Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, and Vinnie & Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing are all in the studio today with Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras. Steve Jaxon is away and Pete Foppiano is sitting in for him today. Mark Carpenter introduces today’s guest, his old friend and colleague in the beer business, Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. He started Sierra Nevada in 1980. He made his first batch of pale ale then. He had aspirations to be one of the new small brewers in America. At the time there were only about 40 small brewers in the country. A lot of breweries were started back then and it was a challenge to get a distributor to carry a new beer. Mark asks Ken Grossman about Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Ken just gave a talk a few weeks ago […]

Our guest is Michelle McGrath, Executive Director of the United States Association of Cider Makers, who calls in to talk to Steve, Mark and Herlinda.  (Mark and Herlinda mention that Ken Grossman will be our guest next week, he’s the founder of Sierra Nevada.) Herlinda Heras has just recently earned her certification as a CCP, a CCP Certified Cider Professional, a program administered by the USACW. Michelle lives in Portland, Oregon and she knows Steve’s son’s band, The Wild Ones, who are based in Portland. Michelle has just been listed as a “Top 40 Under 40” person in Tastemaker Magazine’s list. She’s the only person in the cider industry on the list this year. Michelle describes the Cider Association. They advocate for cider producers and growers, in public relations and government relations as well as education. Their CCP program is a way to educate people […]

Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. is back on the program today, along with Peter from Stumptown Brewery and JC Fluger with J Christopher Rubs. Steve Jaxon, Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras mention Wilibees in Petaluma and Santa Rosa as a great place to taste a great varieties of beer and whiskey. Tuesdays they have tacos, Saturday they have bands. Peter tells about their 16th annual Russian River Revival and Cook-Off on Saturday August 18, from 1-5 PM under the bridge at Monte Rio Beach. Natalie Cilurzo is back on Brew Ha Ha. Today she was a keynote speaker at the CFO of the Year awards in San Francisco. She brought a beer called “It takes a lot of great beer to make great wine” that Russian River Brewing Company makes. Natalie says that all during harvest, the workers like a cold beer (or six). This […]

David and Scott Bice from Redwood Hill Creamery join Steve Jaxon, Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras today.  Their parents founded Redwood Hill Creamery and they have been making great artisan goat cheeses for more than fifty years. First, Mark Carpenter tells of his visit to San Francisco yesterday, and visited his old employer Anchor Brewing. They had opened a distillery which was not sold to Sapporo with the brewery, but they had to change its name. He tasted some whiskey that was aged in port barrels. Mark notes that it was port that they made at the brewery using Fritz Maytag’s grapes. It is amazingly smooth. The distillery is named after Anson P. Hotaling, an early San Francisco merchant and real estate investor. During the 1906 earthquake, the firemen ran a half-mile of hoses to save his whiskey warehouse. Mark remembers these verses written at […]

Fal Allen from Anderson Valley Brewing is our guest on Brew Ha Ha today, joining Steve Jaxon, Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras. Herlinda Heras says we will talk about Gose beers today with Fal Allen who has written a new book called Gose: Brewing an Ancient Beer in Modern Times. Anderson Valley Brewing Co. cans have the slogan Bahl Hornin’ printed at the top of the can. This is an expression in Boontling, the dialect of Boonville, California. It means “good drinkin’.” Visit this page on the AVBC website for more about Boontling. Here is a video where Fal Allen talks to a Boonville resident who speaks Boontling. Steve introduces Fal Allen from award-winning Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville, in Mendocino County. Anderson Valley was a hop growing region in the late 1800s. Powdery mildew killed all the plants. The brewery opened in […]

Brian Hunt, Moonlight Brewing founder and brewmaster and Shannon Thomas, tasting room and social media manager, are in today with Herlinda Heras and Steve Jaxon. Mark Carpenter is away this week. Brian Hunt started Moonlight Brewing in 1992. He jokes that he needed to support his beer habit and he actually stared home brewing in his bedroom when he was in high school. He had some German friends who helped him too. He graduated from UC Davis brew school in 1980, where Michael Lewis was his brewing instructor. There were 43 brewing companies in the United States then. There are more than that number now in just Sonoma County. He worked for a while at Schlitz in Milwaukee. The guy who had bought Schlitz said, “It don’t matter what I put in the can as long as it has Schlitz on the label.” He […]

Clay Jordan from Speakeasy Ales and Lagers is our guest today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon, Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras. Herlinda asks Clay Jordan about the business side, and recent news, including their acquisition by a new local entrepreneur. He had to create a parent holding company. So technically they are Hunter’s Point Brewery, after the neighborhood that they occupy in San Francisco. It’s the same beer. They were not bought out by another brewery and the public facing brand is still the same. (The restaurant Speakeasy in Petaluma is not related them, they only share the name.) Clay tells how their main brands are still being brewed, such as Big Daddy and Prohibition Ale, with no changes, and they are also adding new ones. Mark remembers that Big Daddy won a Gold Medal at the GABF one year. Herlinda says […]

Sonoma County Cider Week is coming soon and Ellen Cavalli from Tilted Shed Ciderworks visits Brew Ha Ha today to talk about it. Also in are Ned Lawton from Ethic Ciders and Brad Yarger with Leaky Barell Cider Company. We’ll hear all about Sonoma County Cider Week, August 3-12, 10 days, 10 cideries, 100% awesome! Mark Carpenter likes to tell how he would make a science project for his kids using cider. He would take a bottle of apple cider at the store, add some yeast, put a balloon on the bottle and show the kids how the fermentation produced CO2 in the balloon. Brad talks about the apple varieties that go into his cider, including one rare one called Black Twig. Herlinda mentions that cider is taxed like wine, not beer. Even if many people think cider is sweet, not all of it is […]

Ron Lindenbusch from Lagunitas joins Steve Jaxon, Mark Carpenter and Herlinda Heras in the studio for today’s Brew Ha Ha show, the day after the Independence Day holiday. Herlinda Heras brought some Sumpin’ Easy Ale from Lagunitas and some other lower alcohol beers to her parties yesterday. Steve introduces Ron Lindenbusch from Lagunitas who tells about how they are starting their collaboration with Heineken. Herlinda mentions that when she brought Lagunitas beer to people in Lithuania they were thrilled to have the famous California beer in front of them. Ron mentions that he has been working with several Heineken breweries around the world in different countries. Lagunitas has their amphitheater open this summer for music concerts. Ron has legacy relationships with established bands and newcomers. Go to Lagunitas dot com to find the schedule and register on eventbrite to RSVP to the free events. […]

Dave Maclean is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Mark Carpenter. Steve opens by mentioning that Dave has sold Magnolia Brewing, which he started in 1997. Also in is Baron Ziegler of Banshee Wines. Dave’s new company is Admiral Malting. They turn raw barley into malt that brewers need to make beer. They use an old traditional practice called floor malting, where they lay it out on the floor. They sell to a lot of local brewers. Until now there has not been access to local barley malt. Mark Carpenter notes that almost all commercial cereals have malted grain, which has more flavor, and that today they will taste some beer from Seismic that used Dave’s malt. It is called Alluvium Pilsner from Seismic Brewery. It just won a Silver Medal at the California State Fair. It will be one of […]