Bryan is the father of two young boys and a lot of other people at the brewery have young families. So it was important for them to make the location family friendly with an area that is safe for children.
Brew Ha Ha
Brew Ha Ha is funniest and best-connected weekly show about craft beer, sake, cider, NAs and more.
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Old Caz Beer co-founder Bryan Rengel
Old Caz Beer co-founder Bryan Rengel is our guest with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on the Brew Ha Ha today. He has been on Brew Ha Ha before, most recently this episode in January of 2024.
Bryan explains that Old Caz was founded on what he calls the Free Craigslist Model of business development. They were able to build the whole brewery from equipment and furnishings that they got for free on Craigslist. They fixed all their own office furniture, and the whole taproom with a walk-in fridge, and more. It’s an ethos that he has never stopped applying to the business.
The Old Caz Cavalcade
When they opened their location in Somo Village, they conducted a trek to the new place that attracted 300 people for a 3.5 mile walk. Now for the new Petaluma location, they are organizing the Old Caz Cavalcade. This time walkers will leave on the trail then take the train down. Or, bicyclists will have a route that leads to the Smart Train Bike Path, which itself leads right to the Old Caz Backyard. You have a choice of routes.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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The bike route is almost totally flat. Old Cazadero Road is the origin of the Old Caz Beer name. That was their favorite difficult ride among all the local hills.
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Visit our sponsor Pro Chiller online for all the info about their new CO2-based Pro Green Solutions.
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00:45:45
Jul 30, 2026 11:23 PM
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Comet Corn owners Sherry and Jeff Soleski
Comet Corn owners Sherry and Jeff Soleski are back on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras, six years after their first time on the show. That was this episode on December 20, 2018, along with co-host (at the time) Mark Carpenter and Brian Hunt from Moonlight Brewing Co.
Comet Corn is well known around Sonoma County as it’s sold in all the breweries and taprooms as well as all the concerts. Jeff describes himself as the Summertime Santa with lots of popcorn to share.
Herlinda gives Jeff and Sherry credit for their resilience. They lost their home in the Glass fire and yet they are “walking sunshine” says Herlinda. The Hale-Bopp comet was in the sky in 1997. Jeff and Sherry were so impressed with that comet that it led to the name of their business.
Named after Comet Hale-Bopp
Jeff is a builder, a carpenter and makes stained glass. He was musing on what his next chapter would be. They were out camping, and Hale-Bopp was in the sky. He was making popcorn, dressing it and giving it out. He wondered out loud what his next move would be and someone said, it’s the popcorn. It was hard to sell stained glass but he saw that people wanted snacks. Then he decided that if he was going to create something, is should be food.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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Jeff can’t play music but he found that by feeding hungry musicians, he could get in to music events. So he built a customized popcorn cart and went into the business of making people happy.
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Visit our sponsor Pro Chiller online for all the info about their new CO2-based Pro Green Solutions.
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Hippie Dust is the name of the flavor now, but Hippie Dust was what they used to call nutritional yeast. The name of the salt flavor is Celestial. The others are Bloody Mary, Coconut Curry and Maple Syrup. They get their corn and safflower oil from organic growers. Herlinda notices that it is perfectly popped, light and crispy. They make fresh popcorn daily. Sherry calls all of their suppliers the Popcorn Tribe because it is a big family.
00:13:05
Jul 23, 2026 11:24 PM
SQUEAKYWHEEL Beverages
Theresa, Jesse and Johanna from Squeakywheel Beverages join Herlinda Heras in the studio today on the Brew Ha Ha. Theresa Scripps is a co-founder, Johanna Pino does communication strategy and social media for Squeakywheel and Jesse Giambrone is a co-founder and creative director. This is their first time on the show.
Squeakywheel Beverages are to be featured at the Petaluma Music Festival, which takes place two days after the live show. We talked about it on last week’s show, right here. Our guests have brought all three Squeakywheel cocktails, Squeakyrita, Squeakytiki and Squeakyspritz. Squeakytiki is a tropical fruit punch. Squeakyrita is Baja Lime with salt, and Squeakyspritz is “kind of like an Aperol spritz” flavor. They are wine cocktails and 6% Abv. People find that the flavor is surprisingly light and refreshing.
Sqeakywheel at the Petaluma Music Festival
Herlinda will be at the Petaluma Music Festival, with a tasting tent featuring all kinds of refreshing beverages. Especially at these brew fests, when people are drinking a lot of beer, these drinks can really hit the spot. Also, they are gluten-free. They work with Paul Scotto, a winemaker from Lodi. Yet this is very different and not like wine at all. They start with a blend of a light white wine, unbaked, then they add some water to regulate the alcohol. All of the flavors are lightly effervescent, with a clean finish and no sugar aftertaste.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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Music and arts belong in the schools and schools without the arts are no schools at all. It’s a cheapening of our entire culture. So these fund raisers are sometimes our only chance to make a positive contribution.
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Visit our sponsor Pro Chiller online for all the info about their new CO2-based Pro Green Solutions.
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Jesse mentions that the squeaky wheel gets the grease and Theresa mentions the slogan, and that the brand and the consumers have a voice. The slogan is, “start something, say something, be squeaky.” It’s “an energetic, stylish brand with an attitude and a voice.” Visit the Squeakywheel Beverages website for all the locations where the brand is distributed.
00:26:17
Jul 23, 2026 11:23 PM
Petaluma Music Festival plus Hiveworks Mead
Cliff Eveland from the Petaluma Music Festival and Alex Mendoza from Hiveworks Mead join Herlinda and Daedalus on Brew Ha Ha. Alex has been on Brew Ha Ha before, the last time was this episode on January 3, 2025, when he was here with his colleague Sean Duckworth. Herlinda’s father is also in the studio today.
