Sam Levy from Fern Bar Sam Levy from Fern Bar, a new locale in Sebastopol, is our first guest today. Ron Lindenbusch from Lagunitas is also in the studio today. This is Fern Bar’s third week of operation. Sam Levy is one of the partners there. He used to be bartender at the three-star restaurant Meadowood. Steve says it’s about time to bring back the fern bar. They were popular starting in the late 1960s in San Francisco. Sam Levy tells about how fern bars may have become a bit kitschy but they are ready for a comeback because of their strengths. Among many attractions, they have live music, but casually, not as a full-scale music venue. A young listener called to issue a “geek alert” to ask Steve what is a Fern Bar. Sam tells about how they were a popular style beginning […]

Brew Ha Ha this week features Vinny Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing, a guest appearance from Herlinda’s dad Eloy Heras and a phone call from Tara Nurin, Forbes correspondent covering the brewing and distilling businesses. Herlinda’s father is visiting her from Amarillo, Texas. He has stories about serving in the Navy for 23 years. He tells a story about being in the Navy. He had buddies who got drunk while on shore leave and he helped them get back to the ship. But they got him to drink too so he got in some trouble since he was underage. [6:20] Getting back to beer, they taste the Russian River version of Resilience IPA. It is a fundraiser beer that Sierra Nevada put together, similar to the one that RRBC did last year with their Sonoma Pride fire relief campaign, only on a larger scale. […]

Brian Hunt from Moonlight Brewing joins Steve Jaxon, Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras today. Also with us are Sherry and Jeff Soleski makers of Comet Corn. Steve introduces Mark Carpenter who was for a long time the brewmaster for Anchor Brewing. He describes the history of Anchor Steam Beer, whose name comes from a nickname for the beer which was on draught and highly carbonated. Herlinda Heras introduces Sherry and Jeff Soleski, makers of Comet Corn including the famous Hippie Dust flavor that you see at all the taprooms and music festivals. Jeff tells about why and how they started back in 2002. They agree you could pair a porter or a stout with the Maple Syrup flavored popcorn. Mark Carpenter introduces Brian Hunt who worked for Schlitz in Milwaukee before starting Moonlight Brewing. Stroh’s then bought Schlitz. Steve remembers their label that said […]

Steve Doty from Shady Oak Barrel House is our main guest today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter. Their website proclaims “Sour and Wild Artisinal Ales.” Bob Brewer, the former Anchor Brewing sales guy, is also in.  Mark has known Bob for a long time, even before he worked at the brewery. Mark tells about how at Anchor, they were having trouble selling beer in New York. Fritz asked him and Bob to go to New York City and went from bar to bar making relationships. He says it is a huge accident that with a name like Brewer, he got into the beer business. Once when he worked for the Renaissance Faire, they asked him to put the beer concession booths together. He learned a lot about beer and met Fritz Maytag, who was personally delivering Anchor Steam beer. This […]

Herlinda Heras is in today with Sam Holloway, a Portland, Oregon based brewing business consultant, and Steve Waters, owner of Backwoods Brewery in Carson, Washington. Mark Carpenter is away this week. Herlinda is just back from China and she brought some rice wine back, which she says is not like Sake, the Japanese product. Sake is brewed like beer with Koji, their type of yeast. They talk about Wilibees in Santa Rosa and Petaluma that always has a great selection of beers. Herlinda mentions Revision Brewing, voted the #3 new brewery in the US and #1 in Nevada, and that Wilibees always has some of their product in stock. Sam Holloway & Steve Waters Herlinda Heras has brought Sam Holloway today. He is based in Portland, Oregon and has come for the California Craft Brewers Conference. His company is called Crafting A Strategy dot com. They […]

Herlinda Heras is back from China and will tell us about her recent trip to theCraft Beer China 2018 Exposition in Shanghai. Pete Foppiano is sitting in for Steve Jaxon today, who has the day off. Mark starts by telling about the fantastic success of the Sierra Nevada Brewing initiative that Ken Grossman started. Because of the fires, Sierra Nevada set up a program for other breweries to make a certain beer, and all its profits would go to supporting those affected by the fires. Over 1000 breweries worldwide have joined in and will contribute. Herlinda says it’s a good example of how beer can bring world peace. The China Brewers Association asked Herlinda to co-host the first Awards, last week. Snow Brewery, a Chinese state company, is the largest brewery in the world, it was a major sponsor. AB Inbev also sent their executive […]

Jeremy Marshall from Lagunitas is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter today. (This is part 2 of the show recorded last week, since there is no new show for today’s date, Thanksgiving Day.) Mark begins with a Lagunitas beer called Sparkling Swan, made with Concord grapes and some wine grapes typical of Sonoma County, like Petit Syrah. This beer is slightly sour. The beer has purple-pinkish foam and is 6.5% alcohol. Jeremy’s title is Brewmaster. He shares that one of his colleagues changed that to Brewmonster. He says now he also does some marketing activity, such as today’s show. He loves those aspects of his job and he makes sure that some others can do the routine jobs of brewmaster.They also mention that Ron Lindenbush has acquired the site of the original Mendocino Brewing Company in Hopland. Red Tail […]

Sierra Nevada Brewing’s founder Ken Grossman is our first guest today, on the telephone, with news about fund raising efforts for those affected by the Camp Fire near Chico, California, home of Sierra Nevada.  (Then Jeremy Marshall from Lagunitas is back on Brew Ha Ha and his interview will run as the next podcast episode, for Nov. 22, Thanksgiving Day.) Ken Grossman calls in to tell Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter about fire relief in the area near the Camp Fire, which burned very close to Chico, California, home of his Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. First Ken gives some background on Sierra Nevada Brewing, which he started in 1978. Mark says it is one of the most beautiful breweries he has ever seen, it is so nicely designed and engineered. He says that it is an impressive view to see all the tanks in […]

Kim Sturdevant from San Francisco’s Social Kitchen and Brewery is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter. Herlinda Heras is traveling again this week and will call the studio from Poland in a few minutes. She is one of the judges in the Polish National Beer Competition in Poznan. She will also be co-hosting a big beer festival in China later this month. She will call in from Poland in a few minutes. Kim invented the Brut IPA and Black Lager. He’s the owner of Social Kitchen and Brewery in San Francisco.Kim Sturdevant has made a Black Lager beer, which they are tasting. Mark thinks it’s delicious. It’s not heavy at all, a very nice light beer. Mark says he’s innovative and is doing a lot of cool stuff. Kim started brewing at Marin Brewing Company in October 2006. He […]

On today’s show, Home Brew Chef Sean Paxton is back on Brew Ha Ha, to talk about cooking with beer, with Steve Jaxon, Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras. (Sean Paxton was last on Brew Ha Ha in June of 2017 and that episode is in the podcast for April 5, 2018.) At first, Steve is tasting a Bloody Mary that Sean has made, with beer. This one is using a beer from Anderson Valley made by Fal Allen. He uses Early Girl tomatoes that are locally grown, and about 9 or 10 different peppers. One of them is the Carolina Reaper, the hottest pepper in the world. It is 4 or 5 times hotter than a Habañero pepper. Sean  Paxton designed this Bloody Mary to go with his hot sauce, a Nor-Cal Mole. His hot sauce brand is Eat Beer Hot Sauces. Sean and Mark both […]