the other center of that business so he went to LA. He started Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band and signed with a record company immediately. The Eggplant that Ate Chicago was their first hit.
Now his songs have been in countless commercials and movies. Norman does say he is flabbergasted and thanks "the Spirit in the Sky for taking such good care of me." He never gets tired of hearing it even if he wrote it. It still sends shivers up his spine.
Norman has brought a special guitar today which is from Portugal. He bought it at the flea market in Petaluma for $25, 40 years ago and brought it to a luthier for repairs. It disappeared and 42 years later, the guy contacted him saying it was fixed! It is called a Viola de Terra made of birds-eye maple.
Thu, 14 Dec 2023 - 23min - 255 - Elk Fence Distillery of Santa RosaElk Fence Distillery co-owners Scott Woodson and Gail Coppinger join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. The Elk Fence Distillery is a recently opened small-batch craft distillery that makes American single-malt whiskey, botanical gin and vodka. It has the distinction of being the only distillery located in the city of Santa Rosa, California. Juniper, coriander, tangerine and grapefruit all go into the botanical gin.
They were supposed to open on March 14, 2020, the day that the state closed down for Covid. The Drive was on the air that day when Governor Newsome made the announcement. They had a party ready for 600 people that they had to cancel.
Real Kentucky and Pennsylvania Learnin'
They actually went to Kentucky and Pennsylvania to learn how to distill. The guy who made their equipment directed them to two schools where he knew they would learn how to operate his equipment. The gin ages in new American white oak barrels. It looks like a Sauvignon Blanc. Scott calls it Christmas in a glass.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Their tasting room is at 464 Kenwood Court in Santa Rosa, open from 11am-4pm Fridays and Saturdays. It's across from Lithia Dodge, close to the studio. Their product is also in Bottle Barn, Wilibee’s, Oliver’s (soon) , Grossman’s and Perch and Plow.
The name Elk Fence comes from where they grow their barley, near a fence that separates 300 elk from all the dairy farmers out in Marin County where they live. Scott lives in Inverness and Gail lives in Point Reyes.
Shorty's Bunkhouse on KWMR
Gail also does a radio show on KWMR a listener-supported community station, on alternating Thursdays, 6:30pm–8:30pm. The show's name is Shorty’s Bunkhouse and she plays bluegrass, americana and more. Check out the sample 2-hour show on her show's website. She started on the radio in 1997. Their signal is strong and can be heard in Sonoma County too. Steve Jaxon knows that station and likes it. He heard Robert Earl Keen playing Merry Christmas from the Family for the first time and they realize it was on her show.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Next they taste the American single-malt whiskey. They won a silver medal this year for this at the American Distilling Institute. The American distilling Institute founder is Bill Owens. (He is also the man who took a famous picture of violence at the ill-fated Rolling Stones concert at Altamont.)
Next they shake up a cocktail called The Entitled Housewife, named after Becky Robinson, a performer that Herlinda also knows. Scott's original cocktail is made with their Golden Own barrel aged gin, Mr. Black coffee, some pecan liqueur, and club soda.
Scott and Gail are Elks and Herlinda is a Moose and may become an Elk now. The Elks Club of Petaluma should come to Elk Fence and elk it up.
Thu, 07 Dec 2023 - 26min - 254 - Kevin McGee, Anderson Valley Brewing Co.Herlinda Heras and Kevin McGee
Kevin McGee, President and CEO of Anderson Valley Brewing Co, AVBC, joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha.
The foundation of brewery dates to 35 years ago. It is the world's first solar powered brewery. Kevin explains how they recently streamlined their lineup of IPAs, including their classic west coast IPA, Hop Ottin'. They are tasting the Coastal Ale which is a partnership with the Surfrider foundation.
Anderson Valley Brewing Co. will be taking over the ale stands at the Dickens Christmas Village in the Cow Palace in San Francisco. They will be pouring 11 different beers. Some of them are seasonal, like the Winter Solstice beer.
Herlinda describes the fun and excitement at the Dickens Christmas Village, including old fashioned Victorian games and a fencing school. There are character actors and skillful character portrayals of Charles Dickens himself as well as many characters from the story A Christmas Carol. They perform plays and there is tea time, to do a proper British tea and also a Sherlock Holmes mystery attraction too.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Boontling
The name of one of their beers, Baal Hornin' means good drinking in Boontling, the local dialect.
Since 1997, every year Anderson Valley Brewing Co. has hosted the Booneville Beer Festival. Proceeds going to hyper-local charities, within 10 or 20 miles of the brewery. Over the years they have raised over 1.8 million dollars. The next Beer Fest is Saturday, May 4, 2024.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
If you visit Booneville, don't try to drive home too late in the day. The road is perilous, but there are lots of lodging opportunities around.
The next tasting is the Winter Solstice beer. It is rich tasting and at 6.9% ABV it is stronger than the easy drinking varieties.
Beer plus deer = beer, hence Barkley the mascot of Anderson Valley Brewing Co., a bear with antlers.Thu, 30 Nov 2023 - 29min - 253 - Ava Kemper, Intern at Henhouse Brewing Co.Ava Kemper's Hello Hello Hello
Collin MacDonnell, of Henhouse Brewing Co. and Ava Kemper, intern, are our guests today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Ava Kemper holds a BS in Environmental Science and Management from UC Davis and is also a graduate of the UC Davis Master Brewers Certificate in Brewing Sciences program.
This year Ava has been an intern at Henhouse Brewing Co., where she developed and then brewed her own beer called Hello Hello Hello.
Collin tells about Henhouse Brewing Co.'s intentions in organizing their internship program with UC Davis. They wanted to create job opportunities for everyone and Ava's internship is the first one under the new program. Ava describes entering the UC Davis Master Brewer's program after starting to work in the field of her first degree, which is Environmental Science.
Ava's beer is called Hello Hello Hello. Its name comes from the title of a song by one of her favorite artists, Remi Wolf. Herlinda appreciates Hello Hello Hello, she calls it clean and aromatic, a perfectly balanced beer.
Henhouse's 12th Anniversary
Henhouse is coming up on its 12th anniversary. Since 2015 they have been located a short walk from where The Drive's radio studio is located, in a converted train car. Henhouse does support many local non-profits and they feel strongly about their position in the community.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
The release party for Hello Hello Hello is in the Henhouse Santa Rosa location on Friday, Nov. 17. They have also opened a room in Novato where they only play vinyl records. Collin is proud of this result of their internship program. They really wanted the internship to be a well rounded experience, not just about brewing. They wanted it to be about the beer business, so production, packaging, quality and field sales. Ava attended a Big Chicken marketing meeting and heard a presentation about financial statements too. It focusses on the entire business. Herlinda too recognizes the importance of the practical business side, including corporate contingency plans for the future.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.Thu, 16 Nov 2023 - 17min - 252 - Homerun PizzaHomerun Pizza Knuckle balls
Cynthia Caughie, owner of Homerun Pizza, joins us in the studio today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras.
Collin McDonnell and Ava Kemper from Henhouse Brewing Co. are also in today. Listen to their conversation with Herlinda and Steve Jaxon on this separate podcast episode, right here. Lauren Schwing from Alliance Medical Center is also staying in the studio, to talk about their Giving Tuesday initiatives associated with Henhouse and Homerun Pizza, after telling us about that also in the previous segment of The Drive.
Homerun Pizza has been around for 20 years and Cynthia Caughie has owned it for the last five years. She was a server there for 13 years and then had the opportunity to take ownership. That happened after the Tubbs fire. Her mantra is “Community supporting community.” Check out the Homerun Pizza website and socials to see Cynthia tell all about it.
They make their pizza dough and their sauce from scratch daily. Their signature dish is the Knuckle Ball. It is like a small round calzone, pizza crust stuffed with mozzarella cheese and either peperoni or bacon. Steve Jaxon gives the authentic Napoletano pronunciation “muzzarell” for mozzarella.* You can tell he heard the dialect around his home as a child, as many Italian Americans once did.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Homerun Pizza had a party in March and will have another party before the end of the year, to celebrate their 20th year in the community.
Baseball Names
They have a menu full of items that are named after something or someone in baseball, such as the Ty Cobb Salad.
On December 5, they will experiment with a bingo night. In honor of Ava Kemper and her Hello Hello Hello beer, they will have a full keg of it there that night.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Cynthia tells about how Homerun Pizza is going to celebrate its 20th anniversary with Giving Tuesday, by doing it every third Tuesday of the month. It is a way for them to show their gratitude to the community that supported them through the pandemic.
Lauren Schwing from Alliance Medical Center says it’s a good day when she can hang out around Homerun Pizza. They will have other community partners with raffle prizes on the Homerun Pizza Giving Tuesdays. It’s a great opportunity to get a great pizza and some presents all in the name of charity.
Phil Niekro, Hoyt Wilhelm and Charlie Hough never thought of this!
Homerun Pizza also offer frozen Knuckle Balls. If you purchase an order of frozen Knuckle Balls they will make a $5 donation to Alliance Medical Center. They make their pasta sauce from scratch. “It’s like my nonny’s,” says Cynthia. They have an extensive menu of wraps, salads, burgers and more. And if you like Ranch dressing, put some on a Knuckle Ball. Yum!
* The name of mozzarella cheese comes from the Italian verb ‘mozzare’ which means to cut a piece off of a larger piece of something. In this case, the cheesemakers have their hands in some very hot water,Thu, 16 Nov 2023 - 13min - 251 - Natalie Cilurzo on 2024 Russian River Brewing Co. PlansShadow of a Doubt
Natalie Cilurzo, co-owner of Russian River Brewing Co. joins Herlinda Heras and Steve Jaxon on Brew Ha Ha to talk about their plans for 2024.
2024 is going to be a big year for Russian River Brewing Co. First, it is their 20th anniversary. They opened on April 3, 2004, on 4th St. in Santa Rosa. They also released the first Pliny the Younger in 2005. The Pliny release dates are now March 22 – April 4. They do wholesale distribution on draft for retail customers in February, still.
Pliny the Younger is a super hoppy triple IPA, about 10.25% ABV. It started as a beer they made to drum up some business during the slow season. For several years they did this with no fanfare. But in 2010 people started communicating online, including at sites like RateBeer.com. The beer was rated one of the best beers in the world. Since then, it has grown into an international hit. For more about the 2023 Pliny the Younger, here is Natalie's BHH podcast episode from last February.