ProChiller is a new sponsor of Brew Ha Ha. It is a refrigeration system that uses Co2 instead of other refrigerants. They were on Brew Ha Ha on this recent show. They are making a presentation on July 22 at Hanabi Lager. Check out ProChiller.com for all the info.
Alex Mendoza tells how he discovered mead and Cliff Eveland tells about the Petaluma Music Festival. Alex grew up on a ranch in Sonoma County with a lot of fruit trees which means there were bees around. He knew about mead and since Sonoma County is the hub for craft brewing and winemaking, he experimented with fermentation and liked the results.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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The Petaluma Music Festival
The Petaluma Music Festival is a fund raiser for music in schools. Cliff Eveland is also a band teacher. He organizes the concert with a lineup of great musicians. Find the list of artists right here at the Petaluma Music Festival website.
Herlinda will be organizing a Craft Beverage Tasting, to include brews other than beer, such as mead. Father’s Brewing will be there along with a full Tiki bar from Squeaky Little Beverages, another wine bar, and more. The booth will be decorated Tiki style. Lagunitas and Old Caz Beer are big sponsors too. Fathers Brewing was on Brew Ha Ha on this episode last February. Old Caz Beer has been featured many times as well, their last time was this episode, also last February.
Mead is one of the oldest forms of alcohol that people have made. Mead is made primarily from honey. There are different styles of mead. Some are thick and sweet. Hiveworks Mead style is light, dry and refreshing. The only ingredients are honey and water. It is lightly carbonated.
00:37:46
Jul 16, 2026 11:23 PM
John Burton & Grace Bros. Beer Can Breweriana Show
John Burton is back on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell to present the 2nd Annual Grace Bros. Breweriana show. He has been on the show before, the last time was this episode one year ago. John Burton is an eminent beer historian who has a vast personal collection of beer memorabilia.
Russian River Brewing Co. has a slate of fun events this summer. Visit Russian River Brewing for all the events and dates. Come see a real NHRA drag racer, on Wednesday July 15, from 4-7 PM at the Russian River Brewing Co in Windsor. And visit Russian River Brewing on Instagram
This Saturday July 11, from 9am to 2pm, there will be the 2nd Annual Grace Bros. Beer Can, Breweriana & Antique Advertising Show at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building (1351 Maple Ave, Santa Rosa, CA 95404). Get all the event information from the organizers at this page.
There will be exhibits from all over the country of antique beer branding, labels, cans, bottles, signs and other kinds of memorabilia, all for sale.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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Grace Bros. and John Burton
John Burton worked as a bartender for many years in many of the finest establishments in and around Santa Rosa. He also ran the Burton’s Bartending School for 47 years.
There will be a beer can and bottle show, with lots of antiques and collectable memorabilia. Exhibitors are coming from all over the country. The Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial building has free parking and spacious facilities. Admission is free and to be a vendor the fee is only $20.
Grace Bros. was in operation from 1897 to 1966. John Burton became friends with Virginia Grace more than thirty years ago. It was the largest local employer for a long time. They also had breweries in Los Angeles and Fresno, at their height.
00:11:33
Jul 9, 2026 11:23 PM
Stumptown Russian River Beer & Rib Revival 2026
Mark Legree with the Stumptown Russian River Beer & Rib Revival joins Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha today. The event is a fund raiser for the Russian River Senior Center. Stumptown Brewery is located near the Russian River. The Russian River Beer and Rib Revival is a large event with many tents hosting beers, cider, mead and about twenty barbeque teams. Herlinda was in the competition for nine years.
The basics are, there are 30 plus breweries and 20 plus barbeque teams. There is a great music lineup too. They have barbeque oysters and sometimes pit barbeque. They allocate over two pounds of meat per person.
Herlinda’s team actually came in second one year for their wings. Some of the professional barbeque people are on the scene in the middle of the night before, getting ready.
Herlindas suggests not to wear white. They normally sell out every year and as of today’s show, June 25, tickets are going fast, so check it if you are interested. Get tickets at Eventbrite here.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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Russian River Brewing Company will be there. It is one of their favorite events. All of the breweries love coming to the Revival. It is also an opportunity for local brewers to meet each other. There are awards for people’s choice there are also judges.
00:12:49
Jun 25, 2026 11:24 PM
The Gravenstein Apple Fair 2026
Carmen Snyder from the Gravenstein Apple Fair 2026 joins Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. She has brought lots of goodies including an organic Gravenstein apple pie from Cameron at the Gentle Hearth. He is a local who uses his grandmother’s apple pie recipe. He will be at the 53rd annual Gravenstein Apple Fair this August 8th and 9th, selling pie by the slice. He also makes mustard and barbeque sauce. Get tickets at Eventbrite dot com at this page.
(Speaking of barbeque, part two of today’s show features Stumptown Brewery and their Russian River Beer and Rib Revival.)
The Gentle Hearth promotes Gravenstein apples by supporting local growers and maintaining pride in Sonoma County’s orchard heritage.
The Gravenstein Apple Fair is the annual fund raiser for Farm Trails which promotes Sonoma County farmers, ranchers and producers. Get tickets at this page on Eventbrite dot com.
The Gravenstein Apple Fair had 16,000 people in attendance last year and they only generated two cubic yards of landfill trash. This year they will have another strong roster of chefs and bakers. There will be a craft cider tent at the Fair as well as sausages and cheese from Valley Ford Cheese.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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Gravenstein Apple Fair Attractions
Farm Trails organizes many promotions for local farmers. They hold an Apple Blossom Festival in March, then “Blossoms, Bees and Barn Babies” are seasonal tours where people can get out and meet farmers and producers on their own turf. “We want to be megaphones and cheerleaders to elevate our farmers and to promote them so that they can have greater economic viability.” Clark Wolf will also be chairing a panel about women farmers. There is a pie contest too, and perhaps Herlinda will be a judge. They have adult and youth competitions. “It’s an old-fashioned fair with a modern ethos.”
