Today’s beer market is the subject of today’s Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon. He and Herlinda Heras talk with Tara Nurin, Forbes magazine correspondent who writes about the beverage and spirits markets. Her June 30 article in Forbes magazine is called “Alcohol Sales Are Not Spiking or Even Stabilizing, Here’s Why the Misconception Matters. She says she has heard reports in the media saying that alcohol sales are supposedly booming during the Coronavirus crisis, but she knows well, that is not the case, which her article explains in great detail. People have been buying more from liquor stores, but overall sales are down. So much revenue comes from public sales in restaurants and lots of other public locations, which have been closed. The retail sales increase does not make up for the losses. Alcohol sales have only spiked in to-go sales, like everything […]

Our guests from the Earle Baum Center of the Blind this week we are Bob Sonnenberg and Dr. Hoby Wedler, who join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Dr. Hoby Wedler has been on Brew Ha Ha twice before. The first time was in September of 2018, when he brought blindfolds and they conducted a truly blind taste test. The second time was in May of 2019. Bob Sonnenberg and Dr. Hoby Wedler are both members of the board of directors of the Earle Baum Center of the Blind, which is a non-profit regional community center in Santa Rosa serving people with sight loss in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake Counties. Hoby Wedler grew up in Petaluma and attended UC Davis for undergraduate and got his PhD in Chemistry in 2016. Hoby Wedler is a co-founder of Senspoint Design, a creative strategy firm that designs and builds […]

Brian Hunt, founder of Moonlight Brewing Co is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon. Herlinda Heras in also in the studio today. Steve asks how Brian is surviving the Coronavirus challenges and he says it has pushed them to put more beer in cans and less in kegs, because kegs to to restaurants which are all closed and so beer drinking has shifted to cans. He opened Moonlight Brewing in 1992 producing beer on a small scale, putting it in kegs and distributing it around the Bay Area. In 2002 he moved near Graton then in about 2012 moved to Coffey Ln in Santa Rosa. They make different styles of beer. They are drinking a Moonlight Brewing Reality Check, which is a Pilsner. They only started canning since December 2019. They have bought a canning line. Previously they used a mobile canning line. […]

Marcus Baskerville, co-founder of Weathered Souls Brewing Company, joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today on the Brew Ha Ha podcast. Marcus Baskerville’s project “Black” is Beautiful is featured in this article in Forbes Magazine. entitled “Weathered Souls’ Black Is Beautiful Campaign Shows Racial Solidarity In Craft Beer.” Weathered Souls Brewing Company will celebrate its fourth anniversary this November. They are located in San Antonio, TX. Marcus grew up in northern California. They have been the #1 brewer in San Antonio for the last couple of years. They are known for their Stout beer and they have a lot of local support. There are less than 30 black-owned breweries in America and Weathered Souls Brewing Co. is one of them. They toast with Pliny for President 2020 from Russian River Brewing. The Black is Beautiful collaboration is up to almost 600 participating breweries around […]

J Nikol Jackson-Beckham is our guest today on the Brew Ha Ha podcast, with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. She is a scholar, writer and equity and inclusion strategist for the craft beer industry. She is also the newly-appointed Diversity Ambassador for the Brewers Association. She is based in Richmond, VA. She was an undergraduate at Virginia Tech in the late 90s and had a job in a bar that served many different kinds of beer. They offered her some to taste and she would select the most expensive ones, and got to know the best beers that way. Jump-cut to today, and in her professional role as head of beer diversity, she helps organization become more inclusive, equitable and to reach more people in the community. Dr. J Nicol Jackson-Beckham was recently named Imbibe Magazine’s 2020 Beer Person of the Year and has appeared in […]

Natalie Cilurzo and Ron Lindenbusch join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today on the Brew Ha Ha podcast. Natalie is co-owner of Russian River Brewing Company, with her husband Vinny Cilurzo. Ron Lindenbusch was one of the key people working with Tony Magee at Lagunitas Brewing Co. Russian River Brewing Co. is open for take-out food and beverage service. Their 4th Street Santa Rosa Brewpub is open and they are also continuing this service at their Windsor location. Since the Coronavirus restrictions are still in place, although less strict than before. They can operate 11:30am to 7:30pm in Windsor and 11am to 8pm on 4th Street. You can visit their website then call (707) 545-BEER to place your order. Herlinda introduces the Pliny The Elder for President 2020 beer, in cans. Natalie says this is a Pliny with a twist, it’s hoppier. They just […]

Today’s Brew Ha Ha podcast is an interview with English food historian Marc Meltonville, on the telephone from England, talking with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Marc is the consulting food and drink historian for the historic royal palaces in the UK. So he knows a lot about what people were brewing and eating and drinking in different periods of history. Marc Meltonville jokes that being a Consulting Food Historian doesn’t feel like a real job. He entered the field when he was working in a museum and was approached for a Tudor food project. He mentions that during the 1918 flu pandemic, they did not shut the pubs, even when they closed over venues. The British pub licensing laws close the pubs from 3pm to 6pm and they close again at 10pm. Herlinda mentions that a lot of our familiar alcoholic beverages actually […]

Russian River Brewing Company has special takeout offers for customers during Coronavirus confinement and Natalie Cilurzo is on the phone to tell Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras about it all, on the Brew Ha Ha podcast today. The downtown pub is open daily from 11-8 for pick-up orders. Visit the website for the menu and call (707) 545-BEER to order for delivery in and around Santa Rosa. They are all wearing masks, keeping distance and sanitizing everything so they have a safe environment. They are able to ship beer directly to customers but only inside California. They are also shipping bottles to supermarkets and grocery stores, so business is still down but not by as much as they feared at first. Steve Jaxon reads the report that Pliny the Younger brought in a record 5.1 million dollars to the local economy in February 2020, according […]

Ken Grossman from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is today’s guest on the Brew Ha Ha podcast with Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter, with Herlinda Heras also on the line. Steve asks Ken to describe how Coronavirus has affected them. Ken explains that they shuttered their restaurants, tours, gift stores and events operations. They are trying to remake their business by doing take-out food in their restaurants and they are doing other things to keep their people on staff. They are selling beer online at their website. They are also trying to help in the local community. Two weeks ago the local hospital reached out saying they were having trouble finding a PCR machine for Covid-19 testing. They have a sophisticated laboratory and do PCR sampling daily on their beer as part of their QC, to look for wild yeast or bacteria or other potential […]

Neil Witte from Cicerone Certification Program joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today on the Brew Ha Ha podcast. He trains people to become what is commonly known as a Beer Sommelier. Herlinda holds the first degree certificate. Neil Witte started as a home brewer and got his first brewery job in 1997 in Kansas City, then for another larger brewer in the same city. He worked for three years as a brewer then as a quality control manager visiting bars and restaurants making sure the beer was top quality. He took beer certification programs and did a lot of private study. Now he works for the Cicerone Certification Program as the chief trainer. Etymology, Definitions and Pronunciation of Cicerone Cicerone means “guide” in Italian. (1) It commonly refers to an Italian tour guide. “Cicerone” is Italian for the Latin name Cicero. Marcus Tullius […]