Spirit Works Distillery’s co-owners Ashby and Timo Marshall are our guests today on the Brew Ha Ha podcast with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. They have just been named the 2020 American Distillery of the Year. Gabe from the Beverage People and Fal Allen from Anderson Valley Brewing are also in. Herlinda has just fixed up a cocktail with some of their Bourbon and Sloe Gin, Campari and orange bitters from Bitter Girl. They founded the distillery in 2013. His family has made Sloe Gin for a long time, in England. They wanted to bring their traditional recipe to California. They have a retail location in The Barlow, they are open Wednesday through Sunday 10-4. They can also ship within California. They have been awarded Best Distillery in the USA by the American Distillers Institute, which they are very proud of, Timo says it’s the biggest […]

Black is Beautiful is the cooperative fund raising recipe from Marcus Baskerville of Weathered Soul Brewing in Austin, Texas. Natalie Cilurzo calls in to talk to Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today on Brew Ha Ha. Black is Beautiful now has over 1000 participants and they will taste and describe Russian River Brewing Co.‘s version of it today. Natalie describes how the city of Santa Rosa has closed five blocks of 4th Street downtown, from now until October 15, so that restaurants, including the Russian River Brewing Co. downtown Santa Rosa location, can provide additional outdoor seating with social distancing. There is a little parklet in front of their place. Bayside Church donated their time and materials to build parklets for the restaurants that wanted them. Natalie really appreciates that effort. In Windsor, Russian River Brewing Co. is closed for dining and open for beer […]

Ace Cider’s brand ambassador Ed McGrath and founder Jeffery House join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today on the Brew Ha Ha podcast. Ed McGrath says he became a cider ambassador by loving cider. He started drinking cider when there was a beer strike in Canada, many years ago. His family had a little vineyard in St. Helena and he felt more comfortable working with cider than in the wine business. Jeffery House is on his way to the studio and will join the show soon. In England, cider is a drink for every social class. It is also very popular in Normandy, France, the north-west region. Cider is the number one drink in that region of France and there are many brands and small local productions. This one they are drinking comes from Isigney-sur-Mer, which is reputed to be the town that Walt Disney’s family […]

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 […]