Brew Ha Ha

The Fort Point HenHouse merger is the subject today with Justin Catalana of Fort Point Brewing and Colin MacDonald of HenHouse Brewing, on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras. Justin is calling in on the phone today while his friend and colleague Colin is in the studio at Wine C0untry Radio with Herlinda Heras. Fort Point Beer Co. has been featured on Brew Ha Ha before, the last time was this episode. Colin has been on the show before, most recently this episode in 2024 about the Freshtival that year. Recently HenHouse and Fort Point breweries joined forces. Although they still produce beers under the two brands, Colin describes them as having complimentary strengths. HenHouse is rooted in the North Bay and Fort Point has grown to be San Francisco’s biggest craft beer. The first beer tasted today is an alcohol-free KSA from Fort Point. SF Beer Week is happening all over the Bay Area. Fort Point makes KSA which is a non-alcoholic Kölsch style beer. They also make other NA beers. Herlinda will be with Fort Point at the Dim Sum Brunch at the Hong Kong Lounge on Saturday. KSA is the beer they are most known for. Kolsch style beer comes from Cologne, Germany. They will be serving this beer tonight in the same style as a brew pub in Cologne, in the same kind of glasses. The event on Saturday is a huge Dim Sum service with Fort Point beers. This is one of Herlinda’s favorite SF Beer Week events. 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 Pliny the Younger 2026 information. Big Chicken Big Chicken is a double IPA that HenHouse makes once a year. It is also a statement about freshness. They want it to be the freshest beer it can be. You can buy beer that was packaged the same day. Fresh beer is so much better and makes enough of a difference that they founded the brewery on that principle. They used to do a promotion called the Freshtival, where they brought beers in that were no more than a week old. This Sunday Mar. 1 they have an event to promote the end of Big Chicken this year. Colin compares its flavor to a tropical fruit bowl. That then begs the question, what do you pair it with? Something big and intense, so fried chicken. The Big Chicken fest this year closes with the Fried Chicken competition at Palace of Barrels in Petaluma, from noon to 4 PM. They will have 5 food trucks there serving to the people and a distinguished panel of judges. There will also be a separate hot sauce award. There will be a distinguished guest list and plenty of great tasting fresh beer. 🍻

Marty Nachel Marty Nachel, founder of the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame, calls in to discuss the 2026 HOF nominations, on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell. Marty has been on the show before, including this episode back in December, about his recently published book the Beer Story Project. Today’s Brew Ha Ha show is appearing online as 3 separate podcast episodes, so that all the guests can have their own page, and their own Internet traffic. This also makes it easier for listeners to find the guest they are looking for, among the other two.  Marty Nachel is a well-known author who also wrote the popular book Beer for Dummies. He is calling from Chicago, which always invites the comparison of the weather there and in Santa Rosa, California, aka Beer City. 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 Pliny the Younger 2026 information. The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame will induct its second annual class on Saturday, February 28, at 3:00 EST, 12 noon PST, they will livestream their induction ceremony. Eight people are being inducted this year, whose names will be revealed at the ceremony. There are links to the live stream at their website. There will also be events at different breweries where people will gather to watch. Herlinda wants to have one here in California too, next year. The event will be on YouTube afterwards, for on-demand viewing. This is the second year of the Craft Beer Hall of Fame. Last year the inaugural class included several famous founders of the craft beer movement. Jack MacAuliffe, Fritz Maytag, Ken Grossman, food and beverage journalist Michael Jackson, and eight others made up the class.

Conor Begley from Fathers Brewing is the guest of Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha today. This is his first time on the show. Sayre Petrokowski, the executive director of the Brewers Guild, introduced Herlinda to Conor. Fathers Brewing was launched less than a year ago, last July. They went through a lot of R&D to create their first two flagship beers. They are a lager (with a red label) and a light lager (with a blue label). Before Fathers Brewing, Conor started a software company that he sold for a lot of money in 2021. His bio is a whirlwind from graduation, to “a startup company that grew really fast” then went to Australia with his girlfriend who is now his wife. He worked for Thunder Road Brewing Co. in Melbourne, Australia, running their digital and social media operations. What he learned there led to his software company, which in the long term has led him back to beer. Relentless R&D The brand is being built in a streamlined format for growth and further investment. Conor is committed to founding the company upon the best possible quality product by a relentless process of R&D. The brand identifies as “clean beer” similar to how his partner’s previous company had a product based on clean skin care. 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 Pliny the Younger 2026 information. When the question for a brewery is, ‘How to stand out?’ Fathers Brewing is defining itself by being organic and clean. Their first production on other people’s equipent, a.k.a. “gypsy brewing” worked at first. Now they have invested in the company adding capacity, from 20 barrels to 400 barrels at a time. That improves the quality and makes it consistent, in the higher quantity. Mikkeller and Evin Twin beers are actually made by rival brewers who are twins. They were gypsy brewing for a long time. Mikkeller became one of the most sought after and expensive beers in the world this way. Conor spoke to a lot of other successful beer entreprenurs, to learn from them. Overall in the brewing business, people are willing to help each other. Clean Beer They have tested for the presence of micro plastics in beer, in the materials from suppliers and in all stages of packaging and processing. Any stage that uses plastic has the potential to shed microscopic plastic debris. Another example, is using surfactants to supress the production of foam. But the material is plastic. It may increase the yield but, “that can’t be good.” So pouring plastic on the beer is right out!