They do no advertising and its success is 100% consumer driven and they only made two batches at the Santa Rosa pub, so probably about 60 kegs. They always remind their team how important it is not to take its success for granted. It’s on tap for two weeks, and people can buy a limited amount. It gets pretty crowded on weekends.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Natalie describes the base recipe of Pliny the Younger as Pliny the Elder on steroids. It uses a lot of hops but almost every year there is a tweak to the hops chosen.
Shadow of a Doubt
They taste Shadow of a Doubt seasonal porter. It’s 9.9% and is named after an Alfred Hitchcock film that was shot in Santa Rosa in 1943.
One final announcement, Pliny will be running for President again, Pliny for President and Blind Pig for Veep. On December 12, it will be released on tap and then it will be brewed quarterly through election season. Blind Pig Brewing Company was the name of Vinny Cilurzo's first brewery, back in Temecula, California in 1994.Thu, 09 Nov 2023 - 13min - 250 - Sausalito Liquor Co. founder Scott JampolSausalito Liquor Company
Scott Jampol, the founder of Sausalito Liquor Company, is our guest today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras.
They are a brand-new company that launched about two and a half weeks ago. They begin by tasting Marin Coastal Gin, one of their three new products. It is made with ingredients that are locally sourced for a unique local flavor. Gin has to be juniper-forward, to be really gin. It has some Albanian and Italian juniper, as well as California citrus peel, and nori seaweed.
They found a local source of seaweed foraged off the coast in northern California.
The junipers in Europe have softer berries. Scott describes the differences between wild juniper and farmed juniper from California and Europe.
Scott has been working on getting the new company ready for about three years. They have a brand new website and they can ship to 48 states. He worked in marketing for tech companies including OpenTable where he was head of marketing. He wanted to do something local and community-oriented and physical, after all his time spent in marketing where things are less tangible.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Sausalito's Distilling History
He discovered that Sausalito had a distillery, from 1892 to 1963, when it burned down. At one time it was the largest distillery on the west coast.
The whiskeys are labeled “Unsinkable Whiskey” and there is Bourbon and Rye. The labels have a liberty ship on the label. Scott recognizes the Unsinkable mentality of northern California with his label. The bottles are 100% recycled glass.
“He’s w-r-y wry” – Herlinda
There are lots of flavors in this rye whiskey, which has finished in port wine barrels. The difference between Bourbon and Rye is that Bourbon has to be at least 50% corn, and Rye has to be at least 50% rye. Otherwise, many bourbons and ryes have different proportions of other ingredients and a broad spectrum of flavors.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
They are just beginning to book its distribution network, so for the moment the best place to find them is the Sausalito Liquor Company website.Thu, 02 Nov 2023 - 24min - 249 - Ken Hartoonian’s Vintage Beer ShowKen Hartoonian calls in to Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras to talk about the Vintage Beer Show at 21st Amendment Brewery on Saturday Nov. 4 from 9am-1pm.
It is called the 39th Annual Western Regional Beer Can and Breweriana Show. Breweriana is anything brewery related. It can be a can, bottle, sign, coaster, bottle cap, neon sign or even some brewing equipment. The first show was held in Watsonville, hosted by the largest rose wholesaler in the state. They have extended the spirit of that show into an event where the public is invited to browse. A lot of brewers really appreciate brewing history. For example, there are lots of vintage beer signs at Russian River Brewing Co.
When Herlinda asks Ken about the most unusual item in his vast collection, he mentions a can of 7-Eleven beer, from 1959. It came from a long-defunct brewery in New Jersey and was only made for a short time before it was discontinued.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Why Breweriana?
Some collectors are willing to pay high prices for these items but they are not persons of average wealth. These people are just looking to diversify their assets, and some items can have demand among collectors. Some companies do keep collections of old products and labels for film productions, including beer labels.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Musical Beer Commercials of the 1950s
To keep up the spirit of the 39th annual Western Regional Beer Can and Breweriana Show, this edition of the Brew Ha Ha podcast features three examples of beer commercials from the 1950s. First, at 0:48, a musical ad for Pabst Blue Ribbon with a chorus and jazz band, in the key of E-flat. Then, at 5:30, an ad for Blatt's Beer, with music and singing this time in A-flat. Finally, after the end of the conversation, at 13:20, a Firesign moment followed by an ad for Valley Forge Beer. It features music in the key of G-flat, unless they wrote it out in F-sharp instead. We actually have no way of knowing which key they used, but it has to have been written out for the band and singers, one way or the other. This is a unique enharmonic moment in the universe of musical beer ads.Thu, 02 Nov 2023 - 14min - 248 - Wayne Wilson, Exalted Ruler of Petaluma Elks LodgeThe October 21, 2023 Oktoberfest event.
Wayne Wilson, the Exalted Ruler of the Petaluma Elks Lodge, joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. The Petaluma Elks Lodge is sponsoring an Oktoberfest Beer Event on Saturday, October 21. The Elks are a charitable and fraternal organization, for men and women. This event is a fund raiser for The Elks National Foundation.
Wayne Wilson describes their activities like Veterans service projects. The Elks also have one of the largest scholarship programs in the country and the National Foundation supports that. They also get involved in drug use prevention and organized sports competition.
How the Elks Began
The Elks lodge started as a bunch of Broadway actors in the 1870s. They were called The Jolly Corks. The New York Blue Laws prohibited bars from being open on Sundays. As a private club they could serve alcohol after midnight on Saturday nights. They also developed a social and fraternal organization to help their members with issues like injuries and medical problems.
The original Elks held a vote to choose their mascot animal and it came down to a vote of 8-7 in favor of Elks over Buffaloes.
They just held the Purple Pig Poker Run which is a combination poker game and car and motorcycle rally. It raises money for mental health and medical support for kids in need.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
They have sold out tickets for the Oktoberfest Beer as of now so the best way to get in is as the guest of an Elks member. Anyone interested in the Elks can just come over and meet them.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Their events are an opportunity to socialize while also supporting their many charitable activities. They also put on Sunday Football Breakfasts. They get together with several TVs in a large facility and a patio out back with a barbeque. We also hear about the Mentor Me program and the Children’s Christmas Party.Thu, 19 Oct 2023 - 24min - 247 - Boney Fingers from Moonlight Brewing plus Local Brewing SFBrian Hunt from Moonlight Brewing and Regan Long from Local Brewing Co. of San Francisco join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. They are both on the show today to talk about events that are happening this Saturday, October 14.
Moonlight Brewing Co. has been around since 1992 and they are having a launch party on Saturday October 14 for a new beer called Boney Fingers.
Brews on the Bay
Brews on the Bay is also happening on October 14. It’s a beer festival happening on the USS Jeremiah O’Brien, a decommissioned naval ship in San Francisco harbor. Get tickets at eventbrite, at this link.
Local Brewing Co. of SF will be at Brews on the Bay this Saturday, Oct. 14. Brews on the Bay is focused on serving and promoting breweries based in San Francisco and in the Bay Area. Follow the links for tickets and list of participating breweries.
Boney Fingers
They taste some Boney Fingers, which is very dark, but is only 6.7% alcohol. Brian points out that it tastes like black coffee. The color comes from roasting the grains.
The proceeds from Brews on the Bay go to support the Jeremiah O’Brian.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
They pour a Local Brewing SF beer called “69 Pils” which they started brewing during the pandemic. They used Australian Enigma hops, which are rarely used. Herlinda notices that it makes a strongly flavored beer even if the beer is light. Regan calls it, “nice and subdued.” It has a lower ABV at 5.1%. They won a medal at the North American Beer Awards a few years ago for this beer. Brian notices that this combination of hops provides a dry warmth and it is a delightful change from beers that tend to taste the same. They also taste Loud and Clear, their version of an IPA. They wanted it to be light bodied and not be bitter.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.Thu, 12 Oct 2023 - 22min - 246 - Asia Beer Championship 2023Herlinda & Steve
Brew Ha Ha welcomes Herlinda Heras back to the studio after her recent trip to Singapore where she was a judge at the Asia Beer Championship. There were judges coming from all over Asia and they tasted and judged beers from Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and more.
Singapore is on the equator so it is a hot humid place and most popular beers there are the lighter lagers and pilsners.
We hear about Herlinda’s travel accident which curtailed her travel plans, caused her to have an experience with the Singapore health care system and then to cancel the second leg of her journey. The flight was 16 hours and she was in an uncomfortable seat. She regretted not wearing her compression socks. Herlinda recommends them to anyone.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Yuzu Ceylon Beer
Herlinda has brought Yuzu Ceylon beer, with the Yuzu, a common Asian fruit, and Ceylon tea. She has a lot of praise for the food in Singapore. There were amazing flavors everywhere, even including chicken feet. Even in the mornings, she needed more time at the buffet. There were different kinds of noodle bars on different days, and so many rice recipes it's overwhelming.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Singopore's international airport is well known among travellers as one of the best airports in the world. Herlinda sure thinks it's the coolest airport in the world. It is efficient, modern and comfortable. There is also a unique decor feature. In the middle of the airport they have a gigantic waterfall in a glass dome called the Jewel. Right at about 10:oo o'clock AM, a crown gathered at the Jewel because that is when the waterfall comes on.
Herlinda brought a bottle of Pliny the Elder at the judges’ reception and that attracted a lot of attention. It is amazing to see how Russian River Brewing Co.'s reputation is strong around the world.Mon, 09 Oct 2023 - 21min - 245 - cuVer Brewing Co., pronounced “koo-VAY”Hendrick Verspecht
Hendrick Verspecht from cuVer Brewing Co. is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon with guest host Peter Lopez sitting in for Herlinda Heras again today. Hendrick’s first time on Brew Ha Ha was this episode of September 16, 2021, just before cuVer opened. He was also on BHH on May 5, 2022. Now they are preparing to celebrate their second anniversary, on October 7, 2023.
They begin by tasting the award-winning cuVer signature Pepperwood Saison Ale.
