anchor brewing

Herlinda Heras interviews Bob Brewer of Anchor

We have a special conversation with Bob Brewer, former Anchor Brewing employee, while The Drive and Brew Ha Ha are still on Summer vacation this year. There is sad news in the brewing industry, as Sapporo has announced that Anchor Brewing is closing. Here is the conversation that Herlinda Heras recorded on July 12 with Bob Brewer, who worked for Anchor for many years. Bob Brewer was on Brew Ha Ha once before on this episode of February 17, 2020. When Bob Brewer was originally hired at Anchor in 1985, he had been working for a beer wholesaler which also distributed Anchor, since about 1977. He was a draft beer installer and also did nearly everything to deliver beer, including carrying kegs around San Francisco. Bob would always say he had the best job in the world. “I get to deliver the best beer […]

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mare island brewing

Back to Mare Island Brewing Company

With The Drive on Summer vacation, here is an encore presentation (which sounds more elegant than ‘repeat’) of this January, 2023 episode which is a personal favorite of Herlinda Heras.  Mare Island Brewing Company co-founders Ryan Gibbons and Kent Fortner join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Mare Island was a naval shipyard since the earliest days of California and Herlinda was actually born there, since her father was in the US Navy. It was the oldest naval base west of the Mississippi, and also has the oldest golf course and one of the oldest Tiffany stained glass windows in the west, in its local church. Read about the history of Mare Island here. Kent and Ryan founded Mare Island Brewing Co. after they met in the wine business. They are both professional wine makers. It is near the city […]

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suzanne hagins horse and plow

Suzanne Hagins, Horse and Plow Cider

The Drive is on summer vacation and there is no new BHH show this week. So here is a show from last April featuring Suzanne Hagins from Horse and Plow Cider in Graton, to talk about the cider they make from apples grown locally in and around Sebastopol, California. Cheers! 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 […]

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2023 pliny

A Look Back at 2023 Pliny the Younger

While The Drive is on vacation and there is no new BHH show today, here is a reissue of the show from last February 2, with the very first taste of the 2023 Pliny the Younger, featuring special guest Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. Enjoy! Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Company joins Brew Ha Ha with the first growler of the Pliny the Younger 2023 edition. Later, the subject changes to SF Beer Week, when Colin McDonald from Hen House Brewing and Gail Williams will also be on. (That portion of today’s live show has its own separate podcast page, here.) Today’s episode of Brew Ha Ha continues a tradition of Russian River Brewing Co. bringing the new Pliny the Younger into the KSRO studios for its first tasting. Here is last year’s 2022 release episode on the same occasion. Here […]

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anchor brewing story

The Anchor Brewing Story

While The Drive is on vacation, there is no new Brew Ha Ha episode this week. So, here is an encore presentation of our episode from November 17, 2022, featuring Dave Burkhart, the author of the book The Anchor Brewing Story which was just published at the time. Anchor Brewing historian Dave Burkhart and former Anchor brewing chief Mark Carpenter join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Mark Carpenter is the former co-host of this show who began working at Anchor in 1971. Author Dave Burkhart has been with Anchor Brewing Co. for thirty-one and a half years. Very early in his tenure began collecting historical documentation of the brewery. His book, The Anchor Brewing Story, has just been published. Mark and Dave agree that Anchor has a bright future since the new owners (Sapporo) are investing heavily in the […]

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maryensztadt brewery

Maryensztadt Brewery

The Drive is on vacation, so there is no new Brew Ha Ha show today. For this podcast episode we offer again this fun and revealing episode recorded last January 19, with Herlinda Heras’ two guests from Maryensztadt Brewery in Poland, Marcin and Artur. Enjoy! Marcin Malecki and Artur Napuripski of Maryensztadt Brewery in Poland are our guests today on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras. Artur is the sales manager as well as a beer sommelier and brewery historian, and Marcin is the brewery’s owner. Herlinda Heras has been a beer judge at the Polish national beer competition for the last few years, along with Artur. Herlinda invited them to California for a visit and for a collaboration at Anchor Brewing and a visit to some famous Sonoma County craft breweries. Marcin tells about their visit to Brew Ha Ha […]

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humboldt cider

Humboldt Cider co-founder Tom Hart

Tom Hart, co-founder of Humboldt Cider is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras, with special guest Peter Lopez. Peter is the founder of NorCal Beer Geeks and he also runs the Juncture Taproom in Santa Rosa. Tom Hart started Humboldt Cider in 2014 with his partner. They saw an opportunity for cider and started learning how to make it for local events in small batches. For a location , they renovated an old milking barn. Most recently, they started canning during the pandemic. This was an initially forced transformation of their business but it has worked well. First to be tasted is their Drysdale Cider, made with 4 different culinary apples, golden delicious, granny smith, fuji and gala. It classifies as a dry cider on the dryness scale. Juncture Taproom Juncture Taproom is celebrating its 6th anniversary. He has […]

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Marty Nachel, author of Beer for Dummies

Author Marty Nachel, author of Beer for Dummies, joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha, on the phone from Chicago. Marty has also written How to Judge Beer Like a Pro. In order begin to judge beer like a pro, the first prerequisite is practice. However that’s not all. You have to know beer styles and be familiar with different off aromas and flavors as well. Herlinda agrees and adds that the scientific names of things are important to know, to understand beer at this level. For example, Brett, or Brettanomyces. (The term Brettanomyces comes from the Greek for “British fungus.”) Marty has been in the craft brewing industry in many roles for more than thirty years. He first got interested in beer on a long weekend vacation to Toronto where he took a tour of the Molson brewing company. He […]

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cooperage brewing

Cooperage Brewing Co.

Nickolas Garson, AKA Fridge, sales rep from Cooperage Brewing joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Cooperage is just about to celebrate 8 years as one of the premiere locations to get a beer in Santa Rosa. They are located on Airway Court between Piner and Hopper. Their family-friendly location is open seven days a week, Monday through Thursday from 2 to 8 pm, Friday and Saturday from noon to 11 pm and Sunday from noon to 8 pm. Their website and socials have the updated daily food truck schedule. They went out of their way to make the location comfortable and beautiful. The bar is a long redwood tree trunk. Cooperage’s founder Tyler helped Nickolas get to know and to enjoy craft beer and that led to him working in the craft beer industry. Nicholas was inspired by his first […]

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lo and behold

Lo and Behold Restaurant

Laura Sanfilippo & Sean Raymond Kelley from Lo & Behold Bar Restaurant join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Lo and Behold has three partner owners, who met while working for others. They thought Healdsburg had space for a casual place, large and spacious, with a great bar. Almost a year and a half ago, they opened Lo and Behold. Sean Kelley grew up with his grandmother’s Sunday dinners. He ran kitchens in some prominent restaurants and then went to culinary school at Tante Marie’s in San Francisco. He wants his flavors to appear familiar and comfortable, but with extraordinary flavors. The Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience includes spirits for the first time. Tickets are still available for the event. It’s all Healdsburg bartenders, pairing “farm to glass.” Her partner Tara has a farm where they grow the herbs and flowers […]

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