Herlinda, Rob and Chismosa Rob Saccuzzo, Old Caz GM, is our guest in studio today on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell. This is Rob’s first time on the show but the brewery has been featured many times. Old Caz co-founder Brian Rengel is the featured guest on this episode of Jan. 21, 2024. He was back for an update the following August on this episode on August 8, 2024. Rob Saccuzzo is the General Manager of Old Caz Beer and is also a board member of the Bay Area Brewers Guild. They are preparing for some big events coming soon. SF Beer Week is the biggest event of the year, and they are also putting on the SF Beer Week Beer Fest at the Salesforce Park beer garden on the top of a skyscraper in the city. Rob is busy doing ten events at Old Caz in ten days. They are releasing 16 beers, six of which are being released at the kickoff party on February 20th and many of them are collaborations. Old Caz themselves are releasing another seven. “This is the biggest slew of events we’ve ever done,” says Rob. 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 Pliny the Younger 2026 information. One of the things Herlinda likes about the beer business is collaboration and mutual assistance. Rob describes one with the same ingredients and two brewers. One brewery will add all the hops at the beginning then the beer is hot, and other one only later when it is cool, to produce two different flavor profiles. Chismosa Rob is also a very enthusiastic participant at beer festivals. He likes to remind people that Old Caz is a party and everyone is invited. While they can talk seriously about beer, they will also spray confetti in a Mexican wrestling suit just to get attention for the beer. Their most awarded beer is Chismosa, and has won medals in numerous beer festivals for this beer. He compliments their brewing team for keeping it so consistent. Rob says that if someone had told him in high school that his chemistry class would help him make beer later in life, he would have paid more attention. Old Caz has “a cavalcade of human beings who are hard working and who believe in the brewery.”

Natalie and Pliny Natalie and Vinny Cilurzo join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha with the first taste of Pliny the Younger 2026 from Russian River Brewing Co. Today is a very special edition of Brew Ha Ha because Vinny Cilurzo is also here along with Natalie Cilurzo. They have brought the first taste of the Pliny the Younger 2026 in a keg. Today they celebrate the distribution of Pliny the Younger on draft at all of the bars and restaurants in their distribution network. It will all leave the brewery by Friday. It is a huge effort for the staff but it is like a holiday event. The retail release at the two RRBC locations runs from March 20 to April 2, 2026. Tapenings have begun! Pliny the Younger 2026 “tapenings” are happening and will go on the rest of the month in about 130 locations. The other release of Pliny the Younger to the general public will be in March. Right now, the trucks are on the road for Maine, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, as well as northern and southern California. Vinny also mentions ten or so brewers who are working hard in both breweries. Their sales reps in southern California have worked hard to prepare for Pliny the Younger 2026 to be a big event. A month ago, every tank in both breweries was full. The month of February would normally be the slowest time of the year for a brewery. Their original idea was to create a promotional brew to goose sales for the slow time. At first they never dreamed that it would become such a success. 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 Pliny the Younger 2026 information. Vinny tells the story of Pliny the Younger Vinny describes Russian River Brewing Co.’s history since he took over the brand from Korbel, the original founder. It used to be that barley wine was the winter brew. Vinny decided to see how far they could push the hops. For the first five years of Pliny the Younger, “It wasn’t a huge deal.” But in 2010 everything changed. Vinny would always show up on the first Friday in February to tap the first keg. That time, there were people waiting outside. That is when Vinny learned that this beer was rated the number one and two beer in the world on two popular beer rating websites. He did not know about any of that. By the time they opened, they had to call every employee they could get, and limited people to 4 growlers per person. A table of 4 would buy 16 growlers. They were overwhelmed by its popularity that day. The websites were taking votes from beer enthusiasts. They ended up having to make up rules to govern and limit the traffic. During covid they had to split the distribution between bars and restaurants first and then the retail distribution later. They were forced to wait about 2 months and ended up March into April. They do that every year because it turned out to be an easier way to manage the whole season. Herlinda remembers how they organized a vaccine clinic at the brewery. The Magnificent Seven Hops The recipe has changed a little bit from year to year, but for the last few years it has used the same selection of hops. This is the first year they have used the exact same seven hops. They are Simcoe, Amarillo, Citra, Tangier, Mosaic, Nectaron and Warrior. There are five different hop formats. There are whole cone hops (as they grow) and there are pellets, which resemble rabbit food. Then there are other advanced products that are concentrated flavor extracts. Some of the processes that hop companies are using for extracts are the same as used to make cannabis extracts. As for the malt, it is about 60% silo malt, 30% Pilsner malt and about 10% sugar. They use sugar because it ferments right into alcohol and doesn’t leave any body at all. Pliny the Younger 2026 is 10.5% alcohol but it doesn’t taste so strong. The Sonoma County Economic Development Board has studied the economic impact of Pliny the Younger. In 2024, the last year studied, they found 8.3 million dollar impact on the community. This comes from business to hotels and other hospitality businesses and more. Natalie and Vinny are very proud of this.

