Crooked Goat Brewing and Valley Ford Cheese make up the beer and food pairing on this week’s podcast episode of Brew Ha Ha. Brew Ha Ha today features Karen Bianchi from Valley Ford Cheese Company and Paul Vianello of Crooked Goat Brewing, who both join Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke who is sitting in for Steve Jaxon. Curtis Bedford is also in the studio, staying through from the previous segment live on The Drive on KSRO. (This podcast episode, published Sept. 30, 2021, was recorded live on the air on Sept. 23, 2021.) Vinnie and Natalie from Russian River Brewing Co. were just recently on a trip to Washington to choose hops for Russian River Brewing Company. Right now they are making two seasonal beers, Dribble Belt and Happy Hops. They will be in the studio next week with their fresh wet hopped beer and some […]

Beer and Yoga join forces today on Brew Ha Ha. Laura Letchinger from the new local branch of YogaSix joins Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke (sitting in for Steve Jaxon). Today we welcome our new sponsor YogaSix, located at Coddingtown Center in Santa Rosa. Their six yoga classes range from introductory and restorative to more physically demanding ones. YogaSix is partnering with some local breweries to promote relaxation and beer. However, the combination of beer and yoga is not completely new or unique. Some breweries have been offering yoga events. This local franchise of YogaSix will be doing some popup events in breweries and wineries. There is plenty of free parking at Coddingtown Center, as well as other shops and amenities including a nearby ice cream shop. It is a brand new studio and they have installed a high-quality air filtration system. They are hosting […]

cuVer Brewery co-founders Hendrick Verspecht and Nico Silva have brought their new beers to Herlinda Heras and Mark Carpenter on Brew Ha Ha today. Harry Duke is sitting in for Steve Jaxon. cuVer Brewery is the first Belgian-style brewery in Sonoma County. Building and opening the brewery has been a long process. Hendrick tells how his family moved here from Belgium in 2012. His father was used to drinking local craft Belgian beers and he wanted the same beers in California, so he started home brewing. The brewery is located at 7704 Bell Road in Windsor, near Tilted Shed and Barley and Vine (in the former St. Florian location) in the Windsor beverage district. They have a tap room coming on line, the grand opening is Oct. 2. Hendrick studied Plant Biotechnology at the University of Ghent in Belgium at the university, after attending high […]

Lost Coast Brewery’s master brewer Jack Van Stone is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter. Herlinda Heras is also in the studio today and Harry Duke is sitting in for Steve Jaxon. Lost Coast Brewery is located on the northern California coast, in a remote section that is directly served by neither Highway 1 nor Highway 101. The CBC Craft Brewers Conference is this week in Denver, also the World Beer Cup is there. Herlinda will miss this event for the first time in years. Tara Nurin is there promoting her new book and she will report on the winner of the World Beer Cup and more, including local winners for us, in an upcoming episode. Jack Van Stone has been a friend of Herlinda Heras for fifteen years. The Lost Coast brewery owner is in Tara Nurin’s book on […]

Anikó Lehtinen is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter today. We will talk about Sahti, the ancient Finnish national home brew style with Herlinda Heras in studio and with Anikó Lehtinen on the phone from Helsinki. But first, today’s show has a couple of Preludes. Prelude No. 1: Chris DiMatteo has brought the audio of two old TV ads from the 1960s, for Italian Swiss Colony Wines, just to remind us of how awful the early tv commercials could be. There are plenty of cringe-worthy old beer ads too, and we will hear some of those soon. Prelude No. 2 Steve Jaxon remembers Tom T. Hall, who passed away just a few days before this episode was recorded. He wrote the song “I Like Beer” one of our unofficial anthems on Brew Ha Ha, and he also wrote […]

It’s a busy show today, as Meagan Anderson and Tara Nurin both join Herlinda Heras, who is back from a three-week trip to Estonia and Finland. Tara Nurin writes about the business of beverages and spirits for Forbes magazine, from her home base in Camden, New Jersey. Meagan Anderson is the representative of New Zealand hops growers. Here is her Twitter page. Herlinda was in Finland judging the national beer competition and the national Sahti competition. She was the first American judge in either competition. Sahti is the Finnish national home brew. Herlinda describes the Finnish habit of taking a sauna (which they pronounce “SOW-na” not “SAW-na” as English speakers tend to say) and then plunging into the cold lake and going back and forth between the sauna and the lake. Steve says, “No, thank you!” Herlinda says it got rid of her jet lag pretty quickly. […]

This week Brew Ha Ha is 2 parts. Mark Carpenter tells about his career with Anchor Brewing in San Francisco. Then Herlinda Heras is in Finland and calls us from Helsinki. Mark Carpenter begins his story with his quest for a more interesting career as a young man in San Francisco in 1971, and proceeds through his first encounter with owner Fritz Maytag, his fortuitous hiring, a description of the facilities, their brewing process, the success of Anchor Steam Beer and several other cool stories from those years. It’s a great 9=minute summary of a very interesting story. At the 9-minute mark, Herlinda Heras joins Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter on the telephone from Helsinki, Finland. As Herlinda Heras calls in from Helsinki, Finland, it is the late afternoon California time so it is the middle of the night in Helsinki. Herlinda is there […]

Eric Desmarais from CLS Farms in Yakima, Washington, is our guest today, with Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke, who is sitting in for Steve Jaxon, on this edition of Brew Ha Ha. Eric joins us on the telephone from Yakima, Washington, which is the world’s largest hop growing area. This Summer, the weather up there was rather hot and Herlinda asks what will happen to the hops with 113 degree weather. This was very unusual, as the previous record was 111 degrees, and the hottest weather usually comes in July and August, not in June, as happened this year. They might have had one day that hot in a season but this year there were 3 or 4 days in a row of it. Eric has been in the hops business for 30 years. He says that the appearance of the craft brewers about […]

Eric and Austin, brewmaster and assistant brewmaster, of No Quarter Brewing, visit Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today on Brew Ha Ha. Harry Duke is also in. This weekend they will celebrate their second anniversary. They had been open for about nine months before the pandemic hit. Eric explains that they wanted to involve a Led Zeppelin song somehow, and they settled on this. The term “no quarter” means no mercy, or no consideration. They also enjoy Viking lore and there will be Vikings at the celebration. There is a group called the Vikings of Bjornsted, dressed in horned hats and full regalia. Eric was a home brewer for many years before he decided to turn professional. He buys equipment in bulk now but he relied on The Beverage People for most of his grain, yeast and supplies. The Beverage People is beginning an […]

Harry Duke is in for Steve Jaxon today on Brew Ha Ha. Herlinda Heras is on the phone from Bear Republic Lakeside in Rohnert Park. Herlinda Heras has been working as a volunteer Covid-19 vaccination coordinator in Sonoma County. She is speaking to Harry Duke today from a pop-up vaccine clinic being held at Bear Republic Lakeside, where people can come and have a vaccination, get a $50 gift card and enjoy some beer and victuals at Bear Republic. Those who receive a vaccination automatically participate in a drawing for one million dollars. They were doing another vaccination clinic yesterday at Russian River Brewing Company. The Sonoma County Medical Association has information at their website, here. The Beverage People / Fermenters’ Warehouse has everything you need to make beer, wine and many other fermented foods and beverages, at home. You can also go to myturn.ca.gov […]