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Herlinda Heras and Mark Carpenter have guests from The Sonoma-Marin Fair, with food and beer pairings to discover. The second day of the Sonoma-Marin fair in Petaluma is today. It’s a great little fair with a hometown feel. Since Petaluma is known for beer, they have a homebrew competition. Cristy from the Sonoma-Marin Fair has brought fair food for some pairings of beer with fair food. It starts with corn dogs and ends with funnel cakes, with everything in between, like pulled pork, tri-tip, chicken kebob and all the fixins. They are all from concessionaires at the fair.
Bob Peek is in, he used to own The Beverage People. He probably either taught all the home brewers or they took his class or bought equipment from him.
Lagunitas is a major sponsor of the fair. Herlinda mentions that Golden State Cider is also there, also Ace Cider. Cider and BBQ go very well together.
A sweet tropical stout beer goes well with spicy food. The Kiwanas Club is a sponsor that takes care of beer and wine. Herlinda finds that the Lagunitas IPA goes well with a corn dog.
“We are selflessly devoting ourselves to this research for the benefit of the community. I hope you all appreciate that, as we are sitting here eating and drinking and enjoying ourselves, we’re doing it for you!” –Pete Foppiano
Mark remembers Santa Rosa Brewing Company and its brewer Tim O’Day. He came from Britain and worked there for five years. They opened in 1993 and worked until 1998 and they won a gold medal during that time.
The Chicken Kebob comes from Jim’s Smokehouse Barbeque. It has peppers and onions and it’s huge.
This may not be the largest fair on the map but the people like it because it’s a nice size and has one admission ticket for unlimited rides. This is great for families with small children who like to take rides over and over again.
Funnel Express Funnel Cakes will donate their wares for the funnel cake eating contest. Herlinda has one with Nutella, strawberry and vanilla custard, with some Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ on the side.
The Sonoma-Marin Fair Homebrew Contest attracts a lot of entrants and attention from beer fans all over. Mark tells how Copper was a metal that brewers could work with, before the age of stainless steel. Anchor Brewing had its original copper kettles but copper wears out so instead of replacing with stainless steel they kept it in copper.
Mark mentions the animals at the fair, rabbits, chickens, sheep, pigs, etc. Sarah mentions that they also have extensive educational materials on display with big screens. The 4H and FFA kids take great care with their animals and caring for them. They also have a petting zoo and a humane society cuddle station where you can also adopt a pet.