The Fair is full of attractions. They have lots of arts and crafts and the music lineup is excellent. The event is August 8-9. Locals can take advantage of a deeply discounted ticket. If you buy your ticket from a local partner, the price is only $20.
The piglet races are hilarious. They put four piglets into four lanes with differently colored vests. They are released onto the track and run to the food at the finish line, but sometimes they take the long way around. The audience gets split up into groups to cheer for one racer. It ends with photo ops for the winning piglet. And if that’s not enough, there are also very cute sheep and lambs. Get tickets at Eventbrite dot com at this page.
00:20:39
Jun 25, 2026 11:23 PM
Rob Loverde, Beatles and Beer
Rob Loverde is back on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell for another round of Beatles and Beer. The first Beatles and Beer show was this episode last April. Rob is an audio engineer and a Beatles expert.
Today is Paul McCartney’s 84th birthday. Herlinda made her original list of Beatles tunes and beers together with Rob, six years ago and he joins Herlinda today for the second Beatles and Beer show.
Rob is a mastering engineer for Mobile Fidelity, aka MoFi. That is the last phase of audio manipulation or editing. It is also the first step in production by producing a master recording for duplication into different media.
Today Rob and Herlinda will pair beers with Beatles and Wings songs. Herlinda and Rob have seen him perform in concert. When I’m 64 was the first song recorded for Sgt. Pepper. Meanwhile, the Scots are drinking Boston dry during the World Cup.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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Since 1966 Paul has owned a farm in Scotland, where he lived with his wife Linda. The Wings song Mull of Kintyre was for a while the highest selling single in UK history, (since then only three songs have sold more). The song is unknown to American audiences, where it was released to modest sales and was soon forgotten. That’s understandable, since the song has a strong Scottish character that appealed to UK audiences. US audiences did not pick up on any of that local joy. They toast to Paul with a Scotch Ale.
Paul practices yoga and according to Herlinda, “…still stands on his head every day.” In April of 1973 Pablo Picasso passed away. Paul and Linda were visiting Dustin Hoffman then, talking about their craft. They discussed Picasso and his last words, “Drink to me, drink to my health. You know I can’t drink anymore.” Paul started strumming the guitar and started writing the song Picasso’s Last Words at Dustin’s suggestion.
Herlinda brought a Paulaner Pils, a Bavarian style pilsner beer. The Beatles connection to Germany dates back to when they went to Hamburg, to play steady gigs. They met Klaus Voorman who was an art director and artist. He drew the cover of Revolver. Also, he later became the bass player of the Plastic Ono Band. The Liverpool Beatles Museum that Pete Best and his brother Roag own, has an exhibition of Stu Sutcliffe’s art, through this September.
He heard a song from Wings called Old Siam Sir, from the last Wings album. So, Herlinda opens a Chang lager from Thailand. Unfortunately it has been in storage too long. Lagers do expire, especially in green glass. Also, to celebrate Apple Records, Herlinda has brought a cider called WildCide. The Beatles’ last public concert was in San Francisco in 1966. In honor of that location she has an Anchor Steam Beer. Herlinda believes it is possible that the Beatles drank that beer while they were in San Francisco.
00:36:35
Jun 18, 2026 11:23 PM
ProChiller PROGreen along with Hanabi Lager
Jim Vander Giessen with Prochiller PROGreen and Nick Gislason from Hanabi Lager join us on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell. Nick has been on the show before, the last time was this episode last January. Jim Vander Giessen is a co-founder and CEO of Prochiller. He is in California for the ProGreen50 Showcase in Napa. Jim Weatherwax from ProChiller is also in the studio today.
ProChiller manufactures a wide range of refrigerant systems. They have a new product line called PROGreen Solutions which uses refrigerants that have a negligible global warming potential.
Herlinda discovered this company at the Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia. ProChiller was showing their PROGreen systems at the conference. Herlinda was there with a friend who introduced her to them.
They mentioned that they were coming to California soon to present their products in Napa and they have just arrived.
ProChiller and Hanabi Lager
Nick Gislason is the owner of Hanabi Lager. He is also a professional winemaker and he knows the ProChiller company from using their systems in the winery. Refrigeration is important to both industries. Nick is doing a six-month experiment with a ProChiller system.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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In brewing or winemaking, you need chilling for different steps in the process and up to the finished goods. In both cases, there is fermentation which produces heat. If you let the fermentation run away, it ruins the product. You have to pull the heat out and move it from the tank to a radiator outside.
The ProChiller PROGreen system is a CO2 based chiller that does not use traditional chemical refrigerants. Those chemicals have a high global warming potential if they are ever accidentally released. But the CO2 has a negligible index, about 1, compared too 500 or more. Nick explains his reasons for chosing to work with this new system. CO2 chillers actually produce boiling water as a “waste product” which is very useful around the brewery. ProChiller will be demonstrating the PROGreen chiller on Thursday, June 11, at Hanabi Lager in Napa. Soon they will hold other demos in the Sonoma County area.
00:40:13
Jun 11, 2026 12:23 PM
Jeremy Marshall with Lagunitas Trooper West Coast IPA
Jeremy Marshall from Lagunitas has brought their Trooper West Coast IPA to Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell. Jeremy was on Brew Ha Ha on this episode of November 22, 2018.
Lagunitas is putting on an air guitar contest to celebrate the release of their Trooper West Coast IPA. Jeremy will pour from a growler of the Trooper West Coast IPA, drawn straight from the tank.
The air guitar championship is set for 6/6/26. That’s Saturday, June 6, 2026, the same day as the beer release. Herlinda will be one of the judges. It’s a collaboration with Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickerson. He is a beer guy, an entrepreneur, and a motivational speaker too.
