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Owner Michael Dunsford and Brewmaster Nick Bartlett from Napa Valley Brewing Co. join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on The Drive Brew Ha Ha. This is their first time on the program.
The brewery was founded in 1987 and Michael’s family bought the brewery in 1989. It is on the grounds of the historic Calistoga Inn. Steve Jaxon used to live there in those years. Many great memories. Herlinda introduces Nick Bartlett. After Mad Fritz, this is the second Napa Valley brewery featured on Brew Ha Ha lately. Nick has been at Napa Valley Brewing a little over a year. He moved to Calistoga with his wife from Oakland for the job. It is quiet in his neighborhood, nothing like Oakland. In Oakland he was a brewer at Buck Wild Brewing, which is a gluten-free brewery.
The Calistoga Inn
The Calistoga Inn is a busy operation with a 150-seat patio and a 100-seat beer garden with live events. They have live music every night in the summer. So the brewery is a bit in the background on the grounds. Now they are bringing the brewery more front and center. Over 37 years Calistoga has changed. It used to be “fun and funky” but it has become “a little bit more sophisticated” with lots of new businesses and expansions. Michael was on the city council and assisted with some of that process.
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Bottle Rock is coming up. It is not necessarily great for the restaurants since everyone is at the concerts and they have great food.
The menu and the food style at Calistoga Inn is American and California wine country, for dinner everything from prime rib, lamb shanks, oysters, calamari, pastas, etc. They do breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. They get a lot of business from the locals as much as from visitors who come from all over.
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.