Chris Kren-Mora from Visit Santa Rosa is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras, presenting Santa Rosa Beer Passport and FeBREWary. Chris has been on Wine Country Radio before but this is his first time on Brew Ha Ha. This week marks the 12th anniversary of Brew Ha Ha on the radio and 8 years of the podcast. To promote the local brewing industry, we emphasize the pronunciation of the month of FeBREWary, and the Santa Rosa Beer Passport promotion is also starting now. The month of February also brings Pliny the Younger from Russian River Brewing Co., with two weeks of release to bars and taprooms, before the March release in their two locations. They have different menus on 4th St. in downtown Santa Rosa and at the big Windsor location. Chris visited HenHouse Brewing around the corner from the studio, on his way in. They sent over a beer for Beatles fan Herlinda, called “The Walrus Was Paul” which shows the HenHouse chickens crossing the street, in imitation of the famous Abbey Road album cover. 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 Pliny the Younger 2026 information. HenHouse has both locations – Petaluma and Santa Rosa – on the Beer Passport itinerary. Starting on Saturday Feb. 7, there is a special shuttle service. It includes Cooperage, CuVer in Windsor, Santa Rosa’s HenHouse, Moonlight Brewing in Coffey Park, Shady Oak on B St. in Santa Rosa and both locations of Russian River Brewing Co. And the Smart Train goes to Windsor now, so that is a great option too. Old Caz is a Beer Passport stop, but they are not on the shuttle itinerary. February is a low month for tourism, so these promotions are intended to raise traffic in an otherwise slow period. Herlinda and Chris continue, while tasting some brews from Shady Oak. They agree that Shady Oak is a great locale as well as great brewers. Herlinda was a judge at their smash burger competition, along with Hunter Fieri, Guy Fieri’s son. They had six smash burger trucks in competion. Chris has brought several beers to taste today, from breweries participating in Santa Rosa Beer Passport. 🍻

Nick Gislason of Hanabi Lager 1/22/26 – Santa Rosa, CA –  Since there is no live radio show today, for the podcast here is an encore performance of one of our favorite shows from last year, with Nick Gislason of Hanabi Lager. Brew Ha Ha will be back live on 1/29 with Janelle and Chris from Visit Santa Rosa talking about FeBrewary and Santa Rosa Beer Passport. Nick Gislason, co-founder and Head Brewer at Hanabi Lager Co. is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell. Herlinda Heras is just back from Belgium and brought back so much beer that she had to pay for overweight suitcases. Daedalus is also back from his own trip to Paris and London. He gets to reconnect with Herlinda for a few minutes before having to leave for an event later this evening. One of the beers that Herlinda brought back is from the Saint Sixtus Monastery in Westvleteren, where she visited. Daedalus gets to taste it before he has to take off. Hanabi is Japanese for “Fireworks” The labels feature drawings of the patterns that different Japanese fireworks make, up in the air. Nick explains that “hanabi” means fireworks, in Japanese. “Hana” means flower and “bi” means fire, so literally their word for fireworks means “fire flowers.” The fireworks manufacturers used these drawings in the 1800s to describe their products, before photography was available to show the patterns that they make. Nick grew up on San Juan Island in Washington, and learned brewing from an uncle who was a home brewer. In college he brewed at Boundary Bay Brewing in Bellingham, where he met his wife. They both became winemakers and launched Hanabi Lager about six years ago. 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. Grain-Forward Lagers Nick says Hanabi makes grain-forward lagers. They are tasting the Hana Pilsner, which Herlinda says has a refined taste. Nick explains that beer is made from grain, and water, and hops are like a spice. Hops is like the barrels to wine, where the grapes are the main ingredient. So Nick focusses his energy in using the most delicious grains in the world. That fact that these plants are so important to human nutrition for thousands of years makes them sacred. Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 They select grains mainly for the flavor they give to the beer. These flavors mostly come from old heirloom varieties of grains. Heirloom varieties of grain can be compared to heirloom tomatoes, for their superior flavor. To make beer, Nick explains, first you grow the grain, then sprout the seeds, then you have to arrest their growth before it goes too far. Then you dry them and lightly toast them. This process is called malting. Then you steep a barley tea, spice it with hops, and ferment it, basically. They do four different beers, one for each of the four seasons. Each one features a different heirloom grain. The Summer beer uses Eraclea, a grain from Italy. Nick is also a part-time pyrotechnician. He works with Lopez Community Fireworks back home in Washington. They practice the Japanese art of fireworks.