Peter is a busy entrepreneur who runs Juncture Taproom and is a partner in Santa Rosa Pizzeria. Today he has brought some sandwiches from Santa Rosa Pizzeria. They are all named after something iconic in Santa Rosa. This panino is called Taylor Mountain. Another is Pierre’s French Dip.
cuVer is pronounced “koo-VAY.” (Cuver is the infinitive 'to ferment,' its past participle cuvée, 'fermented.' -ed.) When the Cushing family and the Verspecht family formed the partnership, they took the first letters of their two names and made cuVer. Hendrick tells that the French expresson “cuver son vin” literally means to ferment one's wine, but idiomatically it means to sleep off a hangover.
The Pepperwood Saison Ale was the first recipe that Hendrick ever made. It is a Belgian farmhouse ale flavored with California Bay Laurel and Meyer lemon peel. Those are ingredients are not available in Belgium so this is a real California Belgian version.
cuVer Second Anniversary: October 7
cuVer will be celebrating their second anniversary on October 7, 2023. Peter Lopez’ restaurant was one of their first customers. The anniversary celebration will feature a food truck, Lila’s Streetside Eats, and will go from 12 noon to 8 pm on October 7. They will also have a darts and cornhole tournament. They have a darts league every Tuesday night. The party will feature a competition where you can play to win cuVer merch.
They are located in Windsor at 7704 Bell Road. They are down the street from Barley and Bine. They are closed Monday and Wednesday. The other days, Tuesday and Thursday open from 5-8pm, Friday and Saturday 12 noon to 8pm and Sunday from 1-6pm.
The next beer they taste is a Belgian quadruple, which is even stronger then the Belgian Tripel.
Hendrick tells the story of how his father wanted Belgian beers after they moved to California, and he started home brewing, for themselves as much as for others. Hendrick also gives credit to Anderson Valley Brewing and North Coast Brewing and Russian River Brewing Co., who also make Belgian styles.Thu, 28 Sep 2023 - 14min - 244 - Fogbelt Brewing Co.Paul Hawley and Remy Martin, co-founders of Fogbelt Brewing Co. along with Fogbelt Brewing Co. Head Brewer J.P. Bellotti are our guests on Brew Ha Ha, with Peter Lopez sitting in for Herlinda Heras. Remy and Paul were last on Brew Ha Ha on this episode of August 18, 2022 to tell the Fogbelt story as of then.
Peter Lopez brought some Calzones from Santa Rosa Pizzeria, which he promised to Steve Jaxon the last time he was here with his partner Ignacio Ruiz.
Remy, Paul and J.P. brought a case of different Fogbelt beers, some Octoberfest, two West Coast IPAs, two Hazies and their flagship lager. Fogbelt has five wet hop beers, brewed with fresh hops harvested and used immediately.
Wet Hopped Beer
They use hops from local hop farmers, to support them. They like to make as many of these beers as they can, because they happen only in hop harvest season. The comparison is to fresh herbs versus dried herbs in the kitchen. They taste Fogbelt Wet Hoptober, brewed with freshly picked hops from a local hop farm, Blossom and Bine.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Hop farming has made a comeback in Northern California. Paul helped start the Norcal Hop Growers Alliance, to help bring hop farming back to California.
They also talk about Fogbelt Beer Camp at Wildhaven. It’s like an adult summer camp, a new spin on the beer festival. Wildhaven is a “glamping” resort in Healdsburg on the Russian River, with canvas tents and firepits. They have a falconer, they teach wilderness survival, and there will be good beer and victuals.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Fogbelt also has a relatively new spot in Healdsburg that they opened about a year ago. It’s called Fogbelt Station, because it’s on the tracks and there is a caboose on site. They have 15 beers on tap. Remy and Paul both grew up in Healdsburg. Both of them also have a strong family background in wine.
Thu, 21 Sep 2023 - 25min - 243 - Alexander Valley Hops plus Anderson Valley Brewing Co.Melissa Luci from Alexander Valley Hops and Fal Allen of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. visit Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Fal Allen has been on the show many times, the last time was this May 13, 2021 episode.
It is hop harvest season right now, as Melissa describes. Hops grow as long vines and need tall poles and wires to climb. A field of hops looks like a plantation of telephone poles.
Hops were grown from the late 1800s to about 1950 when the price collapsed. Alexander Valley Hops started in 2019 on a very long and skinny lot. They have an active Instagram page. The hops grow up poles that are 18-20 feet high. There is a top wire at that height. They want the plant (called bines) to reach that height by the summer solstice.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
The Lost Coast Fresh Hops Festival
On Saturday, October 14, from 2-8 PM is the Lost Coast Fresh Hops Festival, in Shelter Cove, CA. Here is their link on Brown Paper Tickets. All of the breweries up there have made a beer out of Alexander Valley Hop Farm's Chinook hops which thlost cey will open at the festival. For fresh hops, they need about 100 lbs for an 8 barrel batch. They try to use them within 24 hours. They give flavor and aroma that is very green, something that you can’t get with dry hops. Mad River Brewing is one of the sponsoring breweries.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Fal Allen has brought a bunch of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. beers. A lot of people were IPA obsessed for a few years, and that pendulum seems to be swinging back, so Pilsners are more and more popular now. They are tasting a Russian River Brewing Co. Hop Time Pale Ale which is made with fresh local hops, once a year at hop harvest. AVBC is also participating in a cooperative brewing project to benefit Maui.
One is called Salted Caramel Porter. It’s a 9.5% ABV beer that Fal describes as a dessert beer. If you like espresso and chocolate, you may like it.
Herlinda travels a lot and she will be in New York, Lithuania then Singapore.
Alexander Valley Hops served 16 breweries this year, the most ever for them.Fri, 15 Sep 2023 - 24min - 241 - Santa Rosa Pizzeria
Santa Rosa Pizzeria menu.
The co-owners of Santa Rosa Pizzeria, Peter Lopez and Ignacio Ruiz, join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Peter is a frequent guest and occasional co-host on Brew Ha Ha, here is Peter's most recent BHH episode, from March of this year.
Peter Lopez is back with Ignacio Ruiz, aka Nacho, as co-owners of the new Santa Rosa Pizzeria. They have been open for about a month. They are active on Facebook, at this link. Nacho tells the story of how he and Peter worked together in another restaurant, then they reconnected. Peter found a location that used to be under another name. Also, Barolo’s Pizza was there for about 15 years. So the place has a pizza pedigree. In less than a month they started!
The Art of Pizza
Peter also runs Juncture Taproom and Ignacio is also the controlling partner of Art’s Place, so he is also an ideal partner for Peter. Ignacio learned pizza while working in an Italian restaurant, and he also makes pizza at Art’s Place. Art was a master and taught the art to Ignacio. Art Ibleto’s kids still control the Pasta King name, so he steers clear of things like their famous ravioli. They do have an extensive wine and beer menu.
They named all the pizzas after Santa Rosa icons, including Jerry Robinson, former Raider and All-American UCLA Bruin linebacker of yesteryear.
Jerry Robinson (84) UCLA, 1978
Peter considers his place to be a family friendly taproom, with something for everyone of all ages. He wants people to feel comfortable and safe. They even have their own Charlie Brown statue. He originally named Juncture Taproom “Confluence.” Juncture is at the corner of Mission and Montgomery, close to Howard Park and Spring Lake, where Rincon Valley and Bennett Valley come together.
There is a great band called Igor and the Red Elvises plays there, they won Star Search with Ed McMahon on TV long before American Idol and The Voice. Then, they took the money, bought a van and went on tour. They still have a cult following.
Santa Rosa Pizzeria is open noon to 8 pm, and they do deliveries from 11:30 to 8:30.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Herlinda brought a guitar pick from the Beatles museum in Liverpool and she has lots more stories from Liverpool in the later part of the show.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.Thu, 07 Sep 2023 - 33min - 240 - Bryan Rengel, Old Caz plus Herlinda in LiverpoolBryan Rengel, co-founder of Old Caz Beer, joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras in the studio today on Brew Ha Ha. Co-founder Tom Edwards was on California Wine Country on this episode on March 31, 2022. Also in this show we will hear from Herlinda Heras who is just back from a lightning trip to Liverpool, England last weekend.
Old Caz celebrated an anniversary last weekend. They shut the parking lot down on Saturday and had a standing room only party. Old Caz Beer is named after Old Cazadero Road. They are actually located in Rhonert Park. He and his partner met at Sonoma State on the rowing team. They were also into cycling and wanted to name a brewery after a road in west Sonoma County. They settled on Old Cazadero Road, because he describes it as a "six-mile death climb" with all kinds of exposure to sun and shade. It has all of west county in one beautiful six-mile hill.
From Scuba to Beer
After college Bryan worked as an underwater welder in the Gulf of Mexico, later in Africa and then in Alaska. He was the captain of a gold dredging boat in Alaska named the Midas, which is the name of their blonde beer today. After his second summer in Alaska, his friend Tom was working at Bear Republic and they decided to start a brewery together then.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
They have been in business for five years and have had the taproom for four years. "It's been a hell of a ride," says Bryan.
Their taproom is open every day of the week, weekdays 3-9, Saturdays noon - 10 and Sunday noon - 7. They have food trucks almost every day. Their goal is to have them seven days a week. Old Caz makes a lot of different varieties and Bryan says they make a beer for everyone. It's a long list. There is one called Orange Crush, an Imperial Kettle Sour. It is an 8% beer that tastes like a mimosa.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
They taste their Bukovany Pivo, a Czech Pilsner. It just won Gold at the US Open. It is a crisp, clean refreshing Pilsner. Bryan says, "We only make crushable beer." It's another term they made up for a good beer that you will want a second and a third of.
Herlinda in Liverpool
Herlinda has arrived from SFO just today, having returned from England. She had to go to Liverpool for a chance to interview Frieda, the former manager of the Beatles' fan club. She met Pete Best when he played in Sonoma County. He has opened a Beatles Museum in Liverpool and Herlinda made their acquaintance. She hardly did any interviews at the time. She also got a chance to meet other people associated with the band. Herlinda describes a kind of present-day Beatlemania she experienced during the trip. "I'm kind of tired, actually," says Herlinda, without a hint of irony.
She also saw Burning Man from the sky flying in.
