Anikó Lehtinen is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter today. We will talk about Sahti, the ancient Finnish national home brew style with Herlinda Heras in studio and with Anikó Lehtinen on the phone from Helsinki. But first, today’s show has a couple of Preludes. Prelude No. 1: Chris DiMatteo has brought the audio of two old TV ads from the 1960s, for Italian Swiss Colony Wines, just to remind us of how awful the early tv commercials could be. There are plenty of cringe-worthy old beer ads too, and we will hear some of those soon. Prelude No. 2 Steve Jaxon remembers Tom T. Hall, who passed away just a few days before this episode was recorded. He wrote the song “I Like Beer” one of our unofficial anthems on Brew Ha Ha, and he also wrote […]

It’s a busy show today, as Meagan Anderson and Tara Nurin both join Herlinda Heras, who is back from a three-week trip to Estonia and Finland. Tara Nurin writes about the business of beverages and spirits for Forbes magazine, from her home base in Camden, New Jersey. Meagan Anderson is the representative of New Zealand hops growers. Here is her Twitter page. Herlinda was in Finland judging the national beer competition and the national Sahti competition. She was the first American judge in either competition. Sahti is the Finnish national home brew. Herlinda describes the Finnish habit of taking a sauna (which they pronounce “SOW-na” not “SAW-na” as English speakers tend to say) and then plunging into the cold lake and going back and forth between the sauna and the lake. Steve says, “No, thank you!” Herlinda says it got rid of her jet lag pretty quickly. […]

This week Brew Ha Ha is 2 parts. Mark Carpenter tells about his career with Anchor Brewing in San Francisco. Then Herlinda Heras is in Finland and calls us from Helsinki. Mark Carpenter begins his story with his quest for a more interesting career as a young man in San Francisco in 1971, and proceeds through his first encounter with owner Fritz Maytag, his fortuitous hiring, a description of the facilities, their brewing process, the success of Anchor Steam Beer and several other cool stories from those years. It’s a great 9=minute summary of a very interesting story. At the 9-minute mark, Herlinda Heras joins Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter on the telephone from Helsinki, Finland. As Herlinda Heras calls in from Helsinki, Finland, it is the late afternoon California time so it is the middle of the night in Helsinki. Herlinda is there […]

Eric Desmarais from CLS Farms in Yakima, Washington, is our guest today, with Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke, who is sitting in for Steve Jaxon, on this edition of Brew Ha Ha. Eric joins us on the telephone from Yakima, Washington, which is the world’s largest hop growing area. This Summer, the weather up there was rather hot and Herlinda asks what will happen to the hops with 113 degree weather. This was very unusual, as the previous record was 111 degrees, and the hottest weather usually comes in July and August, not in June, as happened this year. They might have had one day that hot in a season but this year there were 3 or 4 days in a row of it. Eric has been in the hops business for 30 years. He says that the appearance of the craft brewers about […]

Eric and Austin, brewmaster and assistant brewmaster, of No Quarter Brewing, visit Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today on Brew Ha Ha. Harry Duke is also in. This weekend they will celebrate their second anniversary. They had been open for about nine months before the pandemic hit. Eric explains that they wanted to involve a Led Zeppelin song somehow, and they settled on this. The term “no quarter” means no mercy, or no consideration. They also enjoy Viking lore and there will be Vikings at the celebration. There is a group called the Vikings of Bjornsted, dressed in horned hats and full regalia. Eric was a home brewer for many years before he decided to turn professional. He buys equipment in bulk now but he relied on The Beverage People for most of his grain, yeast and supplies. The Beverage People is beginning an […]

Harry Duke is in for Steve Jaxon today on Brew Ha Ha. Herlinda Heras is on the phone from Bear Republic Lakeside in Rohnert Park. Herlinda Heras has been working as a volunteer Covid-19 vaccination coordinator in Sonoma County. She is speaking to Harry Duke today from a pop-up vaccine clinic being held at Bear Republic Lakeside, where people can come and have a vaccination, get a $50 gift card and enjoy some beer and victuals at Bear Republic. Those who receive a vaccination automatically participate in a drawing for one million dollars. They were doing another vaccination clinic yesterday at Russian River Brewing Company. The Sonoma County Medical Association has information at their website, here. The Beverage People / Fermenters’ Warehouse has everything you need to make beer, wine and many other fermented foods and beverages, at home. You can also go to myturn.ca.gov […]

Steve Jaxon begins by mentioning this article in vinepair dot com, entitled, “As Allegations of Harassment and Abuse Send Shock Waves Through the Craft Beer Industry, Will Workers Take Action?” There are two guests on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. First is Melissa Myers who is the owner of the Good Hop Bottle Shop in Oakland, Calif. Later, Tara Nurin will join Steve and Herlinda by phone. Both will discuss recent developments on the subject of sexual harassment in craft brewing. Melissa Myers tells about a growing number of reports of women in the craft beer industry who have suffered harassment. The industry is going through a me too moment, beginning with one question about harassment in the brewing industry and there have been over a thousand stories. And they are naming names of companies where […]

Fal Allen from Anderson Valley Brewing Company is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Kevin McGhee, President and CEO of the brewery, is also in. Brew Ha Ha is brought to you by Russian River Brewing Co. and The Beverage People / Fermenter’s Warehouse. Fal Allen started with a brewpup in a town of 500 people but they have grown into a brew park on 28 acres with a production brewery. They took the time during the pandemic to actually hire people and do some development work. Kevin tells about how his family bought into the business in January of 2019, just before the pandemic hit. They decided they would not do any layoffs or furloughs and no salaries or benefits were cut. They even added a few people to their staff.   Kevin was a gang prosecutor in San Mateo County, […]

Ron Lindenbusch is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon, Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras. He was one of the co-founders of Lagunitas and now he operates Hopland Tap in Hopland, California. He was with Lagunitas since the beginning, for more than twenty years. Now he operates Hopland Tap. The sign says “Welcome to Hopland. We’ll take care of the rest.” Steve Jaxon’s band used to play at the Hopland Brewery years ago. They used to make Red Tail Ale and they are finally serving it again now. Hopland Tap’s building was built in 1880, it was called the Hop Vine Saloon. They have been open for two and a half years. They opened just before the pandemic. “I can’t think of a worse time to open a restaurant.” Ron is working on his ventilation system and looks forward to full capacity. There […]

Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. in the studio with Herlinda Heras and Steve Jaxon on Brew Ha Ha today. Everyone is happy to see each other again after a year apart due to Coronovirus restrictions. Natalie says their Santa Rosa location is still using their park space out in front and they are open daily from 11am to 9:30pm, and Windsor is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 8pm. The Windsor beer garden is back in action since the meal requirement has been removed. Steve says that if you’ve never been to the Windsor location, you have to see it. There are beautiful pictures of it on the website that Natalie shot herself. After having to lay off staff, they are happy to have been able to call many of them back. During the pandemic Vinnie Cilurzo was experimenting with recipes […]