SF Beer Week 2026 Sayre Pietrowski is back on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell, to introduce SF Beer Week, coming soon this February 20 through March 1, 2026. Sayre was on the show last August when he had recently been named Executive Director of the Bay Area Brewers Guild. This is Sayre’s first time for SF Beer Week as the Executive Director. He explains that the guild was born from an alliance of local beer organizations that got together and promoted a beer festival. Then they learned that other cities had beer weeks. So they decided to bring it to San Francisco, with the support of great brewers like Pliny the Younger and Anchor Brewing. In 2008 or 09 the whole guild was a small enough number to fit on one evening’s menu. IPA 2000 Nick Mamere the brewmaster at Bartlett Hall was 9 years old when the first SF Beer Week took place. On January 29, he is hosting a 7-barrel batch of what IPA tasted like in the year 2000. It’s called IPA 2000. Then, in Oakland, they will make a brew called IPA 2025 with the same brewer, at Brix Factory Brewing and brewer John Gillooly. They have plans for a whole series, IPA 2010, 2015 and 2020, then one called 2030 to guess about the flavors to come. Sayre compares these retro brews to a cover song. On January 22, the North Bay Guild will be brewing IPA 2020 at Old Caz. 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 remembers that two years ago, SF Beer Week had an astronaut theme and she thought people were dressing up. She and her college friend dressed in red Star Trek Uhuru dresses. It turned out that they were the only people in costume but it ended up being a fun time. SF Beer Week and more Sayre tells us the same thing he tells him members, that they would like to create an atmosphere about SF Beer Week similar to the excitement that surrounds the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau. This means an event where people know there will be an abundance of great beers along with fun experiences. He remembers 2017 and 2018 before the pandemic when it was like that and they want to build back up to that level of excitement and participation. In terms of volume, beer is a larger market than wine. Sayre notices that wine has a lot more information around it that people like to study. His job now is to try to build up that kind of culture of appreciation around beer. The more there is for people to know about beer, the more they can share information and enjoyment with others. Herlinda mentions that sometimes, non-profit organizations hire leaders with management skills but who come from outside their industry. She appreciates the fact that Sayre is already a local beer insider, in his new role with the Guild.

Rob Shwenker, Russian River Keepers Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. and Rob Shwenker from Russian River Keeper join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. This is Rob’s first time on the show. Natalie has been on many times before, the last time was this episode last January for the preview of Pliny the Younger. They are here to present a new beer called 110 West Coast Pils, which refers to the number of miles that the Russian River Runs, from Ukiah down to Jenner. Vinny Cilurzo made it for the first time last year, and came up with the name of this beer. Natalie felt the need to do something positive for the river. She worked with with Russian River Keepers several years ago. Then she and Vinny were invited to the annual Russian River Keeper gala where she met Rob. Their idea was to distribute their new West Coast Pils with a portion of the proceeds going to Russian River Keeper. This arrangement is for perpetuity for as long as they make 110. “It’s not a promotion, it’s a commitment,” says Daedalus. 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 Keeper Rob describes the purpose of Russian River Keeper as protection of a healthy Russian River habitat. “Our mission is a healthy, fishable, swimmable equitably shared Russian River. (…) We pull about 500,000 pounds of trash out of the watershed every year.” They work to prevent trash from entering the river because ultimately that leads to the marine environment. They also do restoration, fighting to preserve animal and plant species. One example is the giant bamboo that they are removing. It is a massive user of water and hard to remove. Russian River Keeper is also an advocate for the river at all applicable levels of government. Some of Rob’s job involves lobbying in Sacramento for favorable environmental legislation. They are members of the California Coast Keeper Alliance. Worldwide there are about 300 different water keepers. Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 The Russian River used to be one of the largest salmon runs in the country. Russian River Keeper helped end the practice of extracting gravel from the river. There are fewer fish and so fewer apex predators and overall a less fertile environment. They have seen some species coming back too. They also help during times of flood. There are unhoused people near the river that they help, who need assistance evacuating in a flood emergency. 110 West Coast Pils They are tasting Russian River 110 West Coast Pils. It is a relatively new beer style, low alcohol, only 5.2% ABV, but hopped like an IPA. “It drinks like a Pilsner but you get that hop punch.” Herlinda with Dr. Ron and Natalie They will have it in cans in March, in advance of Pliny the Younger, and in anticipation of river weather. It has 4 hops, Tangier, one of the newer hops, and then all New Zealanders, Nectaron and NCH 106 and NCH 109, which haven’t got their nicknames yet. It takes about 10 years for a new hop variety to reach the market ready to sell. There are a lot of tests it has to pass. Those last two are still in the development phase. Those two come from Dr. Ron, who was on this episode of Brew Ha Ha in May of last year. Since New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere, we have to wait several months to get them here. But we get the hops from Yakima right away. Natalie tells the story of how she and Vinny moved to Sonoma County when Vinny got the brewer’s job at Russian River Brewing which was at the time a division of Korbel. When Korbel decided to leave the beer business, Vinny and Natalie and partners were able to acquire the company. The rest is the history of craft brewing. But when they first lived in the area, they crossed the Wohler Bridge on their honeymoon then on Vinny’s commute. It is on the label of 101 West Coast Pils because it represents their love of the river and the whole scene. The Wohler Bridge  