To register as a contestant, you will need to provide your stage name. Sign up at Eventbrite right here under Lagunitas Trooper, or look on Instagram, Facebook. If you’re interested, act fast, since they will cap the number of contestants. The prize is an actual real guitar, a 50th anniversary edition Fender. Contestants must choose the song they will perform when they register. These are the three songs to choose from:
– Hallowed Be Thy Name, 5 to 5½ minutes
– Two Minutes to Midnight, 3 minutes
– Phantom of the Opera, 6 minutes
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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A US Partner for Trooper Ale
Robinsons Brewery in England was the first to give the name Trooper to their signature premium ale. There is also a Brazilian Trooper ale. So when Iron Maiden was searching for a US partner, Bruce’s son’s wife told Bruce that Lagunitas was the perfect fit. Eventually Jeremy went to meet them backstage after a concert. He brought a cooler full of samples to share with a who’s who of metal bands. He found that Bruce was quite articulate about what flavors he liked.
The Lagunitas Trooper West Coast IPA uses a new hop called Krush. Jeremy likes its flavor profile. He tastes “weed, passion fruit, guava…” It was HBC586 in development and now it's Krush. Watch out for a 100% Krush Beer for the radio station The Krush KRSH 95.9!
Jeremy confirms that Heineken is letting Lagunitas be Lagunitas. Heineken is the only worldwide beer company that is still majority owned by the family.
Jeremy went to UC Davis and studied brewing science. Michael Lewis and Charlie Bamforth were his teachers. They taught English ale styles, whereas Seibel in Germany is where to learn about lager beers. Lagers are a colder, longer stored style, like Coors Banquet or Budweiser. He describes the students at Davis as Beards versus Vests. Wine guys wore vests and beer guys had beards.
Lager and Ale
Compared to Lager, Ale is a little fruitier, and louder. If you hop it even more, you get to IPA. They are produced quicker and are more expressive and more popular in America. Wisconsin’s German-American community drove that city’s brewing history, so they made more German Lager styles.
After UC Davis, Jeremy’s first beer gig was Lagunitas. Tony asked where else he sent the letter. He wrote to all the breweries that made the beer he drank at Davis. Most were Ales, like Arrogant Bastard from Stone.
Jeremy has seen it all at Lagunitas. He knows that in the future, the successful breweries will have great focus and discipline. Other than Lagunitas, Russian River Brewing Co. is an example of that.
00:40:49
Jun 4, 2026 11:23 PM
8-Ball Tavern’s Three New Owners
The 8-Ball Tavern‘s new owners Julie, Jen and Audrey, join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha today. This is their first time on the show.
They have taken over the 8-Ball, which has been through quite a few incarnations. Julie has been running it for the last 8 years. Cotati is a college town, SSU is nearby. Herlinda has known the bar since university days, and has known Julie for a while too.
Yesterday we celebrated the 55th anniversary of the 1971 California Supreme Court decision that finally allowed women to bartend. Before that, the only women who could bartend legally in California were those whose male family members owned the bar, or those who owned the bar’s license themselves. There were various reasons given for the prohibition, which included some chauvinistic attitudes. Herlinda describes the legal twist. When a bar owner petitioned to open a topless bar, the judgement struck down the previous law as discriminatory. Because of this decision, the state had to allow women bartenders.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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Griffo Espresso Martinis
There is a new vibe and new umbrellas, and it’s a lot cleaner than it was, but without significant changes to the dive bar look. “We just want to make a happy place for people to come and vibe and just be themselves.” There are food trucks that come. Mondays and Tuesdays there are great tacos. Sunday is Fun Day, with all kinds of games.
They are open from 7am to 2am every day. They are at 8 Charles Street in Cotati.
Some of the old bartenders from back in the day are back, such as Jim and Cassie. This has brought some of the old patrons back too. They have restored the place and positioned it for the future to provide a safe place for people in the community to meet. There is a new coffee machine and they still have three pool tables with a pool league on Friday nights starting June 21.
Customer Safety is Paramount
The 8-Ball Tavern new owners are committed to making it a safe place for women. There are plenty of security guards and the bar staff are trained to look for signs of bad behavior.
They have HenHouse Hazy, Old Caz One-Way IPA, PVA on tap, many beers from Morris distributing, like Bear Republic Racer 5 and Farmer’s Light. There are also have lots of bottles of beers from outside the area. They have seven or eight taps, which are the fresher, local beers. Every Bloody Mary is made by hand and every bartender has a style.
Follow the 8-Ball Tavern Instagram page for all the latest info. They have three shifts at their bar, 7 to 12, 12 to 6, then 6 to 2am. Any time is good, and “…the daytime crowd is so cool.” And they would be amenable to a remote broadcast on the back patio, so stay tuned for that!
00:37:39
May 28, 2026 11:23 PM
Russian River Brewing News with Natalie Cilurzo
Natalie Cilurzo joins Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha, to tell us about Russian River Brewing News and upcoming events. Her last time on the show was with Pliny the Younger back on March 18.
Natalie has brought three beers to taste, including Vinnie Cilurzo’s first signature beer, Blind Pig.
Herlinda and Natalie were at the Craft Beer Convention in Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago. The industry is contracting. Schlitz beer is closing, in Milwaukee. They have been there for 120 years. Somebody might acquire that brand.
Unreasonable Hospitality
One of the speakers they heard was Will Guidara. He talked about his book called Unreasonable Hospitality. Natalie is a fan and describes his advice for companies and people in any industry related to hospitality. He used to own 11 Madison Park, a Michelin 3-star restaurant. His approach is to do things for guests that are unexpected.
For example, he sent his staff outside to get a hot dog from a street vendor, so he could serve it to his guests at his Michelin restaurant. He overheard their wish and did this to surprise them.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Check out their website and socials for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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That made Natalie and Vinnie think a lot about the experience that people get from their annual Pliny the Younger release. Natalie remembers a young family there last year and the mom was pregnant, so Natalie gave her a RRBC onesie. The next year, they were back with the baby, wearing the onesie. The little details and personal touches are what make a customer’s experience special memorable. “It’s not just the beer, it’s the experience,” says Herlinda.
