Ken Hartoonian calls in to Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras to talk about the Vintage Beer Show at 21st Amendment Brewery on Saturday Nov. 4 from 9am-1pm. It is called the 39th Annual Western Regional Beer Can and Breweriana Show. Breweriana is anything brewery related. It can be a can, bottle, sign, coaster, bottle cap, neon sign or even some brewing equipment. The first show was held in Watsonville, hosted by the largest rose wholesaler in the state. They have extended the spirit of that show into an event where the public is invited to browse. A lot of brewers really appreciate brewing history. For example, there are lots of vintage beer signs at Russian River Brewing Co. When Herlinda asks Ken about the most unusual item in his vast collection, he mentions a can of 7-Eleven beer, from 1959. […]

Wayne Wilson, the Exalted Ruler of the Petaluma Elks Lodge, joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. The Petaluma Elks Lodge is sponsoring an Oktoberfest Beer Event on Saturday, October 21. The Elks are a charitable and fraternal organization, for men and women. This event is a fund raiser for The Elks National Foundation. Wayne Wilson describes their activities like Veterans service projects. The Elks also have one of the largest scholarship programs in the country and the National Foundation supports that. They also get involved in drug use prevention and organized sports competition. How the Elks Began The Elks lodge started as a bunch of Broadway actors in the 1870s. They were called The Jolly Corks. The New York Blue Laws prohibited bars from being open on Sundays. As a private club they could serve alcohol after midnight on Saturday nights. […]

Brian Hunt from Moonlight Brewing and Regan Long from Local Brewing Co. of San Francisco join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. They are both on the show today to talk about events that are happening this Saturday, October 14. Moonlight Brewing Co. has been around since 1992 and they are having a launch party on Saturday October 14 for a new beer called Boney Fingers. Brews on the Bay Brews on the Bay is also happening on October 14. It’s a beer festival happening on the USS Jeremiah O’Brien, a decommissioned naval ship in San Francisco harbor. Get tickets at eventbrite, at this link. Local Brewing Co. of SF will be at Brews on the Bay this Saturday, Oct. 14. Brews on the Bay is focused on serving and promoting breweries based in San Francisco and in the Bay Area. […]

Brew Ha Ha welcomes Herlinda Heras back to the studio after her recent trip to Singapore where she was a judge at the Asia Beer Championship. There were judges coming from all over Asia and they tasted and judged beers from Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and more. Singapore is on the equator so it is a hot humid place and most popular beers there are the lighter lagers and pilsners. We hear about Herlinda’s travel accident which curtailed her travel plans, caused her to have an experience with the Singapore health care system and then to cancel the second leg of her journey. The flight was 16 hours and she was in an uncomfortable seat. She regretted not wearing her compression socks. Herlinda recommends them to anyone. Yuzu Ceylon Beer Herlinda has brought Yuzu Ceylon beer, with the Yuzu, a common […]

Hendrick Verspecht from cuVer Brewing Co. is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon with guest host Peter Lopez sitting in for Herlinda Heras again today. Hendrick’s first time on Brew Ha Ha was this episode of September 16, 2021, just before cuVer opened. He was also on BHH on May 5, 2022. Now they are preparing to celebrate their second anniversary, on October 7, 2023. They begin by tasting the award-winning cuVer signature Pepperwood Saison Ale. Peter is a busy entrepreneur who runs Juncture Taproom and is a partner in Santa Rosa Pizzeria. Today he has brought some sandwiches from Santa Rosa Pizzeria. They are all named after something iconic in Santa Rosa. This panino is called Taylor Mountain. Another is Pierre’s French Dip. cuVer is pronounced “koo-VAY.” (Cuver is the infinitive ‘to ferment,’ its past participle cuvée, ‘fermented.’ -ed.) When […]

Paul Hawley and Remy Martin, co-founders of Fogbelt Brewing Co. along with Fogbelt Brewing Co. Head Brewer J.P. Bellotti are our guests on Brew Ha Ha, with Peter Lopez sitting in for Herlinda Heras. Remy and Paul were last on Brew Ha Ha on this episode of August 18, 2022 to tell the Fogbelt story as of then. Peter Lopez brought some Calzones from Santa Rosa Pizzeria, which he promised to Steve Jaxon the last time he was here with his partner Ignacio Ruiz. Remy, Paul and J.P. brought a case of different Fogbelt beers, some Octoberfest, two West Coast IPAs, two Hazies and their flagship lager. Fogbelt has five wet hop beers, brewed with fresh hops harvested and used immediately. Wet Hopped Beer They use hops from local hop farmers, to support them. They like to make as many of these beers as they […]

Melissa Luci from Alexander Valley Hops and Fal Allen of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. visit Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Fal Allen has been on the show many times, the last time was this May 13, 2021 episode. It is hop harvest season right now, as Melissa describes. Hops grow as long vines and need tall poles and wires to climb. A field of hops looks like a plantation of telephone poles. Hops were grown from the late 1800s to about 1950 when the price collapsed. Alexander Valley Hops started in 2019 on a very long and skinny lot. They have an active Instagram page. The hops grow up poles that are 18-20 feet high. There is a top wire at that height. They want the plant (called bines) to reach that height by the summer solstice. The Lost Coast Fresh […]

The co-owners of Santa Rosa Pizzeria, Peter Lopez and Ignacio Ruiz, join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Peter is a frequent guest and occasional co-host on Brew Ha Ha, here is Peter’s most recent BHH episode, from March of this year. Peter Lopez is back with Ignacio Ruiz, aka Nacho, as co-owners of the new Santa Rosa Pizzeria. They have been open for about a month. They are active on Facebook, at this link. Nacho tells the story of how he and Peter worked together in another restaurant, then they reconnected. Peter found a location that used to be under another name. Also, Barolo’s Pizza was there for about 15 years. So the place has a pizza pedigree. In less than a month they started! The Art of Pizza Peter also runs Juncture Taproom and Ignacio is also the […]

Bryan Rengel, co-founder of Old Caz Beer, joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras in the studio today on Brew Ha Ha. Co-founder Tom Edwards was on California Wine Country on this episode on March 31, 2022. Also in this show we will hear from Herlinda Heras who is just back from a lightning trip to Liverpool, England last weekend. Old Caz celebrated an anniversary last weekend. They shut the parking lot down on Saturday and had a standing room only party. Old Caz Beer is named after Old Cazadero Road. They are actually located in Rhonert Park. He and his partner met at Sonoma State on the rowing team. They were also into cycling and wanted to name a brewery after a road in west Sonoma County. They settled on Old Cazadero Road, because he describes it as a “six-mile death climb” with all […]

Brew Ha Ha is back, with Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. and Jenny Ogston from Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter. The Drive with Steve Jaxon is back on the air, on Wine Country Radio 95.5 FM, weekdays 3-6 pm. The Drive is also streaming at TheDrive955.com. Brew Ha Ha is also back on Thursday afternoons on The Drive. Steve Jaxon is hosting today’s episode, along with Herlinda Heras. Herlinda Heras is just back from Finland where she was judging the Sahti competition there. She talks about being a judge at competitions around the world. Some are in countries with long beer traditions like Germany, Belgium and Poland. Others, like Portugal, are developing new brewing industries now. In Finland, the Sahti is a traditional brew that dates back to Viking times. Jenny Ogston talks about how the Victory House is set up […]