Herlinda, Tim and Shennen Shennen O’Donnell and Tim Welch, owners of Young and Yonder distillery, join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. Tim found a distillery that was already built and available for sale, so he bought it. It was a distilling facility and event space. They started a live music space due to Shennen’s experience. She grew up at The Mystic Theater which her parents owned and she has worked there all her life. Tim worked as a distiller for Moylan’s and won awards for many distilled products. Tim’s buddy from college was also a distiller who opened a distillery of his own in Mississippi. So he ran the place for “a lot of years.” They focussed on whiskey but also made other distilled products. Young and Yonder is located up in Healdsburg. Shennen describes their location as “Industrial Chic” with a casual fun funky feel. Tim does private tours and tastings. All of their grain comes from Admiral Maltings. All the botanicals for the absynthe and the gin come from San Francisco Herb Company. All organic and local. Admiral Maltings had a big distillers festival. The Rake Pub at Admiral Malting also serves Young and Yonder. Admiral Malting has been on Brew Ha Ha on May 1 of this year on this episode and the year before too, right here on June 20, 2024. They focus on locally grown grain, so that their malt does not have to travel long distances. 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. Release in Jan. 2026 Russian River Brewing Co. has a special release coming out on Saturday, January 10, 2026. So Natalie Cilurzo will be on the first Brew Ha Ha show of the new year, on Thursday, January 8, 2026. As they are tasting a lime vodka made by Young and Yonder also makes absynthe and gin, which use lots of botanicals. Their botanicals come from San Francisco Herb Company. Tim describes their line, there is a 100% single malted rye, and a high rye bourbon, which is 60% non-gmo corn, 30% rye 5% barley 5% wheat. The single malt is 100% barley, but not released yet. They also have some barrel finished bourbons and rye. They use port and sherry barrels from Sonoma PortWorks, which are their next door neighbors. They also make an Absynthe which is made with wormwood. The flavors in this drink take a long time to describe. “Taste it!’ And since Young and Yonder are a full-service distillery, they also make gin. Tim has just made his second batch of it. 60 lbs of botanicals go into the mix, then 15 more pounds. Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 Young and Yonder also make Amaro, which goes by its Italian name in English. There are many brands of Amaro in Italy. Some famous brands are Ramazzotti, Averna, Lucano and Montenegro. They are all slightly different liquers made from herbs. They are traditional, medicinal and artisinal, a triple play! How much is science versus art? As a distiller, is it more one or the other? Well, if you are making something the same every time, then you are very careful, but if you are experimenting, you’re your own boss.

Dean Biersch, who runs Hopmonk Taverns and co-founded Gordon/Biersch, joins Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. This is his first time on the show. Herlinda has invited Dean Biersch whom she ran into at a Hopmonk concert last Saturday. Dean remembers his first job in hospitality was preparing big spreads for the passengers at Hornblower Yachts in San Francisco. “You learn a lot when you work on boats,” says Dean. “Hospitality in general is like 90% planning.” Daedalus remembers covering the opening of Hopmonk for the local press, back when it opened. Dean remembers having to reorganize the physical space in the first location in Novato, to create a beer garden. They developed the first venue as a music venture and beer garden at the same time and he feels that it is a magic combination. They would love to have more large concerts in Sonoma but there are regulatory barriers. 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 trailing edge of the leading edge” Hopmonk was “on the trailing edge of the leading edge” of the beer revolution. His job was in the city and then a friend introduced him to a brewpub in Hopland. He had tasted real ale while traveling in Europe, so he recognized what they were doing there in Hopland. He wrote a business plan, showed it to a friend of the family who had always invited such a move, then he met Dan Gordon. They eventually became business partners. Dan had taken a brewery engineering university program in Germany. He brought small scale craft German beer to California, with Gordon/Biersch beers. Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 They are tasting a Quad, Firestone Sticky Monkey that Dean says is “smooth, big, malty… It’s big, it’s dark, it’s smooth, it’s bold,” he continues. It is barrel aged and pretty strong. Dean sees a lot of parallels in music promotion and running a brewpub. There are live performers and fresh beers that need care and attention. There is always something new. How do you keep both of those streams fresh, for 18 years? “Music is something that’s irreplaceable.” You can’t change the uniqueness of a live performance. He produces it the same way he wants to present the rest of the details for the guests. Bill De Carli and all the staff in all three locations have stuck together through covid and all the challenges. They have all helped reach out and bring new artists. For a while Gordon/Biersch had six properties in California. They could not grow the company any larger due to state licensing issues, as a combination brewery and brew pub. They split the company and Dean stayed with the brewery for a while, and settled in Sonoma. But his heart was in the hospitality business so he had to build up Hopmonk. Dan Gordon Dan Gordon is still making beer for them. He actually brought brewer’s yeast from Germany. Later he built a lab where he propagated the yeast to use in his brewery. Dan actually apprenticed at the AB brewery in Fairfield, which Herlinda reports will be closing. “The iceberg lettuce of beer.” He approached Jack McAuliffe but he couldn’t get hired.

