While The Drive is on vacation, there is no new Brew Ha Ha episode this week. So, here is an encore presentation of our episode from November 17, 2022, featuring Dave Burkhart, the author of the book The Anchor Brewing Story which was just published at the time. Anchor Brewing historian Dave Burkhart and former Anchor brewing chief Mark Carpenter join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Mark Carpenter is the former co-host of this show who began working at Anchor in 1971. Author Dave Burkhart has been with Anchor Brewing Co. for thirty-one and a half years. Very early in his tenure began collecting historical documentation of the brewery. His book, The Anchor Brewing Story, has just been published. Mark and Dave agree that Anchor has a bright future since the new owners (Sapporo) are investing heavily in the […]

The Drive is on vacation, so there is no new Brew Ha Ha show today. For this podcast episode we offer again this fun and revealing episode recorded last January 19, with Herlinda Heras’ two guests from Maryensztadt Brewery in Poland, Marcin and Artur. Enjoy! Marcin Malecki and Artur Napuripski of Maryensztadt Brewery in Poland are our guests today on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras. Artur is the sales manager as well as a beer sommelier and brewery historian, and Marcin is the brewery’s owner. Herlinda Heras has been a beer judge at the Polish national beer competition for the last few years, along with Artur. Herlinda invited them to California for a visit and for a collaboration at Anchor Brewing and a visit to some famous Sonoma County craft breweries. Marcin tells about their visit to Brew Ha Ha […]

Tom Hart, co-founder of Humboldt Cider is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras, with special guest Peter Lopez. Peter is the founder of NorCal Beer Geeks and he also runs the Juncture Taproom in Santa Rosa. Tom Hart started Humboldt Cider in 2014 with his partner. They saw an opportunity for cider and started learning how to make it for local events in small batches. For a location , they renovated an old milking barn. Most recently, they started canning during the pandemic. This was an initially forced transformation of their business but it has worked well. First to be tasted is their Drysdale Cider, made with 4 different culinary apples, golden delicious, granny smith, fuji and gala. It classifies as a dry cider on the dryness scale. Juncture Taproom Juncture Taproom is celebrating its 6th anniversary. He has […]

Author Marty Nachel, author of Beer for Dummies, joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha, on the phone from Chicago. Marty has also written How to Judge Beer Like a Pro. In order begin to judge beer like a pro, the first prerequisite is practice. However that’s not all. You have to know beer styles and be familiar with different off aromas and flavors as well. Herlinda agrees and adds that the scientific names of things are important to know, to understand beer at this level. For example, Brett, or Brettanomyces. (The term Brettanomyces comes from the Greek for “British fungus.”) Marty has been in the craft brewing industry in many roles for more than thirty years. He first got interested in beer on a long weekend vacation to Toronto where he took a tour of the Molson brewing company. He […]

Nickolas Garson, AKA Fridge, sales rep from Cooperage Brewing joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Cooperage is just about to celebrate 8 years as one of the premiere locations to get a beer in Santa Rosa. They are located on Airway Court between Piner and Hopper. Their family-friendly location is open seven days a week, Monday through Thursday from 2 to 8 pm, Friday and Saturday from noon to 11 pm and Sunday from noon to 8 pm. Their website and socials have the updated daily food truck schedule. They went out of their way to make the location comfortable and beautiful. The bar is a long redwood tree trunk. Cooperage’s founder Tyler helped Nickolas get to know and to enjoy craft beer and that led to him working in the craft beer industry. Nicholas was inspired by his first […]

Laura Sanfilippo & Sean Raymond Kelley from Lo & Behold Bar Restaurant join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Lo and Behold has three partner owners, who met while working for others. They thought Healdsburg had space for a casual place, large and spacious, with a great bar. Almost a year and a half ago, they opened Lo and Behold. Sean Kelley grew up with his grandmother’s Sunday dinners. He ran kitchens in some prominent restaurants and then went to culinary school at Tante Marie’s in San Francisco. He wants his flavors to appear familiar and comfortable, but with extraordinary flavors. The Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience includes spirits for the first time. Tickets are still available for the event. It’s all Healdsburg bartenders, pairing “farm to glass.” Her partner Tara has a farm where they grow the herbs and flowers […]

Marcin Ostajewski from Browar Fortuna and Krzysztof Panek from Browar Grodzisk in Poland join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Krzsyztof and Marcin have just arrived from Nashville, where they attended the World Beer Cup. Both of their breweries are located in western Poland, not far from Posnan. Browar Grodzisk is based in Grodzisk Wielkopolski and Browar Fortuna is in Miłosław. The Grodziskie style is Poland’s own, originating in the town of Grodzisk. It is a unique beer, the only one in the world brewed with 100 % wheat malt, smoked with oak wood. The brewing process is difficult and long and it has to take its time. Grodziskie is light and refreshing, with a unique flavor among beers on the lighter side. Marcin tells about early 20th Century advertisements for this beer that refer to it as “Polish Champagne.” There […]

Mercedes Hernandez founder of the SOCO Market and Sayre Piotrkowski from HenHouse, are our guests on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras. The Freshtival is this Saturday, May 6 at Somo Village in Rohnert Park. Get tickets here, they are going fast! As the show begins they open a Moonlight Death and Taxes that is only a few days old. Brian Hunt from Moonlight and Vinny Cilurzo from Russian River were the pioneers of quality and freshness. Today the billboard outside Santa Rosa says Welcome to Fresh Beer Country. The Importance of Freshness Sayre talks about what they call second-half beer quality. The HenHouse company mission is to improve beer quality for the end consumer and to create wealth for our community. Freshness is the one quality metric that the consumer has access to. You can see if a beer is […]

The 2023 Freshtival is today’s subject, as Zach Kelly, the brewmaster at HenHouse Brewery joins Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. Fal Allen also calls in from Booneville later in the show. The Freshtival takes place on May 6 at SOMO Village. Zach Kelly has been the brew master at HenHouse for about a year and a half now. The Freshtival, May 6, 2023 In addition to all the breweries, many artists will be at the Freshtival, who are responsible for the art work for the labels on many craft beer cans. The Freshtival also features live bands, which makes it a great music festival as well. There is also a community market. Visit HenHouse Brewing or Event Brite to get tickets and to see everything about the Freshtival. They are tasting a Petit Saison beer from HenHouse which is […]

Fal Allen of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. joins Harry Duke and Herlinda to discuss the Booneville Beer Fest, this Saturday in Booneville. Fal Allen is the brewmaster at Anderson Valley Brewing Co. in Booneville, which is sponsoring the 25th Annual Booneville Beer Fest. There will be 80 breweries there with at least 180 different beers. All the proceeds go to local non-profits in the area. They have raised over $1.25 million dollars for local charities in the last quarter century. There are also 4 bands and 10 food vendors, along with the 80 breweries, and lots of crafts for sale. There will also be cider brewers there. You can learn all about it at the Booneville Beer Fest web page, here. Anderson Valley just got named the most under-rated place to visit, for beer and wine. AVBC has been around for 45 years, but […]