The first beer they taste today is called Stivo. It’s a Keller Pils that they have made in collaboration with Firestone Walker for about 20 years, although this is the first year that RRBC is actually producing it. It has a dry hoppy flavor, but not like an IPA, what they call German hoppy, not as strong.
A Really Fun Busy Summer at Russian River Brewing
Natalie grew up around cars and racing, and when they built the location in Windor with a big parking lot, she thought it would be a great place for a car show. So, they are doing that and there are 4 of them on the calendar this summer. One of the cars on display is an original Volkswagen van, owned by the third generation of the family. There will be lots of cars, a chopper sometimes shows up, a fire engine and an old Highway Patrol car too.
The NHRA top fuel drag races are coming to Sonoma Raceway and they will display the cars on Wednesday, July 15, before the race, Anton Brown’s top fuel dragster will be on display.
00:50:51
May 21, 2026 11:23 PM
Ethic Cider founder Ned Lawton
Ned Lawton, Ethic Cider founder, is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell. Ned Lawton came straight from the farm. That’s the farm in your glass, says Herlinda. The aroma rises from a wine glass. Ned was on BHH last year on May 15, 2025, almost exactly one year ago to the day.
Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more. Coming soon to Windsor, the Way-Back Wednesday Antique Car Show, June 17, July 22, August 19 and September 16, 5-7 PM, with a display of vintage cars, trucks and motorcycles. For more info, check out RRBC dot com and the RRBC socials.
Anything that is fermented fruit, like wine or cider, is made, and taxed, like wine. Ethic has a cider made from Arkansas Black apples. It is a late harvest apple and a slow ferment. In terms of wine talk, these apples are about 20 Brix, where apples are usually around 14 or 15 Brix. Cider makers can choose from different varietals, and they can also flavor it in many ways, such as adding fruit or using bourbon barrels. Ned says that’s where they bring fun to the game.
Ethic Cider has a 3.5 acre apple orchard, with about 20 varietals. They have some Gravenstein and Goldan Delicious and Johnathans. They use those as a basis and build on top of that, getting apples from other growers as well.
Blending Cider: balancing tart, sweet and bitter.
Blending cider is a balance between tart, sweet and bitter. They can also add sugars. Ned says they also use natural yeast. The majority of the small makers do natural fermentation. They like to let the ciders start naturally, then finish with some white wine yeast. They do it carefully, but it is to make the flavors more predictably uniform.
This middle path between wine and beer is Ned’s own way. He says cider people can be iconoclasts, a bit against the grain. He came from tech, did twenty years of that, then bought a farm in Occidental. He found that there was a lot to be done there, refurbishing the land.
It was already apple country. He had a lot to learn about agriculture and refurbishing the land they are on.
Ned sees that cider is growing. Since there is a known decline in wine and beer, people are discovering the option of cider. Everyone is asking what the consumer wants. Some of it is non-alcoholic. Ned thinks the growth in cider will also be driven by local production and brands.
Ethic Cider Events
Ethic Cider has events coming soon. The Summer Celebration Kick-Off is on May 30 from Noon to 5pm, at the Ethic Cider orchard in Sebastopol. Music, cider, barbeque and fun, no reservation required. Cider pairs well with BBQ! Also, they will also start doing Cider Salon on the second Thursday of the month, from 5-8 PM. The first Cider Salon is June 11, and they run through October.
They taste a Newtown Pipin, which grows in the back of the orchard. Later they taste an Eau di Vie which is a brandy. They distill it from apples. It is clear and has no wood and no wood influences. It is really a spirit. So they add things to it. It can go into a spritz, with a cherry and some ice. Eau de vie can support a really nice cocktail.
They also make a tonic water, which came from the need to have an N.A. option. They didn’t want to make a fermented cider and then de-alcoholize it, so they use apple cider vinegar mother to flavor it. With ethic tonic and apple cider vinegar, you can make a “shrub.” Herlinda points out that any menu or event should have at least one really good non-alcoholic option. This is to make sure that there is something for everybody. The problem has been sugars, and finding NA beverages that are not so high in sugar.
00:38:22
May 14, 2026 11:23 PM
Marin Irish Festival 2026
Drew and Kevin Patterson from the Marin Irish Festival 2026 join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. Drew also came on Brew Ha Ha last year on April 24, 2025, to promote last year’s event.
This year the festival has grown to cover two days, Saturday and Sunday May 16 and 17. Herlinda remembers attending the first Marin Irish Festival last year. Kevin’s parents started the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in the ‘70s. They also produce the Dickens Christmas Faire at the Cow Palace in December.
They have everything Irish; food and drink, music, sheep dogs and a sanctioned Irish dance competition, called a feis, pronounced “fesh.” Theirs is maybe the biggest feis on the west coast. They have some Guinness, Smithwick and Tullamore whiskey,
There are two Irish pubs. One is called the Bearded Goose, and the other is called The Gander. They sell all the Irish brews they can bring in. Drew says live music is what makes an Irish pub live. You can actually bring your instruments and play along.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.
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Lagoon Park Comes to Life
Lagoon Park is in the Marin County fairgrounds. The park comes to life with 6 stages. There will be demonstrations of falconry. One falconer has worked with them for more than 30 years. They will actually fly the birds from the main stage. There is also a pen for a small flock of sheep, where they demonstrate how sheep dogs work with the sheep.
The festival began when some friends of Kevin’s were organizing a feis, but they had nothing happening around it. They developed the festival around the feis.
Smithwick’s is a red ale and they are proud that they have it on draft. The Guinness is also on draft. Every glass of Guinness takes a two-minute pour.
Tickets are $30 which Herlinda says is reasonable enough to allow someone to also do some shopping. There is a selection of craft vendors, makers of candles, glass blowing, kilts and more. There is a traditional meat pie booth. Hop Monk puts a special menu together. They also have kebobs and Greek food. The Tully Pickleback is a shot of pickle juice with a shot of Tullamore Dew whiskey. Hair of the dog? Pre-emptive hair of the dog?