Stateline Road Smokehouse co-owner Jeremy Threat is visiting Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell today. This is his first time on the show. During the show, author Marty Nachel called in to talk about his new book. That portion of the live radio show with Marty Nachel is on this separate podcast episode, so that both guests can have their own separately indexed episode page. Darryl Bell, the chef at Stateline Road Smokehouse, comes from Kansas City. He is also Jeremy’s business partner. After college Jeremy worked in operations management in the restaurant industry. So he went from hotel restaurants to a management position. Working for Thomas Keller, the owner of French Laundry was demanding. In previous restaurant jobs, he learned about the business side of the restaurant business. But at French Laundry, he learned how to create a company culture that fostered excellence. Keller was always pushing to improve, along the lines of the Japanese concept of kaizen. How do you do the same thing time after time, while making it consistently as good as it can be? That is the question. Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 The Stateline Road Smokehouse is located in a 4000-square foot quonset hut that was a former auto body shop. He and his partner started out to do something unpretentious. In Napa that would make them stand out among all the white linen tablecloths. They are striving for what Daedalus calls an excellent experience without being “elevated” in style or pretense. What Darryl brings is Kansas City barbeque with the perspective of also having trained in France. The Ranch Gordo Greens and Beans salad is an example. Sink Drinks at the Door There is an old ceramic sink near the front door, full of ice and cans of a wide selection of beers. When people order cole slaw or potato salad, they realize that they take as much care with the sides as they do with the meats. Some recipes take the effort of several people and up to 17 hours to produce. 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. Kansas City is often called “wet” barbeque. Texans have a dryer approach to brisket, it is dryer and they cut it thicker. Darryl’s barbeque is a combination of influences, not exactly like one or another of the canonical styles. The butcher greets guests at the door. He is like a tour guide. “We are not just barbeque.” They also have a different secret fish recipe on the menu, every day. Herlinda thinks of cider as a great beverage for barbeque. Currently they have Shilling Imperial Apple on tap. In the summer they offer different choices. They are lucky that they got a liquor license without too much trouble and expense. The cocktail list includes one called “Hey You Guys” with a paper umbrella. The first boozie slushie tasted like a real creamsicle. He makes one called The Dude Abides which is a White Russian, inspired by The Big Lebowski. Beer, Wine and Boozie Slushies Stateline Road Smokehouse serves Hanabi Lager beer, which is also located in Napa. For wine, they wanted to focus on one varietal and do it as well as possible. So they have chosen to serve a Centium Sauvignon Blanc. He has it for $15 a glass, not the $25 or more that others will charge. He wanted to have a choice like this at a good price. For example, he has Rombauer Chardonnay for $10 a glass, instead of at least $18. When you get something excellent at a price that is low, his guests feel satisfied with the meal and also with the cost. This exceeds their expectations, which is Jeremy’s goal.

Marty Nachel, author of The Beer Story Project Author Marty Nachel is back on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell, to talk about his new book The Beer Story Project. He has been on BHH before, the last time was this episode last February. Marty also came on this show to talk about one of his other books, Beer for Dummies, on this episode in 2023. (Marty’s phone call came in during the Stateline Road Smokehouse episode, which has its own separate podcast page, right here. This way, both Marty Nachel’s book and Jeremy Threat’s restaurant each get their own online presence for their segment.) Marty Nachel is the founder of the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame and has just published a new book, The Beer Story Project. He started collecting stories in March of this year from as many people in craft brewing as he could find. Craft Brewers Tell Their Stories The stories are really across the spectrum from funny to sad, depending on where they are coming from. He simply asked them to tell their stories. Some people gave a few sentences, others wrote several pages. Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 One of his stories that stands out came from a friend, Tom Bidell, who wrote a story about the late beer critic Michael Jackson not the pop singer of the same name). He did a series of videos called The Beer Hunter some of which are on YouTube. Tom went to London to interview his friend Michael Jackson, but soon after he arrived for the interview, he learned that his friend had just died. So the story is a powerful remembrance of a close friend who was very influential in the craft beer world. 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. “Publishers can make things difficult for writers, so I decided to self-publish.” The Beer Story Project is available on amazon dot dom, in print and on Kindle.

Anderson Valley Brewing Company taproom. Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell host another edition of Brew Ha Ha, featuring guests from Anderson Valley Brewing Company. They are the official beer sponsor of the Great Dickens Fair, a Christmas celebration happening at the Cow Palace now through Dec. 21. (During this show, we also got a phone call from Kevin Patterson, manager of the Great Dickens Fair. His portion of this show can be heard over here, on this other podcast episode. This way both guests have their own podcast episode, for their own linking and listener traffic.) Jason O’Connell and Ben Padrone are here from Anderson Valley Brewing Company. Jason is the new owner and Ben is the Lab Manager. They begin by tasting their Salted Caramel Porter, which gets its flavors from the malts that are used, not from any actual caramelized sugars. It is aged for 6 months in bourbon barrels and comes in at 9.5% ABV. QA and QC Jason’s background is in the wine industry and he finds the beer world to be more fun. He says he bought the brewery because he was bored. Ben’s job is QA and QC, quality assurance and quality control. They do a lot of testing on the water and the product. They get their water from wells that are on their property. Anyone visiting Anderson Valley may want to visit their 18-hole championship Disc Golf course. Next year’s Booneville Beer Fest is on May 2 next year. The theme is Godzilla vs. Barkley and there is a Japanese sake connection. Stay tuned for more information before the date. They have already about a dozen breweries signed on. Among beer producers this is one of the favorite events. Fal Allen is Back at Anderson Valley BC Fal Allen is back. Fal Allen is back on the scene at Anderson Valley Brewing Company. He has been the brewer there and a key person in the company. He left the company for a while and was working in New Zealand. Now he is working with AVBC for the moment from Hawaii. Fal Allen has a great radio voice and has been on Brew Ha Ha before. Here is his last appearance on Brew Ha Ha. Next they taste their West Coast IPA, which uses Mosaic, Citra and Ekuanot hops. All seven of the beers they brought today are available at the Great Dickens Fair. SAKE They have a plan to start making sake and to use the best possible rice. Sake is gluten free, which is an advantage for some people. They are experimenting with Sato, a kind of rice for sake. They are also making a sake flavored beer. Herlinda remembers when her friends asked her to taste a large selection of sake to help them get an import company started. Watch out for this to develop over the next five years. 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. Ben went to Humboldt State then the Master Brewers program at UC Davis. Jason studied engineering at U of British Columbia and worked in construction before working in the wine industry. He has recently acquired AVBC. Jason describes the situation as “exciting.” The sake idea is getting attention. Sake falls under the TTB brewers license but the labeling falls under wine. It is actually brewed like beer despite that some people in English refer to it as ‘rice wine.’ Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 There are a lot of wineries in the vicinity of Booneville so there are a lot of places to visit. The area specializes in white wines and Pinot Noir. “You’ll never go thirsty up there,” says Herlinda. Ben describes how they use bourbon barrels to age the beer for 6 months. This gives a complex and unique flavor profile that you have to taste!