We don't do things normal, we do things 'extra credit.' - Bryan Rengel, Old Caz Beer
Bryan describes how Old Caz got a lot of free equipment from Craigslist. His partner Tom also tells that story on his CWC interview back in March, 2022. His new space in SOMA Village is under construction and they hope it is all ready by the end of the year.Thu, 31 Aug 2023 - 50min - 239 - Brew Ha Ha is Back with Russian River Brewing + Victory HouseBrew Ha Ha is back, with Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. and Jenny Ogston from Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter. The Drive with Steve Jaxon is back on the air, on Wine Country Radio 95.5 FM, weekdays 3-6 pm. The Drive is also streaming at TheDrive955.com. Brew Ha Ha is also back on Thursday afternoons on The Drive. Steve Jaxon is hosting today's episode, along with Herlinda Heras.
Herlinda Heras is just back from Finland where she was judging the Sahti competition there. She talks about being a judge at competitions around the world. Some are in countries with long beer traditions like Germany, Belgium and Poland. Others, like Portugal, are developing new brewing industries now. In Finland, the Sahti is a traditional brew that dates back to Viking times.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
Jenny Ogston talks about how the Victory House is set up for the coming football season. They have over 40 TV screens just in the Victory House area of the Poppy Bank Epicenter.
Russian River Brewing News
Natalie Cilurzo has news about the Russian River Brewing Co. and their dog-friendly location in Windsor. The beer garden is open every day and the pub is open Wednesday through Sunday. The beer garden has lots of shade. They also have a couple of new statues from the Schultz Museum. She got a set, of Peppermint Pattie and Marcie playing frisbee. They are on display in the beer garden. There are pictures on the Russian River Brewing Instagram page.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Line Dancing at Victory House
Victory House now had Country line dancing, with free lessons on Tuesday nights and large events on Friday nights with DJs. They also have bingo on Wednesdays with Harry Duke and trivia on Thursdays. Poppy Bank Epicenter has everything from indoor soccer, basketball, volleyball, trampolines and bowling. They also have laser tag, virtual reality and a large arcade with lots of old and new games. They host big events and just had their largest one ever for 1500 guests. There is something to do for the whole family. They used to have axe throwing for about one eight-month period, which was fun and frightening.
Russian River Brewing Co. is approaching its twentieth anniversary next year of the downtown Santa Rosa pub. It is also the twentieth anniversary of Pliny the Younger. Natalie talks about a seasonal release called “It takes a lot of great beer to make great wine.” It is a light and refreshing hoppy blonde ale, about 5.25% alcohol.
Russian River Brewing Co. is finishing a construction project at the Windsor pub, turning one of their production spaces into a Lager house. They will brew more STS Pils and Velvet Glow Lager. The package will be a 6-pack of 12-ounce cans for the first time, which will be available in November or December.
Hop Time Harvest Ale is coming out soon, using all Alexander Valley grown hops. Also, Natalie and Vinny will be making their annual trip to the Pacific Northwest to select hops from this year’s harvest.Thu, 24 Aug 2023 - 31min - 238 - Tara Nurin: A Woman’s Place Is in the Brewhouse
This episode features Tara Nurin, author of A Woman's Place Is In the Brewhouse. It was originally recorded on November 4, 2021. The Drive has been on summer vacation and we haven't had new Brew Ha Ha shows. This is the last repeat episode before next week when The Drive returns to live radio, Wine Country Radio 95.5 FM, Mon-Fri 3-6. The first new episode of Brew Ha Ha will be Thursday, August 24. Cheers!
Tara Nurin
Tara Nurin, author of A Woman's Place Is In The Brewhouse, joins Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke on Brew Ha Ha today. Mark Carpenter is away this week and Harry Duke is sitting in for Steve Jaxon. Tara Nurin is the Forbes magazine beer and spirits business writer. She has been working on this book for four years and she is finally on book tour!
She has a book signing event at Russian River Brewing Co. on December 16, 2021. Herlinda suggests she could do a special label beer for the occasion. Tara describes the book, the first to document the rich history of women in brewing. The book looks at economic, political and religious factors. There are interviews with all the prominent women in the brewing business over the last several decades, such as Natalie Cilurzo, CEO of Russian River Brewing Co.
New Albion
Most people do not know the whole story about the first new ground-up craft brewery in the US after Prohibition. It was called New Albion, founded in 1976 in the town of Sonoma. There were two women who worked with the founder Jack McAuliffe, and they did the funding and the accounting. They were hard to get for interviews but Tara met one of them, Susie, and features her story in the book.
Tara Nurin will be at Russian River Brewing Co. on December 16 (2023) for a book signing of "A Woman's Place Is In The Brewhouse: A forgotten history of alewives, brewsters, witches and CEOs."
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Visit our sponsor The Beverage People / Fermenter’s Warehouse for everything you would ever need to make beer and all kinds of other fermented foods and drinks, at home.Thu, 17 Aug 2023 - 12min - 237 - Bitter Girl Bitters plus Barber Lee Spirits
This episode features Erin Hinze from Bitter Girl Bitters and Mike Barber from Barber Lee Spirits. It was originally recorded on November 4, 2021. This is almost the end of Summer vacation for The Drive and Brew Ha Ha, so this is the second-to-last week of reruns while we don't have new shows. Next Monday, August 21, The Drive returns to live radio on Wine Country Radio 95.5 FM, Mon.-Fri 3-6. The first new episode of Brew Ha Ha will be Thursday, August 24. Cheers!
Erin Hinze from Bitter Girl Bitters and Mike Barber from Barber Lee Spirits distillery in Petaluma join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras today on Brew Ha Ha. Also, Dustin Sullivan is in, to announce the opening of his second restaurant.
Erin Hinze was on Brew Ha Ha on this episode of May 17, 2018. Mike Barber’s wife organizes the Petaluma Holiday Food Fair. There are lots of vendors including Bitter Girl Bitters, The Spice Queen and many others. You can do Christmas shopping at the Petaluma Hotel and have a cocktail too.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Bitter Girl Bitters
Erin explains that her bitters, "...are designed to make cocktails taste amazing," using homegrown ingredients. All her bitters have a fun concept and a fun name. She brought one with coffee flavor today.
I like to say that bitters are a bartender’s salt and pepper, a concentrated flavoring additive that is meant to enhance a cocktail, to bring out the spirit and the flavors, to make it a little bit tastier. -Erin Hinze
For example, they are tasting some whiskey from Barber Lee Spirits, that has a little bit of maple shrub and some of these coffee bitters in it. The name of this Bitter flavor is Morning Wood, as it is based on coffee aged in oak barrels.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Barber Lee Spirits
Mike Barber of Barber Lee Spirits describes his single malt rye whiskey. It is 100% malted rye, a difficult and rare style for an American whiskey. It is what he started with seven years ago and is still the flagship product, among others. He and his wife have been making wine for the last seven years. His first barrel sold quickly and then he and his partners decided to build the distillery for real. They got a place and a still and they use all their own receipes and do every step themselves.
You can enjoy my entire micro-booze empire… I think it’s the coolest block in Sonoma County.” -Mike Barber.
Dustin Sullivan is opening Easy Rider restaurant in Petaluma, near Barber Lee Spirits. They have been open since Dec. 2021. He is a Californian and his partner and chef is from Virginia and knows Southern cooking. They plan to combine the best of Sonoma County farm production with Southern style recipes. For example, their Caprese salad us made with fried green tomatoes.
After the Moscow Mule, an Old Fashioned
The second cocktail is an Old Fashioned. Erin says the bitters are the aromatic finish on a cocktail. You need to sip on it to enjoy the aromatics and the combinations. “To me this is Thanksgiving in a glass.”
Mike Barber describes the other products.Thu, 10 Aug 2023 - 18min - 236 - Fresh Hops with Russian River Brewing Co.
We continue the Brew Ha Ha summer vacation with this repeat podcast of an episode from October 5, 2021, all about fresh hops, with Natalie and Vinny Cilurzo, co-owners of Russian River Brewing Co. Cheers!
Fresh Hops are front and center today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter, as we welcome Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Company. Vinnie and Natalie are the co-owners of Russian River Brewing Co. and they have brought a pack of fresh hops into the studio today. Now is a busy time, the hops are being harvested and there are special hoppy beers being made and enjoyed.
(This was recorded during Covid-19 times.)
The Russian River Brewing Co. Winds0r location and the Santa Rosa pub are both open. They have been using the parklette on 4th Street, which was done to allow social distancing for Covid precautions, and while they won't be there forever, they are using it and enjoying it for as long as possible. They also have some longer term construction plans to expand in Santa Rosa.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Vinnie says that RRBC has brought in a lot of fruit lately, peaches and grape pumice, Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc, which they use in various fruity beers with some sour tartness. They have one called Hop Time, which is on tap and in cans in their brew pubs only. It's the only way to get it. They made a double batch in Santa Rosa. It uses wet hops so it is a bulky job, using locally grown hops from the Crane ranch. RRBC has a sour beer club, only for fans of that style, no hoppy beers.
"Next year, we will make Hop Time with barley that Ron and Erica Crane have grown, also. So that will make it a complete local beer," says Vinnie.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.Thu, 03 Aug 2023 - 6min - 235 - Irish Spirits Ambassador Susan BoyleSusan Boyle
Again as The Drive is on Summer vacation, here is a repeat of an episode of Brew Ha Ha, originally recorded on October 6, 2022, with Susan Boyle, the official Irish Spirits Ambassador. Cheers!
Susan Boyle, the Irish Spirits Ambassador is the guest of Herlinda Heras with Peter Lopez who is sitting in for Harry Duke on Brew Ha Ha today.
First, Harry Duke is calling in from a roadside attraction on Route 66 in Oklahoma, on his road trip. Oklahoma City has a thriving craft beer scene, and he’s “not in the land of IPAs anymore.” If he sees one or two on the board, it’s a surprise. The Pilsners and Lagers are more popular there among the craft brewers. They are going from their Fall beers to their Winter beers.
Ireland's Bord Bia
Bord Bia is the Irish Food Board, that oversees food and drink exports from Ireland. There is a renaissance going on in Irish distilling. After the low point of the 1960s there has been a great revival. Herlinda points out that Bourbon and Whiskey start off with the wort, the same way beer does, only they don’t add hops and they distill it instead of ferment.
