Natalie Cilurzo is in today with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras for the debut of Pliny the Younger, the incredibly popular and world-renowned beer from Russian River Brewing Company. They are also working on an international collaboration with a Ukrainian brewery, part of an international call to action, to breweries to brew this beer and donate the proceeds to Ukrainian refugee relief. RRBC is releasing theirs on April 1 along with a special brewing of their Defenestration beer. All of the proceeds are going to humanitarian efforts for Ukraine. The strong golden ale will be relatively low alcohol, and the other will be higher in alcohol and hoppier. This year they brewed Pliny the Younger but they had to hold it back due to public health concerns. The recipe it the same as last year’s edition, with a total of ten different varieties of […]

Tyler Lafferty from Third Street Aleworks and Steve Doty from Shady Oak Barrel House are our two guests on Brew Ha Ha today with Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon. The FeBREWary celebration is going on in Santa Rosa, sponsored by Visit Santa Rosa. Go to the website for information about how to participate in the 2022 Beer Passport. (SF Beer Week is also going on.) There are 14 craft brewers in the program this year. You pick up your passport at Wilibee’s and if you get 11 stamps, including three free ones, you can win a colorful medallion. There are not just Santa Rosa breweries in the Beer Passport program. Bear Republic and Old Caz in Rhonert Park and also Seismic in the Barlow in Sebastopol are also among the participating breweries. Brew Ha Ha is sponsored by the Santa Rosa […]

Colin McDonald, brewmaster and co-founder of HenHouse Brewing is in the studio with Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke on Brew Ha Ha today. They have HenHouse’s special brew Big Chicken to taste. This year HenHouse has Big Chicken in cans in the tasting rooms in Petaluma and Santa Rosa, and kegs for all their other bars and restaurants. This is their big celebration beer. HenHouse has some distribution in Portland. Their Portland distributor is driving up tomorrow with kegs freshly filled to deliver there. This beer has a following of people who are eager to tap these kegs as soon as they can. This is their 10th anniversary and 10th batch of Big Chicken. It is everything they learned about making hoppy beer during the year. The recipe changes every year as they learn new stuff. They are also doing some new beers with […]

Harry Duke, Matt Carpenter and Herlinda Heras have two guests today on Brew Ha Ha, Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. and Martin Voigt, the leading beer blogger from Austria are both here today. First, we welcome a new sponsor to Brew Ha Ha. Visit Santa Rosa is sponsoring Brew Ha Ha this month with the Santa Rosa Beer Passport initiative. There is a list of participating breweries at their website Visit Santa Rosa dot com. The Santa Rosa Beer Passport is your guide to explore the world-class craft beer scene in Santa Rosa. Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. joins us in the studio today because normally, today they would be gearing up for their 18th annual Pliny the Younger release. However they have decided to postpone that this year, because of the surge in Omicron cases. The new release dates are March 25 to April 7.  […]

Erin Hinze from Bitter Girl Bitters and Mike Barber from Barber Lee Spirits distillery in Petaluma join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras today on Brew Ha Ha. Also, Dustin Sullivan is in, to announce the opening of his second restaurant. Erin Hinze was on Brew Ha Ha three and a half years ago, on this episode of May 17, 2018. Mike Barber’s wife organizes the Petaluma Holiday Food Fair. There are lots of vendors including Bitter Girl Bitters, The Spice Queen and many others. You can do Christmas shopping at the Petaluma Hotel and have a cocktail too. (The 2021 edition took place on Nov. 23; look for the 2022 edition at their website.) Bitter Girl Bitters Erin explains that her bitters, “…are designed to make cocktails taste amazing,” using homegrown ingredients. All her bitters have a fun concept and a fun name. She […]

Falling Rock Tap House in Denver is closing its doors and going out of business. Chris Black, owner of Falling Rock Tap House in Denver is our first guest today on Brew Ha Ha, today with Herlinda Heras, with Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon. Sadly for the beer world Chris Black is on a farewell tour. Falling Rock Tap House has been the most popular tap house in the country for many years. Now he has a set of several four-foot-by-six-foot signs that depict the logos of beers they sold. A former bartender who worked for him painted them. Now, he is visiting the breweries to give them their signs. He just visited Lost Abbey in San Diego and now he is up in Northern Caifornia to deliver some others at Anchor, Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada and Deschutes. Jeremy Cohen is on the […]

Tara Nurin, author of A Woman’s Place Is In The Brewhouse, joins Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke on Brew Ha Ha today. Mark Carpenter is away this week and Harry Duke is sitting in for Steve Jaxon. Tara Nurin is the Forbes magazine beer and spirits business writer. She has been working on this book for four years and she is finally on book tour! She has a book signing event at Russian River Brewing Co. on December 16, 2021. Herlinda suggests she could do a special label beer for the occasion.  Tara describes the book, the first to document the rich history of women in brewing. The book looks at economic, political and religious factors and there are interviews with all the prominent women in the brewing business over the last several decades, such as Natalie Cilurzo, CEO of Russian River Brewing Co. […]

Stone Brewing brewer Steve Gonzales and Seismic Brewing Company brewer Andy Hooper are both on Brew HaHa Craft Beer Radio on the Drive today w/ Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras. Harry Duke is sitting in for Steve Jaxon. Steve Gonzales is up in Sonoma County from San Diego, since he also brews at the Napa Stone Brewery. Andy Hooper is the head brewer for Seismic, and also for Tremor, a brewer that won a Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival. Brew Ha Ha is sponsored by the Santa Rosa branch of Yoga Six located in Coddingtown Center. Herlinda attended the keg un-tapping of a special Seismic beer, that is the most local beer probably ever done in Sonoma County. Andy tells that Sonoma County grows barley and hops, and in a 12 mile radius there is also a malting facility. So they can […]

Collin McDonald joins Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke on Brew Ha Ha today with news that HenHouse Brewing Co. is acquiring Iron Springs. The last time Collin was on the Brew Ha Ha show and podcast was this episode on August 22, 2019. Collin McDonald, HenHouse Brewing Co. CEO, says that Iron Springs has been an awesome institution for 17 years and their plans are to keep all the staff and continue to grow. Iron Springs was a leader in the development of craft beer, as well as demonstrating how a brewery can make a town stronger, be a good employer and be something that every community wants. It is HenHouse’s first restaurant and they are making plans or food that matches the way they do beer, with fresh ingredients and seasonal rotations. He takes the responsibility seriously to continue to have a brewery […]

Fresh Hops are front and center today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter, as we welcome Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Company. Vinnie and Natalie are the co-owners of Russian River Brewing Co. and they have brought a pack of fresh hops into the studio today. Now is a busy time, the hops are being harvested and there are special hoppy beers being made and enjoyed. The Russian River Brewing Co. Winds0r location and the Santa Rosa pub are both open. They have been using the parklette on 4th Street, which was done to allow social distancing for Covid precautions, and while they won’t be there forever, they are using it and enjoying it for as long as possible. They also have some longer term construction plans to expand in Santa Rosa. Vinnie says that RRBC has […]