Kevin Patterson, from the Great Dickens Fair at the Cow Palace through December 21, joins Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. Anderson Valley Brewing Company is also in the studio today. They are the official beer sponsor of the Great Dickens Fair. (The AVBC  portion of today’s radio show can be heard over here, at this other podcast page. This way, each guest gets to manage their own web traffic.) The Cow Palace in San Francisco has some great exhibition halls, that they turn into a miniature version of London, including shops, theaters, and six different pubs. Each one has its own style and identity. You enter the Great Dickens Fair through Victoria Station on a train that passes through a magical forest. Then you are “whisked into the 19th century” where the first stop is a pub called The Leather Bottle. This comes right out of Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers. 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. Twilight All Day The lighting in the Fair is twilight all the time, which makes everything theatrical. The miniature village feaures a thousand costumed people, plus many of the visitors come in costume. You can also purchase a costume there. Some people really go all out. There is a music shop with instruments and singers. They serve beverages of all kinds. Some people have been working at the fair every year for a long time. This is the Fair’s 41st year and their 25th at the Cow Palace. Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 Kevin suggests you arrive with a good appetite. There are so many options including fish and chips that rival the best in the world. Look for the meat pies and sausage rolls. There is also a Greek booth that makes Spanakopita and plenty of traditional English recipes. The artisan chocolatier at the Fair makes fresh chocolates every day.

Fieldwork Brewing Company co-founder Barry Braden joins Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha today. Barry Braden and Erin Callahan are here from Fieldwork Brewing Co. They are expanding into Santa Rosa and Erin will manage their restaurant in Montgomery Village. They will open soon, after one last regulatory step. There is a buzz in the neighborhood and people passing by are noticing that it looks like a restaurant already. They will have an extensive beer selection and a full menu including pizza, salad, wings, French fries, fried cauliflower and pickles and lots more. Barry tells about how they serve a rotation of beers, so that fans of different types of beer can keep coming back for their favorites. He also says this is one way to make the brewers’ jobs interesting. They are using a lot of new technologies with their hops, including hop distillates, extracts and experimental hops. Fieldwork Brewing also works with Berkeley Yeast. This company is engineering yeast to mimic certain flavors. This goes mostly into the hop-driven beers and their non-alcoholic or “N/A” beers. 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. Amidst the current downturn in the beer market, Fieldworks Brewing is actually growing. They are opening their tenth location in the Bay Area. The NHL’s San José Sharks have chosen Fieldwork as their official non-alcoholic beer. Some of their N/A drinks use compounds (with complex chemical names) which confer extra flavors as well as a mood lift, according to Erin. Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 A beverage company, not just a brewer of beer Daedalus notices that Fieldwork produces an excellent product all across its product line including the N/A drinks, which elevates the quality level of the entire emerging market of N/A drinks. Barry explains that it took them some time to emerge in the N/A market. They waited for the brewing technology to evolve so that their N/A cocktails tastes like real ones, and their N/A beers tastes like real beer. So, if you want to go out with friends and not drink alcohol, for whatever reason, “…we have something for you,” says Barry. Fieldwork Brewing Co. products are available in many local retail stores as well as their locations.

We open with Herlinda Heras calling from Belgium. Leah Scurto of PizzaLeah and Fairfax Brewing Co’s Dan McGarry talk to Daedalus Howell after that. Herlinda is on a barge on a canal in Belgium, on a beer voyage sponsored by Visit Flanders, the tourist bureau. Herlinda’s tour has taken her near the sites of some important battles of World War One. It included a visit to Flanders Fields. They visited the Saint Sixtus Abbey in Westvleteren, Belgium. The monks who live there and make beer were quite surprised when one of their beers came out Number One on RateBeer dot com. “The poor monks didn’t know what to do with themselves, but now it’s quite the destination.” They went to Rodenbach for a blending class and also to Chimay. Vinny and Natalie from Russian River Brewing Co. are also in Belgium for the Brussels Beer Challenge. However they and Herlinda are on different itineraries this time and won’t meet up over there. Herlinda has also visited some small local breweries in France and Belgium. She will have a lot to say about her trip on next week’s show. “It’s tough but somebody’s got to do it.” Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 After Herlinda’s call, Leah Scurto from PizzaLeah and Dan McGarry from Fairfax Brewing Company take up the conversation with Daedalus. Leah has brought a Detroit-style pizza, to go with the nice rice lager that Dan has poured, a true rice lager. Detroit style has a carmelized cheese crown, cooked in a tapered pan. The dough rises for four hours in the morning. Fairfax Brewing Company Fairfax Brewing Company is based in Marin County and they are now gaining distribution in Sonoma County. Dan and his partner have been in the restaurant industry for a long time. They begin by going out to the people they know. Daedalus is the editor of the Pacific Sun which did this story on Fairfax Brewing Co. Their distribution is mainly by kegs to restaurants. Later they hope to put some cans on shelves. They celebrate their one-year anniversary on September 9th. 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 hazy is their number one seller, and the hazy is also the top seller at PizzaLeah. But Leah also reports people coming in asking for something that is not hazy. Trends have life cycles and while IPAs are here to stay, other styles will continue to emerge. Older drinkers have observed the evolution of craft beers. Dan says it has been “real fun to watch. … A good time for beer.” The Pizza Business Leah Scurto has built PizzaLeah’s success with great pizzas and also by engaging with the community. She loves teaching how to make pizza at the Artisan Baking Center in Petaluma. She also has been in many international pizza competitions. Daedalus and Leah agree that he local pizza scene has reached new heights. Leah cites Psychic Pie in Sebastopol for their original takes on traditional styles, and a couple of others. Sonoma Pizza Co. and Slow Co Pizza are both stand out. Leah notices that the pizza community is supportive and friendly, not jealous of others or envious of their success. People gladly share recipes and advice.