Herlinda has brought a bottle of Guinness West Indies Porter. It is a historic recipe, which came from their corporate archives. There is a lot of brewing history in those documents. They have a whiskey called Lost Irish, a blended Irish whiskey. Irish whiskey can be aged in any kind of wood, such as chestnut or acacia, besides oak.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Susan's portfolio includes whiskeys, cream liqueurs, white spirits including gin and Irish Poitín (pronounced “potcheen”) sometimes also called Irish moonshine. Irish cream liqueur is one of three spirits whose name and origin are regulated, along with Irish whiskey and Irish Poitín.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
This whiskey has spent time in six different casks which impart a spectrum of flavors. It is drinkable and smooth with caramel, toffee and nuts in the flavors. "Everything tastes better with friends."Thu, 27 Jul 2023 - 36min - 234 - Mark Carpenter on Anchor Brewing’s History
Brew Ha Ha's Summer vacation continues with this repeat episode all about Anchor Brewing's history, featuring Mark Carpenter. This episode was originally recorded and published on May 2, 2019.
Today on Brew Ha Ha Steve Jaxon gets the whole story from Mark Carpenter about Anchor Brewing, its history and historical context, its production and its role in American brewing. (We were expecting guests from San Francisco’s Fort Point Beer Co. but they are stuck in traffic and will reschedule.)
Mark Carpenter (l) and the Anchor team in the '70s.
Mark Carpenter started working at Anchor Brewing in 1971 after he met its owner Fritz Maytag. He was looking for a more interesting and rewarding line of work and found that at Anchor. Mark retired a few years ago and Anchor's new brewmaster is Ramon Tamayo, who was also on the show recently.
Warm or Cold Beer?
Right now, Mark is tasting a Shadow of a Doubt Imperial Porter from Russian River Brewing Co. It’s warm but it’s fine, Mark says that if a beer is good it should be good at room temperature too.
"In warm countries they drink cold beer, in cold countries they drink warm beer." The beer is named after the Alfred Hitchcock film Shadow of a Doubt which was filmed in Santa Rosa in 1943.
Mark talks about the Fort Point, an interesting brewery, says Mark. They do a Kölsch. All over Germany, the towns had their own styles of beer. Then Lager beer was invented and they all switched to that. But Kolsch is a surviving local beer from the city of Cologne (called Köln in German). An Imperial Porter means it's a black beer. Compared to a Stout, a Porter is sweeter. It also has nice flavors. "Imperial" means it is higher in alcohol, this is 10%.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
The Story of Anchor Brewing Co.
So without our expected guests, Steve invites Mark to tell the whole Anchor Brewing story which starts with what a city San Francisco was in the last 1960s. They were protesting the Vietnam War and there was an abundance of great music at venues like the Fillmore. Mark remembers the background of the city where people were looking for ways to do something more inspiring than his "normal" job.
Mark would visit any American city and visit its breweries. He visited Coors in Colorado and Pabst in Wisconsin and took brewery tours. Steve is from Detroit and asks if Mark visited Stroh's there, but he hasn't. Stroh's called itself "fire brewed" which was a common European process in the late 1800s where beer was heated in copper kettles heated by fire, not steam. Mark says that steam applies less heat than a gas flame which gives some caramel color and flavor that steam does not. Stroh's was the only beer in America that was fire brewed. Stroh's today is owned by Pabst but it's not the same and is not fire brewed anymore.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
The Importance of Good Luck
Mark always says he was lucky to get the job at Anchor. It was the smallest brewery in America at the time.Thu, 20 Jul 2023 - 20min - 233 - Herlinda Heras interviews Bob Brewer of AnchorWe have a special conversation with Bob Brewer, former Anchor Brewing employee, while The Drive and Brew Ha Ha are still on Summer vacation this year. There is sad news in the brewing industry, as Sapporo has announced that Anchor Brewing is closing. Here is the conversation that Herlinda Heras recorded on July 12 with Bob Brewer, who worked for Anchor for many years.
Bob Brewer was on Brew Ha Ha once before on this episode of February 17, 2020.
When Bob Brewer was originally hired at Anchor in 1985, he had been working for a beer wholesaler which also distributed Anchor, since about 1977. He was a draft beer installer and also did nearly everything to deliver beer, including carrying kegs around San Francisco. Bob would always say he had the best job in the world. “I get to deliver the best beer in the world to the best people in the world in the best city in the world.” He was working to support his wife who was getting a degree in petroleum engineering. She took a job in southern California and he made the move. When Mark Carpenter called to ask if he could become their distributor there, Fritz Maytag presented him with “the presumptive close” and he got the job. He also got some work experience in England, which had a completely different regulatory environment. There was a brewery which was making a beer that they called Steam, too. But he mostly concentrated on the local market. The international market was more to “show the flag” than to move lots of beer. “I don’t now whether the beer was the novelty or I was.” He worked with a famous English beer expert named Michael Jackson.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Visiting the Barley Farm in Washington
Fritz Maytag, who owned Anchor at the time, had a relationship with a farmer in southern Oregon who grew the barley that they used in the Christmas Ale. This was Fritz’ idea so that his staff could understand the origin of their ingredients. There was a famous bus trip to Yakima with Fritz and Anchor staff including Bob. They stopped at Mendocino Brewing Company for some Red Tail Ale, one of the original craft brewers. (It is now Hopland Tap run by Ron Lindenbusch, ex of Lagunitas.)
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
But “the elephant in the room” is the fact that Sapporo is closing Anchor. This feels like a loss in the family to Herlinda, and to many of us in the broad Anchor family. Fritz Maytag wanted to retire and sold the company to an investment group. They invested in the company and hired Bob as an ambassador. And then they sold to Sapporo. For most of the rest of this episode, Bob Brewer talks at length about the history of Anchor including some thoughts about the recent history and its closing.Thu, 13 Jul 2023 - 56min - 232 - Back to Mare Island Brewing Company
Ryan Gibbons and Kent Fortner.
With The Drive on Summer vacation, here is an encore presentation (which sounds more elegant than 'repeat') of this January, 2023 episode which is a personal favorite of Herlinda Heras.
Mare Island Brewing Company co-founders Ryan Gibbons and Kent Fortner join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Mare Island was a naval shipyard since the earliest days of California and Herlinda was actually born there, since her father was in the US Navy. It was the oldest naval base west of the Mississippi, and also has the oldest golf course and one of the oldest Tiffany stained glass windows in the west, in its local church. Read about the history of Mare Island here.
Kent and Ryan founded Mare Island Brewing Co. after they met in the wine business. They are both professional wine makers. It is near the city of Vallejo and the city fathers asked him if he could move his winemaking operation there. The topography wasn’t right for that option, but when they met each other again in early 2013, they found the opportunity to open the brewery, on a shoestring.
Mare Island
Mare Island used to support the town of Vallejo, which fell on hard times after the base closure. The city has supported a lot of reinvestment and development of new businesses including the brewery.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
With their experience making wine, they wanted their beers to be balanced and to make traditional recipes without chasing trends. They also took the opportunity to place historical information about Mare Island on their labels. It was a center of military production. A long list of important systems was produced there, including submarines and aircraft carriers. The cans also all feature a ship in the design, with a short version of the story of that ship on the label.
Visit our sponsor Victory House online for their latest viewing and menu options.
Mare Island Brewing Company locations
Mare Island Brewing Company has three locations. One is at the Vallejo Ferry terminal, in Vallejo, where you take the ferry to San Francisco. The Coal Shed Brewery is on Mare Island and the First Street Taphouse is in Benicia. They brew all the beer on Mare Island and they also host events there.
Their beers are named after ships. The labels have stories that tell the histories of the ships.Thu, 06 Jul 2023 - 33min - 231 - Suzanne Hagins, Horse and Plow CiderHerlinda & Suzanne
The Drive is on summer vacation and there is no new BHH show this week. So here is a show from last April featuring Suzanne Hagins from Horse and Plow Cider in Graton, to talk about the cider they make from apples grown locally in and around Sebastopol, California. Cheers!
Suzanne Hagins from Horse and Plow Cider in Graton is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras.
Horse and Plow makes cider and also wine. All of their cider comes from Sebastopol-grown apples. They are dry and naturally carbonated and they show the quality of the Sonoma County fruit. They are based on the famous Gravenstein apples that are mostly grown in Sebastopol. It is a blend of 12 different apple varieties and is very dry.
Horse and Plow started as a winery. The tasting room is off Hwy 116 between Graton and Sebastopol.
Cider and Mead are both good alternatives to wine and beer, for festive occasions and meals. They are tasting the Horse and Plow Farmhouse Cider. It is mostly Gravenstein apples and very dry.
Visit Horse and Plow
Horse and Plow ciders are at Bottle Barn and Whole Foods, Willibees, Pacific Market and Andy’s. Hwy 116, Gravenstein Hwy, close to Andy’s, open 12-5 Thursday through Monday. They accept reservations online or by phone. There are art shows and music performances. They do tasting flights of wines, ciders, and mixed flights. It is family and dog friendly.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Horse and Plow uses many unusual varieties of apples in their ciders, more than 30 varieties.
Cider is made like wine, which made it easy for them to add cider to their operation which was already licensed for wine. Fully half of their business at the tasting room is cider.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
They also taste their Rosé made from 100-year-old dry-farmed Carignane vines located in Mendocino County. They pick the fruit early to preserve the acidity. There are strawberry flavors in the wine. They have one-liter refillable growlers that can be refilled with red or white wine or cider. Finally they taste their Pinot Noir, known for being fruit forward with a silky texture.Thu, 29 Jun 2023 - 19min - 230 - A Look Back at 2023 Pliny the YoungerHarry Duke & Natalie Cilurzo.
While The Drive is on vacation and there is no new BHH show today, here is a reissue of the show from last February 2, with the very first taste of the 2023 Pliny the Younger, featuring special guest Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. Enjoy!
Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Company joins Brew Ha Ha with the first growler of the Pliny the Younger 2023 edition.
Later, the subject changes to SF Beer Week, when Colin McDonald from Hen House Brewing and Gail Williams will also be on. (That portion of today’s live show has its own separate podcast page, here.)
Today’s episode of Brew Ha Ha continues a tradition of Russian River Brewing Co. bringing the new Pliny the Younger into the KSRO studios for its first tasting.
Here is last year’s 2022 release episode on the same occasion. Here is the BHH episode of the 2020 Pliny the Younger release. And here is the 2019 release episode too.
Cur linguam latinam non dicis?
