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 […]

Ted Vivatson from Eel River Brewing Company is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras. He is the owner and co-founder of the brewery, which is located in Humboldt, California. They opened in 1995. About two years after that, they were pioneers in organic practices. Ted grew up in Danville, California and was deployed in Germany in the US Army and there he got to know high quality beer. After he left the service, he noticed that there was no good local beer, so he and some friends set about to make some. Today Eel River is one of the oldest craft breweries in America. He took a temporary job in the US Forest Service while studying engineering and home brewing. It wasn’t always easy to find ingredients and equipment back then before home brewing became popular. He took […]

Bryan Donaldson from Lagunitas and Jenny Griffo from Griffo Distillery join Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Bryan Donaldson is the Brewing Innovation Manager at Lagunitas and Jenny Griffo is a co-founder of Griffo Distillery. Lagunitas and Griffo Distillery have collaborated on a single malt whiskey accented with hops. The two companies are located a half a block away from each other. Jenny and Bryan describe the process of distilling the mashed beer with hops and then they barrel age it for three years. They will only release 600 bottles of it. People who attend the party on Thursday the 27th of April will get some. The event will feature food and a selection of beers, at Lagunitas. Then, guests will take busses across the way to visit Griffo, for the continuation, following the creation of this whiskey. Guests will get […]

Indian Valley Brewing co-founders Joe and Matt Tachis visit Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras today. Their story begins in the 1950s when their father came back from Korea and went to work for Hamm’s brewery in San Francisco. He was their west coast sales manager, there was beer around the house. From the back room to the taproom. They started Indian Valley in 2017. They were home brewing with their father and brothers. People liked their beer, so they started the brewery in back of Joe’s electrical shop and started distributing to bars and restaurants. Now they have a taproom in Novato, near the Novato smart train station. The whole family was there to help along the way, to work on everything. The taproom is open every day. There are some food trucks that park nearby. They have Mexican food […]