Kenneth Di Alba from Songbird Parlour is our guest today on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell. This is his first time on the show. Herlinda says and Daedalus agrees that Songbird Parlour should be the next Michelin starred restaurant in Sonoma County. Daedalus reads from a review he wrote for the Bohemian along with Kary Hess. It sounds delicious. Songbird Parlour is located in the historic Jack London village in Glen Ellen. It was founded in maybe 1832, he thinks. The property has been many things, a creamery, a winery, wine storage, recording studios, even. Now, it is a restaurant for the second time. Upon entering the place, Daedalus says he feels immediately transported. Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 Kenneth has brought some appetizers to taste. They serve wine, beer and spritzer cocktails. Port and tonic is a Portuguese drink. They use a white Port made locally. 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. Songbird took over their lease in 2020 which turned out to be a good time prepare the project. The pandemic moved us to broaden our horizons and invest, says Kenneth. It’s always daunting to open a restaurant. If you have to make an effort to go there, the experience had better be rewarding. Everything they serve comes from nearby. Their neighbors raise the food they serve, including cheeses, greens, mushrooms and more. “…featuring everyone in the surrounding community.” The ice cream comes from Sweet Scoops.

Aaron Gore Aaron Gore, Vice President of the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame joins Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. He is His personal website and his nickname are The Ale Chaser. In addition to his role with the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame, Aaron is VP of Sales & Marketing for The 5th Ingredient. They make customizable brewery management software. Herlinda was at the Sonoma County Tourism annual meeting yesterday. She talked to Santa Rosa mayor Mark Stapp about coming on the Drive this Friday (tomorrow).  Herlinda is now a certified Health and Wellness coach. She will also be starting a Health and Wellness segment on the Drive, stay tuned for details. 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. Aaron Gore joins the conversation on the phone. The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame was founded about a year and a half ago. Its purpose is to memorialize and celebrate the people who made the craft beer revolution. Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻 The 5th Ingredient From Aaron’s perspective, the people starting in the craft beer business now, are more aware of the business realities of starting a brewery, than were the original home brewers. The software company The 5th Ingredient refers to the four ingredients listed in the famous German Reinheitsgebot, of water, malted barley, hops and yeast. The further ingredient would be the technology that makes the operation run as smoothly as it can. That is where modern software comes into the picture in the brewery. The next list of inductees to the Hall of Fame will be announced in February 2026. Herlinda Heras is an elector.

Julie Julie Schreiber from Mycoventures is our guest today on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell. Mycoventures leads mushroom foraging adventures in wine country. They have a big event coming soon. She and her partner are doing a couple of new pop-ups. She has been cooking for a very long time and foraging for more than 30 years. So she likes to combine her interests. Julie is also a wine judge and winemaker. Yesterday she tasted 130-150 wines as a judge in the Harvest Fair. She uses bubbly water as a palette cleanser. Herlinda and Julie have a lot of knowledge and experience with palette cleansers during judging and how to manage the flavor load. Julie brought a truffle salami, a truffle potato chip and a truffle pate. They go well with cider or beer. Herlinda will have a dry Sincere Cider with this. Julie describes clever ways to get the mushrooms into the recipe, especially with powdered mushrooms. Julie uses a coffee grinder to grind dry mushrooms. Visit our sponsor PizzaLeah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! How about a mushroom pizza? 🍕🍻 Truffles, and Cider along with What makes truffles so special? Well, they are different. They grow underground. They have a ripening cycle that produces the aroma that is attractive to critters. So  the truffle paté and the dry cider are already great by themseves, but take a bite of the paté and a sip of the cider together and that just makes it perfect. Daedalus favors the paté first and the cider chaser. 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. Julie is also a musician and has a musical metaphor for flavors of wine. The high note of a chord is like the acidity and the low notes are the structures and tannins. They also like the idea of serving grape juice from different wine grapes. It can be cut with sparkling water. Julie and Herlinda are both members of Les Dames d’Escoffier, who were featured on this Brew Ha Ha show last August. Julie gets to describe a typical menu of her Forest & Farm dinners. First there are truffled deviled eggs. Stay tuned to hear the rest after 23:00 in.