Plinius Junior cervisia Americana celeberrima est. Hoc cervisiam multo lupulo conficit. Grati sumus quod viri et feminae cervisiam nostram amant dixit Natalia Cilurtius. *
A Triple IPA
Pliny the Younger is a Triple IPA, which means it is a lot hoppier and a little bit higher in alcohol than regular double IPA beers. It is actually a quadruple dry hopped beer. “There is a copious amount of hops in this beer, which gives it that beautiful luscious aroma.” The hops are Simcoe, Amarillo, Chinook, Citra, Mosaic, Nectaron, Warrior and Elixir. Elixir, “the strawberry hop,” was added last year. Nectaron is the new hop for 2023. It brings nectarine and candied citrus fruit flavors.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Pliny the Younger’s official release will happen from March 24 through April 6. During that time it will be on tap in Santa Rosa and Windsor. Guests will be limited to three 10-oz. pours and bottles will be available too, at the brewery. You can purchase bottles or sit down at the brewery. They started local distribution today and there are hundreds of locations serving it.
Rejection is their Valentine's Day Ale. It is on tap and in cans at their two locations.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
* Translation:
Why not say it in Latin?
Pliny the Younger is a very famous American beer. It is made with lots of hops. We are grateful that men and women love our beer, says Natalie Cilurzo.Thu, 22 Jun 2023 - 11min - 229 - The Anchor Brewing StoryWhile The Drive is on vacation, there is no new Brew Ha Ha episode this week. So, here is an encore presentation of our episode from November 17, 2022, featuring Dave Burkhart, the author of the book The Anchor Brewing Story which was just published at the time.
Anchor Brewing historian Dave Burkhart and former Anchor brewing chief Mark Carpenter join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Mark Carpenter is the former co-host of this show who began working at Anchor in 1971. Author Dave Burkhart has been with Anchor Brewing Co. for thirty-one and a half years. Very early in his tenure began collecting historical documentation of the brewery. His book, The Anchor Brewing Story, has just been published.
Mark and Dave agree that Anchor has a bright future since the new owners (Sapporo) are investing heavily in the company. Dave started at Anchor on a Monday and by the following Saturday, he started researching the company. In 2010, he took the title Anchor Historian. He describes finding out about the original owner Gottfried Breckle, who first went from Germany in 1852 to Valdivia, Chile. It was “the irresistible lure of gold” that brought him to California.
Anchor's Early History
A lot of this early family history is documented on this page of the Anchor Brewing website. Gottfried came to California in late 1953 or early 1854 and worked in the gold fields, then worked for a local brewery. He became an American citizen in 1854. He “did what everyone did in the gold rush, he reinvented himself.” Eventually he owned the Golden Gate Brewery in San Francisco, which burned down. He took the insurance money back to Germany and opened a brewery there. Then he came back to San Francisco and opened another brewery in the Russian Hill neighborhood. Then he sold it and invested in a saloon that they turned into brewery in 1871. That marks the beginning of the company that became Anchor in 1896.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
There were more than thirty breweries in San Francisco in the late 1800s and 847 drinking establishments in town, as well as many corner grocery stores in the city which also served beer in the back room.
The Anchor Pub
There is a pub now at Anchor Brewery that is a showcase for their panorama of beer recipes. One is Humming Ale, which uses Nelson hops. It’s the same recipe as Liberty Ale except that uses Cascade hops. That was the first IPA in California, although they did not want to call it that. Fritz Maytag, who was Anchor’s owner at the time of its late 1960s rebirth, wanted to make that type of beer that he remembered from his student days back east. It has a lot more hops than other beers at the time.
Visit our sponsor Victory House online for their latest viewing and menu options.
Visit our sponsor Victory House online for their latest viewing and menu options.
Anchor Steam Beer
Steam Beer is called a California Common in the beer index books. There are several possible origins of the term Steam Beer. It is a California story and without Anchor there would be none of it. Lager beer needs cold conditions, so there was no ice in the city and they needed to make beer without it. They came up with the idea of a Cool Ship, a large shallow pan with a large surface area.Thu, 15 Jun 2023 - 35min - 228 - Maryensztadt BreweryMarcin & Artur visit Anchor Brewing in San Francisco.
The Drive is on vacation, so there is no new Brew Ha Ha show today. For this podcast episode we offer again this fun and revealing episode recorded last January 19, with Herlinda Heras' two guests from Maryensztadt Brewery in Poland, Marcin and Artur. Enjoy!
Marcin Malecki and Artur Napuripski of Maryensztadt Brewery in Poland are our guests today on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras. Artur is the sales manager as well as a beer sommelier and brewery historian, and Marcin is the brewery's owner. Herlinda Heras has been a beer judge at the Polish national beer competition for the last few years, along with Artur. Herlinda invited them to California for a visit and for a collaboration at Anchor Brewing and a visit to some famous Sonoma County craft breweries.
Marcin tells about their visit to Brew Ha Ha sponsor Russian River Brewing Co. and how impressed he was with their Windsor location. They also visited Brian Hunt at Moonlight Brewing.
Grodzisz is a smoked wheat beer, which is a unique Polish style. It uses 100% oak-smoked malt. Herlinda finds it refreshing. Artur describes it as a unique style and says the malt is hard to find. Polish brewers stopped making it in 1993 but they revived it recently. Beechwood smoke has a different flavor, like ham or cheese. This oak smoke is more like a campfire and is more subtle.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Craft Brewing in Poland
The craft brewing industry is young in Poland. They began about ten years ago with an American IPA. The brewery’s name Maryensztadt is a small neighborhood in the heart of Warsaw, part of the old town. They wanted the brewery to be there, but they could not produce alcohol there. So they established the brewery in a small town very close to Warsaw. They try to make the brewery as “green” as possible, or sustainable, using as little energy and water as possible and recycling water. When they visited Russian River Brewing Co., they thought they would like to be that big in ten more years.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Marcin, Herlinda & Artur.
Marcin has always been interested in beer and was a consultant brewer before opening the brewery. Artur has been interested in beer since long before the craft beer revolution. He eventually became a beer judge and got a beer and cider judging certificate. He is studying for his mead certification too. Poland has a long tradition of making mead, and even the certifying body, JCP, does not know all about it. Poland is also a huge producer of apples, but not cider apples. There is a small but promising cider revolution going on, but the problem is getting the right apples. There is also a thriving hops production in Poland.
Herlinda told Mark Carpenter, former Brew Ha Ha co-host,Thu, 08 Jun 2023 - 22min - 227 - Humboldt Cider co-founder Tom HartTom Hart, co-founder of Humboldt Cider is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras, with special guest Peter Lopez. Peter is the founder of NorCal Beer Geeks and he also runs the Juncture Taproom in Santa Rosa.
Tom Hart started Humboldt Cider in 2014 with his partner. They saw an opportunity for cider and started learning how to make it for local events in small batches. For a location , they renovated an old milking barn. Most recently, they started canning during the pandemic. This was an initially forced transformation of their business but it has worked well.
First to be tasted is their Drysdale Cider, made with 4 different culinary apples, golden delicious, granny smith, fuji and gala. It classifies as a dry cider on the dryness scale.
Juncture Taproom
Juncture Taproom is celebrating its 6th anniversary. He has been planning this celebration for a long time. NorCal Beer Geeks and Humboldt Cider have made a collaboration called Sally’s Jamaica. It is flavored with Jamaica flower like the refreshing Mexican beverage which is made from Hibiscus flowers. It makes a light and dry apple cider. They are bringing in all the musicians and food vendors who are with them all year too, for the celebration. Juncture Taproom is located at 4357 Montgomery Drive, at the corner of Mission.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
They are also tasting the Cherry cider, flavored with two kinds of cherries, Montmorency for tartness and Morello for color. This won gold at GLINTCAP, the Great Lakes International Cider Competition, which is the biggest cider competition in the country. It won despite their fear of heat damage before the tasting.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
NorCal Beer Geeks collaborates with VetConnect, to help veterans with all kinds of personal services, including helping them navigate available services, because sometimes some veterans are not even aware that they are eligible for certain services.
The last Humboldt Cider product tasted today is the Gravenstein Cider, made with fruit from old trees in northern California, which used to be more abundant, and which produce the best cider out there.
Visit Humboldt Cider online at their website, their Faecbook or Intsagram.Thu, 01 Jun 2023 - 20min - 226 - Marty Nachel, author of Beer for DummiesAuthor Marty Nachel, author of Beer for Dummies, joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha, on the phone from Chicago. Marty has also written How to Judge Beer Like a Pro.
In order begin to judge beer like a pro, the first prerequisite is practice. However that’s not all. You have to know beer styles and be familiar with different off aromas and flavors as well. Herlinda agrees and adds that the scientific names of things are important to know, to understand beer at this level. For example, Brett, or Brettanomyces. (The term Brettanomyces comes from the Greek for “British fungus.”)
Marty has been in the craft brewing industry in many roles for more than thirty years. He first got interested in beer on a long weekend vacation to Toronto where he took a tour of the Molson brewing company. He had never tasted beer so fresh, and in so many styles in one sitting. The most interesting place he has judged beer is in South Africa. He was lucky to be working with a literary agent who knew the publishers of the for Dummies series. They had just done one on wine so they wanted one on beer too and Marty got the gig. There doesn’t seem to be one for Cider yet. Actually he self-published How to Judge Beer Like a Pro, on Amazon.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Marty is in Chicago which is home to some great lager style breweries. Goose Island is the local brewery with a brew pub on Clark St. Lagunitas has also opened a location in Chicago, which just reopened a few weeks ago. They made a big impression there when they opened, but since being acquired by Heineken, the novelty seems to have worn thin there.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.Thu, 01 Jun 2023 - 12min - 225 - Cooperage Brewing Co.Herlinda and Fridge
Nickolas Garson, AKA Fridge, sales rep from Cooperage Brewing joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Cooperage is just about to celebrate 8 years as one of the premiere locations to get a beer in Santa Rosa. They are located on Airway Court between Piner and Hopper.
Their family-friendly location is open seven days a week, Monday through Thursday from 2 to 8 pm, Friday and Saturday from noon to 11 pm and Sunday from noon to 8 pm. Their website and socials have the updated daily food truck schedule. They went out of their way to make the location comfortable and beautiful. The bar is a long redwood tree trunk.
