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 […]

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 […]

Herlinda Heras visits Ghost Town Brewing in Oakland, plus we have three other guests on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras today. Matt Inlow from Flagship Taproom, Cassius Camus from Battle of the Brews and James Holt, owner of Civilization Brewing are also in the studio. The Battle of the Brews is Saturday April 1, from 1 to 5 pm. It is the 26th annual beer event hosted by the Active 20-30 of Santa Rosa. In addition to a fund raising event it is a BJCP Judged beer event. It has also evolved into a barbeque competition. It is held at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. In the Grace Pavillion Building there will be 65 different breweries and a large stage with a succession of bands. There will be food and drink galore, too. Flagship Taproom Matt Inlow from Flagship Taproom will […]

Natalie Cilurzo brings the 2023 Pliny the Younger from Russian River Brewing Co. to Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras today. This is the 19th presentation of the new Pliny the Younger. This version is a little bit different than the one that premiered in February. The Pliny the Younger base recipe is fairly stable, at about 10.25% ABV, but there is a tweak to the hops and this year that is a new hop from New Zealand called Nectaron. Vinny decided to put a little more bittering hops into the second mix. The hop aroma is brilliant and beautiful and the flavors really shine through. The New Release Schedule In February they did a limited release. The first Friday in February used to be the launch date. Last year they had to postpone distribution due to a Covid outbreak, and […]

Kapu Bar house manager Bee Baker is our in-studio guest on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras today. Kapu Bar has taken over the Tuttle’s Drug Store location in downtown Petaluma. They have done extensive redecoration and it is a marvel to see. The first weekend they were open in January they had over 1000 people through the front door. Business has been brisk and there is a line out the door almost every day. The first use of Tiki décor was Don the Beachcomber’s, which opened in Los Angeles in 1934, after Prohibition ended but well before the beginning of WWII. Tiki designs became popular in California after the War, when returning servicemen brought back more and more Polynesian-inspired designs. There have been many famous Tiki-styled restaurants and bars, which Bee describes as “escapism.” At the bar they make all […]

    Peter Lopez and Tyler Laverty join Harry Duke on Brew Ha Ha today. Co-host Herlinda Heras is visiting England and will call into the studio. We begin with a phone call from Herlinda who is in England to be a judge in the British Pie Awards. Herlinda Heras is in England judging the British Pie Awards again. We also hear about her travels to breweries in different places. She also got lost and ended up in the oldest pub in England. It is in Nottingham, under an 800-year-old castle. She is in the town of Milton Mowbray which is not very far from London. She will also visit a brewery in Wales. We will hear all about it when she is back on Brew Ha Ha next week. Tyler Laverty is back on the Brew Ha Ha to remember the Third Street Aleworks […]

Tara Jasper, owner and creative force behind SipSong Spirits, is back on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras today. The last time she was on Brew Ha Ha was this episode of July 30, 2020. Tara grew up among the coastal redwoods of northern California. After studying culinary arts and raising a family, she started making gin. She begins by shaking up a cocktail with SipSong Spring Gin, one of her seasonal gins and they toast to all the hospitality and medical workers. All their botanicals are harvested in early spring in Sonoma County. There are all kinds of juniper. In Finland, they use juniper as part of the flavoring of Sahti. Our ornamental juniper berries are shaped like mace balls. The ones in Finland were soft and become sappy and stick when you break them open. SipSong gins often win blind […]

Mike Schnebeck from San Francisco’s Fort Point Beer Co. visits Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras today. Fort Point is an independent San Francisco beer company. They have become one of San Francisco’s best known independent breweries by following their calling to make craft beer more accessible. Herlinda begins by describing the Fort Point SF Beer Week Dim Sum beer and cider pairing. She mentions their Kolsch beers, which is their specialty. The owners started with Mill Valley Brewing Company, which started in 2010 and then Fort Point started in 2013. Fort Point has two locations, one is the Ferry Building taproom and the other main taproom is on Valencia St. in the Mission district. There they have a San Francisco seafood menu in addition to their beers. The Fort Point Mission Fort Point’s mission “…is to make really balanced approachable […]

Tara Nurin calls in to Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras, to talk about spirits sales and her article in Wine Enthusiast magazine. It shows Spirits replacing Beer as the largest share of the alcoholic beverages market. It’s not a majority of spending, but a plurality by a small margin. The article is on the website of Wine Enthusiast magazine. Its title is “Move Over, Beer: Spirits Are Now Alcohol’s Biggest U.S. Money Maker. The article states that, “sales for 2022 show spirits now claim a record-breaking 42.1% of revenue in the alcohol market, compared to beer’s shrinking 41.9% and wine’s stagnant 16 %.” Of course, beer is at a disadvantage in counting dollar share, compare a $10 pack of beer to a $100 bottle of some luxury spirits. Beer will still sell more volume due to its nature. There may […]

Matt Wilson from the Santa Rosa Beer City Festival is here, so is Sandro Tamburin from Old Possum Brewing, to join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. This year’s Beer City Festival is on Saturday February 25, in Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa, from 11am to 4pm. Local brewers will be there, such as Russian River, Bear Republic, Hen House, Lagunitas, Old Possum and Third Street Aleworks. Brews News There is big news in the beer business this week, since Bear Republic has sold most of its assets and brands to Drake’s Brewery, which is based in San Leandro. Peter Lopez, founder of Norcal Beer Geeks, calls in to talk about the deal. Peter is also proprietor of Juncture Taproom in Santa Rosa. Racer 5 was the first IPA he ever tasted and he respects how Richard Norgrove led the charge […]