Steve Jaxon begins by mentioning this article in vinepair dot com, entitled, “As Allegations of Harassment and Abuse Send Shock Waves Through the Craft Beer Industry, Will Workers Take Action?” There are two guests on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. First is Melissa Myers who is the owner of the Good Hop Bottle Shop in Oakland, Calif. Later, Tara Nurin will join Steve and Herlinda by phone. Both will discuss recent developments on the subject of sexual harassment in craft brewing. Melissa Myers tells about a growing number of reports of women in the craft beer industry who have suffered harassment. The industry is going through a me too moment, beginning with one question about harassment in the brewing industry and there have been over a thousand stories. And they are naming names of companies where […]

Fal Allen from Anderson Valley Brewing Company is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Kevin McGhee, President and CEO of the brewery, is also in. Brew Ha Ha is brought to you by Russian River Brewing Co. and The Beverage People / Fermenter’s Warehouse. Fal Allen started with a brewpup in a town of 500 people but they have grown into a brew park on 28 acres with a production brewery. They took the time during the pandemic to actually hire people and do some development work. Kevin tells about how his family bought into the business in January of 2019, just before the pandemic hit. They decided they would not do any layoffs or furloughs and no salaries or benefits were cut. They even added a few people to their staff.   Kevin was a gang prosecutor in San Mateo County, […]

Ron Lindenbusch is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon, Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras. He was one of the co-founders of Lagunitas and now he operates Hopland Tap in Hopland, California. He was with Lagunitas since the beginning, for more than twenty years. Now he operates Hopland Tap. The sign says “Welcome to Hopland. We’ll take care of the rest.” Steve Jaxon’s band used to play at the Hopland Brewery years ago. They used to make Red Tail Ale and they are finally serving it again now. Hopland Tap’s building was built in 1880, it was called the Hop Vine Saloon. They have been open for two and a half years. They opened just before the pandemic. “I can’t think of a worse time to open a restaurant.” Ron is working on his ventilation system and looks forward to full capacity. There […]

Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. in the studio with Herlinda Heras and Steve Jaxon on Brew Ha Ha today. Everyone is happy to see each other again after a year apart due to Coronovirus restrictions. Natalie says their Santa Rosa location is still using their park space out in front and they are open daily from 11am to 9:30pm, and Windsor is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 8pm. The Windsor beer garden is back in action since the meal requirement has been removed. Steve says that if you’ve never been to the Windsor location, you have to see it. There are beautiful pictures of it on the website that Natalie shot herself. After having to lay off staff, they are happy to have been able to call many of them back. During the pandemic Vinnie Cilurzo was experimenting with recipes […]

Justin Green, head brewer at Steele and Hops is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter. Herlinda Heras is also in the studio today. Mark Carpenter was head brewer for Anchor Brewing in San Francisco which started in 1896. Next month is the 84th anniversary of KSRO, the home station of Brew Ha Ha. Anchor made a beer called “Steam” which is a type of beer which was brewed as a type of beer that they could make, since they could not make lager because they did not have refrigeration. The beer had a lot of foam and got the nickname Steam from that. After refrigeration, Steam beer went out of fashion but it survived in San Francisco because the climate was cool enough to allow it. Fritz Maytag, son of the washer and dryer family, bought the brewery […]

Sandro Tamburin, brewer at Old Possum Brewing Co. and Scott Bice from Redwood Hill Farms are back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon today. Sandro Tamburin comes from Trieste, Italy, and spent time in Dallas Texas in the restaurant business before coming to California to study at Davis and to make beer and wine. Now he makes beer at Old Possum Brewing Co. and he makes wine for D’Argenzio Winery. Follow the Old Possum Instagram page for up-to-the-minute news about menus and music at Old Possum Brewery. Scott Bice’s family operates Redwood Hill Farms, a great producer of goat cheese and other products of goat’s milk. They also have started growing hops and since this is hops season the wet hopped beers are appearing. To make wet hopped beer, you have to get the fresh hops into the vat as soon as possible.  […]

The Earle Baum Center of the Blind and Dr. Hoby Wedler visit Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon today. Herlinda Heras introduced Hoby Wedler, who is a PhD in organic chemistry and a sensory expert who has been blind since birth. He is a tasting expert and founder of Senspoint Design. He will tell how to taste a unique brew. Plus, the tasting is all for charity to support the Earle Baum Center and its work. Hoby explains that the Earle Baum Center was important to him because they taught him the skills he needed to be successful in college. He met with the CEO to put together an in-person tasting for staff and a few donors in August 2018 and the idea is to do it again. With Covid, they have decided to turn it virtual in order to make it happen this […]

Jan and Marsh from Gray Whale Gin join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. This show was recorded live on May 7 of this year. The regularly scheduled live Brew Ha Ha is preempted today for ongoing coverage of the Lightning Complex fires in Sonoma and Napa counties. Gray Whale Gin is made with ingredients that are foraged and harvested all along the west coast of Mexico and California, the range of the Pacific Gray Whale. There is lime harvested in Baja California, juniper and mint from the central California coast, and more. He invites bartenders to submit recipes for cocktails that highlight their flavors and in return for the promotion they will send a bottle of their gin. Jan explains how she and Marsh thought there was a need for more craft spirits from California that used local ingredients and […]

Palooza Brewery & Gastropub co-founder Jeff Tyler visits with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on this edition of the Brew Ha Ha podcast. Palooza is located on Sonoma Highway in Kenwood. Jeff Tyler has brought food and beer from Palooza, to show some beer and food pairings. Jeff Tyler was working in construction in 2008 when the economy went bust. He started a hot dog stand, that grew into a catering business, then he opened this restaurant that has been open for six years. They have a lot of space on six patios and the scenery around there is beautiful. They actually do also ferment beer on site. Palooza also does pick-up up to about 8 or 9 o’clock. They are drinking what Jeff Tyler calls the Porch Pounder, a 4.5% alcohol pilsner. They also have “The Mask Dropper” which is an IPA much stronger. It’s […]

Taylor Lane, Russian River Brewing Company‘s head lab tech, joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on the Brew Ha Ha podcast today. She was in graduate school in Microbiology at Cal Poly Pomona, working as a lab technician and manager and researching her thesis subject of probiotic bacteria, when she found that they had a culinary program. She thought there could be good professional opportunities for her in the brewing field. She worked for Ritual Brewing company while in school and then for Innovation Brew Works, where she set up their entire lab operation. Three years ago she joined Russian River Brewing Company as head lab tech. The lab is at the center of the production process, as Taylor Lane describes it. Day to day, they test the tanks that are in process and perform various analytics. They look for sugar, color, turbidity or […]