For example, Hop Monk makes Irish tacos, with corned beef and cabbage on a tortilla.
00:28:44
May 7, 2026 11:23 PM
Herlinda Back from Philly and the Giro Vigneti
Jim Morris of Healdsburg Rotary and Randy Johnson of Getaway Ventures join Herlinda and Daedalus on Brew Ha Ha to talk about the Giro Vigneti bicycle ride. Also, Herlinda is back from a trip to Philadelphia where she attended the Craft Brewers Conference and the World Beer Cup. She has a lot to tell about Philadelphia and naturally she has also brought some beers back to taste and share.
Later in the show, Jim Morris from Healdsburg Sunrise Rotary and Randy Johnson from Getaway Ventures join us to talk about the Giro Vigneti bicycle ride.
This year Philly will be a big part of the nation’s 250th or sesquicentennial celebrations. Herlinda’s last visit there was in 2020 during the pandemic and the Glass fire at home, when she escaped to Tara’s in Camden. During Covid they only let 6 or 12 people at a time into the Declaration of Independence. This time, there were school groups coming through. Philadelphia was our first national capital city and one of the cities at the heart of the American Revolution.
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Visit Russian River Brewing Co. online for up-to-date hours at the Downtown Santa Rosa and Windsor locations, menus, beers available and more.
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The first beer Herlinda opens is a collaboration brew from the Craft Brewers Association and several other breweries. The members of the Craft Brewers Association are small independent family-owned businesses, not large corporate operations. This beer is a lager, 5.7% ABV and he label says, “Of the brewers, by the brewers, for the brewers…”
Several Bay Area breweries won medals at the World Beer Cup:
- Russian River Brewing Co. won a bronze medal for Velvet Glow.
- Morgan Territory Brewing in Tracy did very well.
- Fieldwork Brewing, which just came into Santa Rosa, won several golds.
- Danville Brewing Company, Hot Dogma and Alvarado Street Brewery won medals.
- Otherwise Brewing in San Francisco swept the gluten-free category.
- Sonoma Springs Brewing in Sonoma County and Cooperage Brewing in Santa Rosa also won medals.
They begin the second portion of today’s show by tasting the second beer, called A Smile with Every Sip, from Troëgs. Jim Morris from Healdsburg Sunrise Rotary and Randy Johnson from Getaway Ventures join Herlinda and Daedalus. They are here to describe the Giro Vigneti bicycle ride. It is a bicycle ride and race, one of the more beloved ones out there. It has a culinary tilt to it that no other ride has. There are three different routes, The Healdsburg Century, a Metric Century and an intermedio. There are well over 100 riders. The itineraries start and end in Healdsburg and go around the hills and the valley, with rest stops.
The Giro Vigneti is a fund raiser. The grand prize is dinner for two at fifteen different restaurants in Healdsburg, including some pretty big names. The raffle tickets are $25 each or 5 for $100. All of the Rotarians are out selling raffle tickets. This is their single biggest fund raiser. To register to ride, go to the Giro Vigneti website. You can also ride a pedal-assist e-bike that you can rent from Getaway Adventures dot com in Healdsburg. They are offering 20% off for this race.
00:36:22
Apr 30, 2026 11:23 PM
Herlinda in Philadelphia at Craft Brewers Conference
On Brew Ha Ha today, Herlinda is calling in from Philadelphia to talk to Daedalus Howell about the Craft Brewers Conference there, happening along with the World Beer Cup. Russian River Brewing Co.’s Velvet Glow Helles-style lager just won a Bronze medal at the World Beer Cup.
Just as Herlinda was checking in with her media credentials, there was a crush of other media people around her. She saw that Joe Frazier’s daughter was there for the dedication of a statue of Joe Frazier in Philadelphia. Frazier was a heavyweight champion from Philadelphia. Next year the conference will be in San Antonio.
The World Beer Cup is a competition among more than 8,144 beers from 1,644 breweries in 50 different countries. There were 255 judges, 128 of them were from outside the US. 113 beer categories and 5 cider categories made for an average of 69 beers in a category in the competition. So there are dozens of winners in all the different categories and styles.
The local promoters always showcase the local beers, so Herlinda noticed that there were lots of Pennsylvania beers too, in circulation.
Why does Gen Z drink less?
The conference has sessions about the state of the business, and equipment, yeast, etc. There was a seminar about why Gen Z people aren’t drinking as much. They collected suggested reasons why, and Herlinda’s Gen Z daughter had some thoughts. She points out that there are so many people on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications now and you can’t drink when you’re on those meds. Nobody had brought that up.
Another seminar reported evidence showing that people are spending 45% more time alone still, after Covid. Socialization is important to personal well-being as well as to recovery in the industry. Breweries are aware that to keep people together, they have to offer beverages and experiences beyond just the beer. Herlinda’s daughter also points out that that people have limited disposable income and don’t want to lose a day to a hangover.
The RRBC site describes Velvet Glow as an homage to an old Grace Brother’s beer. The Grace Brother’s brewery operated in Santa Rosa from 1933 to 1966. They created many iconic beer brands including Velvet Glow and Happy Hops. Velvet Glow is a clean, crisp, and refreshing Helles-style lager. It has a bright straw color and flavors of bread crust and biscuit. There is a very low bitterness with a mild hop aroma.
The top five countries for number of entries were the US, Canada, China, Japan and Brazil. Herlinda got some really cute socks too, that she will bring back.
In Brews News, Toronado Beer Bar in SF has been acquired by one of its regulars. The owner was ready to retire so it’s a good move. Firestone Walker has also bought Stone Brewing in Southern California. Some locations will close but it will continue. Sapporo had owned Stone and the Firestone people are happy. Nice that it’s a beer company and not a hedge fund. Also, Evil Genius of Philadelphia has bought out 21st Amendment Brewing in SF, a favorite stop of baseball fans in the city.