Cooperage’s founder Tyler helped Nickolas get to know and to enjoy craft beer and that led to him working in the craft beer industry. Nicholas was inspired by his first taste of good craft beer back in the day. It may be hard to remember today, but at one time, average beer in America was not very good at all, with little or no attention to freshness or flavor. Well, we took care of that, didn’t we?
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Cooperage Brewing 8th Anniversary
As part of their 8th anniversary, they have a band performing on June 10, Painted Waves, a local pop-rock band. The Coop Co-op is on the 11th with vendors and DJs.
The anniversary party itself is Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th with a rock climbing wall, face painters and mechanical bull riding. The vendors include vintage clothes and shoes and they are adding more and more to the list. It is a nice opportunity to help small local businesses. They have beer and yoga sessions. The price includes a beer after yoga.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
They have been tasting Lazy Cat lager, which was originally a staff collaboration. The name is based on their brewery cat named Beyonce. It is made with Luminosa hops, which has no pine or resin character. It has a tiny citrus undertone. They are also tasting the Mexican lager.
Nicholas brought Trimcoe, a new West Coast IPA. Cooperage Brewing beers are available in grocery stores as well as restaurants and bars all around Sonoma County.Thu, 25 May 2023 - 26min - 224 - Lo and Behold RestaurantLo & Behold Crispy Pork Spareribs
Laura Sanfilippo & Sean Raymond Kelley from Lo & Behold Bar Restaurant join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha.
Lo and Behold has three partner owners, who met while working for others. They thought Healdsburg had space for a casual place, large and spacious, with a great bar. Almost a year and a half ago, they opened Lo and Behold.
Sean Kelley grew up with his grandmother’s Sunday dinners. He ran kitchens in some prominent restaurants and then went to culinary school at Tante Marie’s in San Francisco. He wants his flavors to appear familiar and comfortable, but with extraordinary flavors.
The Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience includes spirits for the first time. Tickets are still available for the event.
It’s all Healdsburg bartenders, pairing “farm to glass.” Her partner Tara has a farm where they grow the herbs and flowers that they use, a nice long list of flavors. Sean has also brought a bunch of appetizers.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
They thought Healdsburg had space for a casual place, large and spacious, with a great bar. Lo and Behold has a nice selection of Italian Amaros, or Amari, either way, which are dark herbal liqueurs that vary between bitter and sweet. Every one of the bartenders has a special, original concoction for their Healdsburg event.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Global Comfort Food
Sean describes the restaurant as Global Comfort Food. For example, fried chicken is a winner all over the world. Harry asks what it was like opening a restaurant at the end of a pandemic. Laura thinks it may have been an ideal time. Also, they have been in Healdsburg for a long time and they had a lot of customer loyalty. They also have a nice patio. When people were ready to come back out, there they were. It was hard, but they had already worked through the entire pandemic. This is the first restaurant that the partners have ever owned themselves, after running restaurants for others for a long time.
Tomorrow, Friday May 18, from 4-7 PM at Lo and Behold, there is a Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience event. It is a stand-up meet and greet with Healdsburg’s best bartenders. The bartenders will be all at their own stations on the big patio.Thu, 18 May 2023 - 34min - 223 - Browar Fortuna and Browar Grodzisk of PolandHerlinda, Krzysztof and Marcin.
Marcin Ostajewski from Browar Fortuna and Krzysztof Panek from Browar Grodzisk in Poland join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha.
Krzsyztof and Marcin have just arrived from Nashville, where they attended the World Beer Cup. Both of their breweries are located in western Poland, not far from Posnan. Browar Grodzisk is based in Grodzisk Wielkopolski and Browar Fortuna is in Miłosław.
The Grodziskie style is Poland’s own, originating in the town of Grodzisk. It is a unique beer, the only one in the world brewed with 100 % wheat malt, smoked with oak wood. The brewing process is difficult and long and it has to take its time. Grodziskie is light and refreshing, with a unique flavor among beers on the lighter side.
Marcin tells about early 20th Century advertisements for this beer that refer to it as "Polish Champagne." There are samples of old Grodziskie ads here on Browar Grodzisk website. (This reminds me of Miller High Life, The Champagne of Bottled Beers, their old slogan. -cd)
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Grodziskie
Krzsyztof is quite serious about making Grodziskie as well as possible. He did extensive research in order to replicate the old equipment and he collected information from many people. The brewery fell into disuse after communism. Beginning in the 1990s, investors came in and closed breweries that were not cost-effective. Since lagers were in demand, beer consumers demanded that. Only later they were able to bring Grodziskie back when they re-founded the brewery.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Marcin talks about their home brew competition. The only rule is that beers in competition can’t use wild yeast, which would interfere with their brewing operation. The brewery will produce the winning recipe at the next year’s festival.
Krzsyztof describes how hard it was to find the right malt for Grodziskie. They found a malter just over the border in Czech Republic.
The home brewing community developed in Poland during communism when there was not enough good beer available commercially. When they brought Grodziskie beer back into production, the home brewers society was an important source of recipes, yeast and information.
Next they taste Komes, an idea that came from Krzysztof wondering what would happen if he took their award-winning Baltic Porter, and froze it. He kept it for 2 weeks in the deep freezer. Below the ice there was a condensed liquid, made of alcohol and all the flavor elements. They tasted it and decided it was extraordinary. Then they put it in whiskey barrels. After 4 or 5 years of the project, they have several hundred bottles. There isn't much of it, but now they do batches of about 1000 bottles.Thu, 11 May 2023 - 33min - 222 - Mercedes Hernandez of SOCO Market at FreshtivalHerlinda, Sayre & Mercedes
Mercedes Hernandez founder of the SOCO Market and Sayre Piotrkowski from HenHouse, are our guests on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras.
The Freshtival is this Saturday, May 6 at Somo Village in Rohnert Park. Get tickets here, they are going fast!
As the show begins they open a Moonlight Death and Taxes that is only a few days old. Brian Hunt from Moonlight and Vinny Cilurzo from Russian River were the pioneers of quality and freshness. Today the billboard outside Santa Rosa says Welcome to Fresh Beer Country.
The Importance of Freshness
Sayre talks about what they call second-half beer quality. The HenHouse company mission is to improve beer quality for the end consumer and to create wealth for our community. Freshness is the one quality metric that the consumer has access to. You can see if a beer is kept cold and you can see its date of production. These two factors are vital.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
The best place to get the freshest beer is this Saturday May 6 at Somo Village in Rohnert Park. The event is sponsored by the Bay Area Brewers Guild.
Brian Hunt says, "Fresh beer is like live music. Stale beer is like listening from the parking lot."
THE SOCO MARKET
Mercedes Hernandez describes how the SOCO Market started during the pandemic. Many Sonoma County businesses didn’t have a physical location so she invited eleven local makers to exhibit and sell together. It grew to over 60 vendors and then the city of Santa Rosa invited them to a market space in Old Courthouse Square that can have as many as 90. They have a market every month from April to August.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
The SOCO Market with its panorama of jewelry, plants and clothing vendors lends a fun and colorful atmosphere for the Freshtival. The Art of Freshness Gallery will be showing artists who have created label art for local brewers.
The first beer tasted was The Art of Freshness, which is the name of a beer and the theme of the festival. They also taste Matiné Idol. For the rest, go to the Freshtival!
Today's tastings on BHH.Thu, 04 May 2023 - 24min - 221 - 2023 Freshtival with Zach Kelly from HenHouseZach Kelly
The 2023 Freshtival is today's subject, as Zach Kelly, the brewmaster at HenHouse Brewery joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Fal Allen also calls in from Booneville later in the show.
The Freshtival takes place on May 6 at SOMO Village. Zach Kelly has been the brew master at HenHouse for about a year and a half now.
The Freshtival, May 6, 2023
In addition to all the breweries, many artists will be at the Freshtival, who are responsible for the art work for the labels on many craft beer cans. The Freshtival also features live bands, which makes it a great music festival as well. There is also a community market.
Visit HenHouse Brewing or Event Brite to get tickets and to see everything about the Freshtival.
They are tasting a Petit Saison beer from HenHouse which is only 4.5% alcohol. The term Saison beer refers to a beer with a low alcohol content, which would allow someone to enjoy it while also doing something else. Zach tells about how he made this beer for his wife. He experimented with recipes and since they went to New Zealand on their honeymoon, this beer uses all New Zealand hops. She didn’t know he brewed it for her, so he put on a May Day party at the brewery and presented it there. This particular beer was canned about three hours ago, speaking of fresh beer.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Zach Kelly spent about five years at Russian River, previously worked at Left Hand Brewing in Colorado, and started at Keegan Ales in New York.
This Beer Creates Opportunity
They are tasting Sonoma Sunshine, a dry-hopped Kolsch beer. (See the title picture) Their artist, Blanca, who designed the label, has also painted a mural in the tasting room.
The Brewers Guild is holding a mixer to promote The Inclusion Beer Project and the beer labeled This Beer Creates Opportunity. The project is dedicated to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and open access in the craft brewing industry.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
HenHouse is located at 322 Bellvue Ave. in Santa Rosa. They also have a location called the Palace of Barrels in Petaluma. They serve a beer called “Day Zero” which comes right off the production line. In the near future they will be opening a new location in Fairfax.Thu, 27 Apr 2023 - 18min - 220 - 25th Annual Booneville Beer FestFal Allen
Fal Allen of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. joins Harry Duke and Herlinda to discuss the Booneville Beer Fest, this Saturday in Booneville. Fal Allen is the brewmaster at Anderson Valley Brewing Co. in Booneville, which is sponsoring the 25th Annual Booneville Beer Fest. There will be 80 breweries there with at least 180 different beers.
All the proceeds go to local non-profits in the area. They have raised over $1.25 million dollars for local charities in the last quarter century.
There are also 4 bands and 10 food vendors, along with the 80 breweries, and lots of crafts for sale. There will also be cider brewers there. You can learn all about it at the Booneville Beer Fest web page, here.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Anderson Valley just got named the most under-rated place to visit, for beer and wine. AVBC has been around for 45 years, but there are wineries in the area that are 100 years old. The hotels are booked for this event but there is no shortage of camping. Tickets are available at the Anderson Valley Brewing Company website, for this Saturday, April 29.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.Thu, 27 Apr 2023 - 4min - 219 - Eel River Brewing CompanyHerlinda & Ted.