00:15:18
Apr 23, 2026 11:23 PM
Tara Nurin Documentary
Tara Nurin calls in to Brew Ha Ha to discuss plans for a documentary film about the subject of her book A Woman’s Place Is In The Brewhouse. This call came near the end of the episode with Gabi Demozzi, which is right here. The film is called Witchy Boots.
Tara is a journalist who covers the beverage business and the personal stories of people in the beverage industry. She is the author of A Woman’s Place Is In The Brewhouse and she has been on Brew Ha Ha many times. Tara covered mental health in the beverage industry on this episode on May 2, 2024. Tara also holds the honor of being the guest on our first podcast episode here in February of 2018.
Tara lives near Philadelphia, the site of next week’s Craft Beer conference. The Pink Boots Society is kicking off the conference on Sunday with an inclusive festival that is inclusive of beverages and of people. Philadelphia is known for other foods than cheesesteaks. The Redding Terminal Market is the oldest indoor food market in the country. Also, the Italian Market takes up several blocks in south Philadelphia. In recent years there are some Mexican restaurants in the area and further south, some Asian restaurants. It is becoming more eclectic. Herlinda remembers some killer pizza too. There are several oldest, coolest, original this or that, all over the city, to discover. Look for Philadelphia to be the official home of the 250th anniversary of the US, this year in July, 2026.
00:12:45
Apr 16, 2026 11:24 PM
Gabrielle Demozzi, Dim Sum and Beer
Gabi Demozzi, a Dim Sum chef and beer judge from Brazil, is our guest today on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell. Gabi is a certified Cicerone, professor, consultant and chef who has been working with beer for 16 years. She is currently working on opening a restaurant that will match Dim Sum with craft beer named Dim Sum da Gabi. It is already operating via delivery and private dinners. Today is her first time on the show.
Herlinda met Gabi two years ago when she was a judge in the Brazilian national beer competition. Herlinda describes her trip to Brazil in this episode, from the week after she got back. Gabi was in Denver recently for the World Beer Cup, and they will be in Philadelphia next week for the World Beer Cup.
A Beer Judge’s Job
Judging beer is hard work and carries a lot of responsibility. In the field of professional beer judging, there are thousands of beers in many different categories. Usually there are four or five judges per category. Beer judges have to swallow the beer in order to properly evaluate it. This is different than wine judges who spit the wine out after they taste it. Yesterday Gabi spent six hours at Russian River Brewing Co. in Windsor. Afterwards they even went to Russian River downtown.
The official Brew Ha Ha cocktail shaker is ready and we hear it in minute 10. Gabi has brought a bottle of Cachaça (pron. “ka-SHA-sa”). It is distilled from fresh sugar cane juice. The Caipirinha (pron. “kai-pi-REEN-ya”) is the Brazilian national cocktail, made with cachaça. This one is flavored with cinnamon and clove. She mixes limes and lemons, but Caipirinhas can be made with any kind of fruit juice. The better quality the Cachaça, the tastier your Caipirinha will be.
00:33:40
Apr 16, 2026 11:23 PM
Beer and Beatles with Herlinda
It’s not business as usual this time on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell, as Herlinda presents Beatles and Brews today. She has had this playlist on her main fridge for about 6 years. What’s more, she has such a collection of beers that she can line up the labels to match the songs for today’s show. The show begins with two Beatles tunes, She Loves You and I Want You / She’s So Heavy.
Herlinda is a Beatles superfan. She knows Pete Best, who was the drummer for The Beatles before Ringo joined the band. Herlinda even has a signed picture with him from when he played in Petaluma on tour. Pete’s mother Mona Best bet on a horse named Never Say Die to win the 1954 Epsom Derby, at 33-1 odds. (sorry, audio garbled at 8:00) She used the winnings to buy the house where they built The Casbah Coffee Club in the basement. Pete’s brother Roag still runs tours at the original Casbah location.
She Loves You goes with A View From The Top from Five Boroughs Brewing in Brooklyn. They brewed this beer to commemorate the refurbishing of the Empire State Building. It matches the Beatles arrival in NY in 1964 on Ed Sullivan and at Shea Stadium, and all the later New York connections.
Daedalus asks Herlinda how she became such a big Beatles fan. Herlinda’s dad was in the Navy, and they were stationed for a while at Hunter’s Point Shipyard. Candlestick Park was nearby, and her mom wasn’t at the Beatles concert, but she said she could hear the crowd screaming. When her dad was in the Far East in the Navy, there where places where he could record albums onto reel-to-reel. Herlinda had an Akai reel-to-reel tape player. He gave her an audio documentary history of the Beatles that she listened to it over and over again.
Black is Beautiful and Blackbird
Herlinda was doing her math homework one day while living at Hamilton AFB in Novato. She was listening to KRQR San Francisco when the news came in of John Lennon’s murder. She immediately started her reel-to-reel recorder and captured the local coverage from all the local radio stations.
Herlinda opens a beer called Black is Beautiful. She pairs it with the Beatles song Blackbird and points out Paul McCartney’s story of its origin. A bird means a girl in British English and Paul had seen stories of young black girls having to be escorted to school in the American south, and he wrote the song to describe them. The Black Is Beautiful beer started from an African American brewer Marcus Baskerville in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
The song Tomorrow Never Knows, with its Indian sitars, suggests an IPA, India Pale Ale. There is more beer and Beatles music than we have time for in one show, so we will have to revisit this topic. Before we end this episode, Herlinda opens a Ukrainian style Golden Ale flavored with coriander. The BJCP judging guidelines recently admitted this Ukrainian style to their catalog. Herlinda suggests the song Golden Slumbers, for the Ukrainian ale. We will have to do a 2.0. We didn’t even get to the English beers.