Ted Vivatson from Eel River Brewing Company is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras. He is the owner and co-founder of the brewery, which is located in Humboldt, California. They opened in 1995. About two years after that, they were pioneers in organic practices.
Ted grew up in Danville, California and was deployed in Germany in the US Army and there he got to know high quality beer. After he left the service, he noticed that there was no good local beer, so he and some friends set about to make some. Today Eel River is one of the oldest craft breweries in America.
He took a temporary job in the US Forest Service while studying engineering and home brewing. It wasn’t always easy to find ingredients and equipment back then before home brewing became popular. He took classes at UC Davis and the Siebel Institute. Now, he and the other craft brewing pioneers are seeing their children move into the same business.
They are tasting a beer called Climax which is named after a locomotive train. He made it to order for a friend who asked for a “naked” beer, meaning something plain and simple with no altered ingredients.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
It was really hard to find organic hops and grain back then. They found organic hops in New Zealand and they had to send someone down there to secure the first supply. This is a very simple beer with a low ABV and only 100 calories per serving.
The next beer tasted is a California Blonde Ale which has won 5 medals at the Great American Beer Fest. They also have opened their Amber Ale. Their first organic beers were limited by what ingredients were available.
Ted Vivatson was also a pioneer in hard selzer, and Herlinda and Harry agree that his hard selzer the best tasting one around. They worked on it for about two years, to develop the right recipe. Finally they got it right. It’s the only one naturally fermented.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.Thu, 20 Apr 2023 - 34min - 218 - Griffo Distillery and LagunitasHerlinda, Jenny and Bryan.
Bryan Donaldson from Lagunitas and Jenny Griffo from Griffo Distillery join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Bryan Donaldson is the Brewing Innovation Manager at Lagunitas and Jenny Griffo is a co-founder of Griffo Distillery.
Lagunitas and Griffo Distillery have collaborated on a single malt whiskey accented with hops. The two companies are located a half a block away from each other. Jenny and Bryan describe the process of distilling the mashed beer with hops and then they barrel age it for three years.
They will only release 600 bottles of it. People who attend the party on Thursday the 27th of April will get some. The event will feature food and a selection of beers, at Lagunitas. Then, guests will take busses across the way to visit Griffo, for the continuation, following the creation of this whiskey. Guests will get a bottle of Still Waldos single malt whiskey. There will also be live music and specially made chocolates.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Tickets are available on the Griffo website. Tickets are going fast to the first eating at 5:30, and there will be a second seating at 7:30. There will only be 25 total tickets to each seating. There will also be tastings of the Waldos beer, which Lagunitas makes every year.
Lagunitas Waldos Special Ale Triple IPA
Bryan describes his career path, which includes a Masters in Brewing from Charlie Bamforth at UC Davis, and jobs at Lagunitas soon after. He has also developed a tea-based beverage for Lagunitas, which is completely alcohol-free. Bryan says he is most proud of Hoppy Refresher, which is a dry-hopped sparkling water.
Griffo Distillery is also constantly innovating. Their last new product was a cold-brewed coffee liqueur. Griffo also has pop-ups coming to the distillery. On April 28, Second Staff, a local catering company, will be serving Korean Fried Chicken. They are on Scott Street in Petaluma.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
This year’s Freshtival is scheduled for May 6 Sonoma Mountain Village in Rohnert Park. All of the beer there will be less than 7 days old. Information is available at the dedicated page on the Hen House website.Tue, 18 Apr 2023 - 25min - 217 - Indian Valley BrewingIndian Valley Brewing co-founders Joe and Matt Tachis visit Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras today.
Their story begins in the 1950s when their father came back from Korea and went to work for Hamm’s brewery in San Francisco. He was their west coast sales manager, there was beer around the house.
From the back room to the taproom.
They started Indian Valley in 2017. They were home brewing with their father and brothers. People liked their beer, so they started the brewery in back of Joe’s electrical shop and started distributing to bars and restaurants. Now they have a taproom in Novato, near the Novato smart train station. The whole family was there to help along the way, to work on everything.
The taproom is open every day. There are some food trucks that park nearby. They have Mexican food on Friday nights, which gets a great turnout, and pizza and trivia on Thursday nights. It is open 3-8pm Mon.-Thurs., 3-9pm on Friday, 2-8pm on Saturday and 12-5pm on Sunday. Kids and dogs are welcome.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Joe likes the lighter beers, blondes, lagers and pilsners, and Matt likes “the maltier stuff” so ales and porters. They are tasting the Hazy Blonde Ale, it’s refreshing and light. This recipe came from their original home brewing activity. Next they taste the Hopalong, their flagship IPA. This is the brainchild of their brewer Sean Cochrane.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
Why they say "Keep your day job"
Joe and Matt still work their day jobs and Sean makes beer full time. The brothers still do a lot of work, since they have pro construction skills. They just finished installing a conventional system. They bought a used system that came with no information about how to operate it apart from the burners. Their brewing capacity is three barrels. Their beer is on tap for now at the taproom and they have a one-at-a-time 16-oz. canning machine. They usually have 12 or 13 taps at a time available, with some rotating in and out roughly monthly.
Some of their beers, like their father's favorite Scotch Ale, are always there, since the customers demand them. It is malty and dry. It's called Grumpa's which is a grandchild's variation on Grandpa. It won Battle of the Brews for best ale, and best in show too, the year before. At the most recent edition of the competition, they were on the new equipment which was not quite perfectly set up, and they didn't win.
The taproom has wood panelling which keeps the room quiet, compared to rooms with concrete walls which make a noisier locale. This is a choice, so people can hear each other's conversation.Thu, 13 Apr 2023 - 25min - 216 - Anchor’s San Pancho Mexican LagerAnchor Brewing San Pancho Mexican lager
Dane Volek from Anchor Brewing calls in to Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras to talk about their new San Pancho Mexican lager. Dane is the new Brewmaster at Anchor Brewing, so he has the job that used to belong to Brew Ha Ha founding father Mark Carpenter.
Joe and Matt Tachis from Indian Valley Brewing in Novato are also in the studio today during Dane’s call. Their full interview with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras is available on their own podcast page, here.
San Pancho is a Mexican style lager with natural lime flavors. They did some test releases in the brew house which went well, and the folks around the brew house liked it too. The label on the can is inspired by Mexican mural art.
The recipe begins with pale malt and some flaked corn and makes a refreshing dry beer.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Anchor Brewing is also where Herlinda’s guests from Poland did a collaboration brew last January, mentioned in this Brew Ha Ha episode. Dane describes the Baltic Porter they made that day, using Anchor’s yeast. Marcin Malecki and Artur Napuripski of Maryensztadt Brewery in Poland have invited Dane to Poland to do another collaboration there.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
For this baseball season, Anchor Brewing is working with the San Francisco Giants. Their beer is at the ballpark and they might do an Anchor Day promotion this year. We also hear about the artist who did the San Pancho Mexican Lager beer label who is from Mexico City. The label is also inspired by the kind of mural art in the Mission district of San Francisco. They may also do this kind of artwork on their IPA. Anchor is getting ready for the busy summer season. The public taproom is open Wednesdays through Sundays. They have 24 taps which are about half their usual commercial beers and the others serve many other smaller batches and experiments that they also produce.Thu, 13 Apr 2023 - 8min - 215 - Horse and Plow CiderHerlinda & Suzanne
Suzanne Hagins from Horse and Plow Cider in Graton is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras.
Horse and Plow makes cider and also wine. All of their cider comes from Sebastopol-grown apples. They are dry and naturally carbonated and they show the quality of the Sonoma County fruit. They are based on the famous Gravenstein apples that are mostly grown in Sebastopol. It is a blend of 12 different apple varieties and is very dry.
Horse and Plow started as a winery. The tasting room is off Hwy 116 between Graton and Sebastopol.
Cider and Mead are both good alternatives to wine and beer, for festive occasions and meals. They are tasting the Horse and Plow Farmhouse Cider. It is mostly Gravenstein apples and very dry.
Visit Horse and Plow
Horse and Plow ciders are at Bottle Barn and Whole Foods, Willibees, Pacific Market and Andy’s. Hwy 116, Gravenstein Hwy, close to Andy’s, open 12-5 Thursday through Monday. They accept reservations online or by phone. There are art shows and music performances. They do tasting flights of wines, ciders, and mixed flights. It is family and dog friendly.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Horse and Plow uses many unusual varieties of apples in their ciders, more than 30 varieties.
Cider is made like wine, which made it easy for them to add cider to their operation which was already licensed for wine. Fully half of their business at the tasting room is cider.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
They also taste their Rosé made from 100-year-old dry-farmed Carignane vines located in Mendocino County. They pick the fruit early to preserve the acidity. There are strawberry flavors in the wine. They have one-liter refillable growlers that can be refilled with red or white wine or cider. Finally they taste their Pinot Noir, known for being fruit forward with a silky texture.Thu, 06 Apr 2023 - 19min - 214 - Heidrun MeaderyGordon Hull
Gordon Hull from Heidrun Meadery in Pt. Reyes Station joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Heidrun Meadery is a 26-year-old company. They are open 7 days a week, from 5 to 11. They specialize in Mead, which is wine made with honey instead of grapes. Their mead is unique because it is sparkling, made the same way as champagne. They also make different flavors of mead from different varieties of honey. They also have beehives and make honey that they use to make mead. Their meadery is a converted dairy farm.
A Unique Style of Mead
They are the only producer of champagne-style mead in the world. They make a base wine that is still, in stainless steel tanks. Before bottling they add sugar and get a secondary fermentation to create a natural effervescence. Mead is the oldest fermented beverage in the world. It predates beer and wine by thousands of years.
Visit our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.
In the studio they are tasting a mead that Gordon sent them, made from honey that comes from Tanzania, which has a very distinct flavor. The honey comes from the African bees which are very aggressive. Because of that, the people who extract the honey use smoke to distract the bees, and the smoke plays a part in the flavor of the honey. It has a distinct, peaty, pine-resin flavor. He describes it as a cross between a fine champagne and a peaty Scotch whiskey.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Click the logo to visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more info.
Heidrun Meads are available at Bottle Barn.
In Norse mythology, Odin is the highest god and lives in Valhalla. He lives by drinking mead which comes from his mythological goat called Heidrun.Thu, 06 Apr 2023 - 9min
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