00:50:36
Apr 9, 2026 11:23 PM
Lloyd Palmer, Train Expert & Oregon Craft Tap Collector
Herlinda’s cousins Lloyd and Lee Palmer are visiting from Oregon and they are in the Brew Ha Ha converted train coach studio with Herlinda and Daedalus today. Lloyd Palmer is a train expert and today he will tell us all about the retired train cars that make up the Wine Country Radio studios and offices here in Santa Rosa. Herlinda has brought her family to the show before. Her father Eloy Heras, a Navy veteran who served in Vietnam, was on this episode back in April of 2018. That day, he told some stories that involved both the Navy and beer. Also, Eloy and Herlinda’s brother Anthony came on Brew Ha Ha on this episode, last year on June 19, 2025.
Lloyd is also a retired Navy veteran like Herlinda’s father Eloy. “Trains and beer? I can talk all day!” said cousin Lloyd upon Herlinda’s invitation. They have a caboose in their own backyard, with beer. Lee says they have brewskis in the caboosky. Lloyd has a collection of almost 2500 craft beer tap handles. They are all on display in his garage. He started the collection about 30 years ago. He collects tap handles from Oregon microbreweries and IPAs nationwide.
Trains are the only vehicle you can drink a beer on and not really worry about it. –Daedalus Howell, Words of Wisdom
The Wine Country Radio studios may be the only train car radio studios that Lloyd has ever heard of. There are several types of cars. There is a boxcar and a baggage car. The KRSH studios and Exitos, sister stations, are in the boxcar. He thinks the Wine Country Radio studio was a passenger coach, not a caboose, given its fine original woodwork, high vaulted cieling and windows.
Rails from 1925, Cars from 1910-1915
There is still some rail and some historical railroad ties in the ground under the cars. Lloyd found the mill mark on a rail from 1925 from a steel mill in Tennessee. He suggests that these tracks were a spur at a station, used for maintenance, before becoming a train parking lot. A spur means it is not parallel to the main track.
Lee has turned her caboose into a painting studio. She wanted to restore it rather than convert it. The caboose is from 1981 and was in use until about 2006. The interior colors are the same except they put a little bar in it. There was a strict rule on the railroad called Rule G which prohibited workers from consuming alcohol before or during work shifts. Now they have a red bar across the Rule G sign. In an ironic twist, Brew Ha Ha is recorded in Studio G.
Lloyd estimates the Studio G coach was built from about 1910-1915 since it is made of wood, rather than steel. Its full length extends past the hallway that crosses it. As for the boxcar, that is a standard 40-foot boxcar. They were in use from the 1940s to 1960s, for what they called single car freight, or single loads. Most interstate trains today are what they call Unit Trains like oil tankers or double-stacked container trains. Those carry standard freight containers so boxcars are much less in use today.
If you ship a lot of freight, rail takes a lot of freight off the roads. Each rail car takes 3 trucks off the road. So a 100-car train takes 300 trucks off the roads. There is a great train station in Los Angeles, Union Station. It is in fine shape despite its age. The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner runs from San Luis Obispo to San Diego with convenient station stops all along the way.
00:15:38
Apr 2, 2026 11:23 PM
Battle of the Brews 2026
James Pardieu and Drew Tomassini, co-chairs of Battle of the Brews 2026 and D.J. Graves, co-owner of 3rd Street Aleworks, join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. Battle of the Brews is an annual event that the Active 20-30 Club #50 of Santa Rosa produces to raise money for their charitable activities. They describe their mission as, “providing young adults an opportunity for personal growth, friendships, and leadership development while improving the quality of life for the underserved children in our communities.”
The Battle of the Brews 2026 will have a panel of judges for the Craft Cup competition. There will also be a People’s Choice competition. There will be over 50 different breweries. They expect over 100 different craft brews to be available.
In addition to all the beers, there will be a Barbeque competition featuring 10 different BBQ teams. The three categories are ribs, Tri-Tip and chicken. One of the Active 20-30 Club’s favorite and most popular initatives is the Back-t0-School Shopping Day
The Active 20-30 Club of Santa Rosa members are men in their 20s and 30s. The organization provides an opportunity for community service to men at a time in their lives before they start families.
Daedalus Remembers Tony Magee
Daedalus remembers being a cub reporter at the Petaluma Argus-Courier when he visited Tony Magee. He asked how his beer fit in and Tony said, “We’re going to take out foreign beers and replace them with craft beer.” He became fabulously successful. Then he attracted the only buyer he really wanted, as he explained on this episode of Brew Ha Ha in April of 2024. Then he became a foreign beer, in an ironic twist of fate. Listen to Tony Magee’s complete interview with Herlinda Heras from April 18, 2024, which was a great scoop for the show!
Herlinda remembers bringing Lagunitas to a beer festival in Lithuania in December one year. Now Laginitas IPA is the number one IPA brand in the world. Beer judges use Lagunitas IPA as the baseline for that style. She explains that with Lagunitas and Russian River Brewing Co., Sonoma County’s reputation as a world beer capital is secure.
00:29:12
Apr 2, 2026 11:23 PM
Rewind Arcade Taproom
Herlinda and Lisa.
Adam Lamb and Jevon Hatter Oiadeje from the Rewind Arcade Taproom in Sebastopol join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. Lisa Brower is also here in the studio. She is the host of Jeopardy! bar league that meets at Rewind Arcade. Jevon was on Brew Ha Ha last year on this episode, talking about Rewind Arcade.
Their third anniversary falls on Memorial Day this year. The Barlow is a great place for this kind of thing, says Daedalus. Herlinda lists the selection of beers that Jevon has brought. He is in charge of the beer menu. It has a great variety as well as an automated tap system. You get an RFID card that you use to track your pours and make your check. Jevon appreciates that there are so many great local producers to feature.
They have 33 pinball machines, up from the original 10. They also sell Stern pinball machines and service them too. He spent a lot of time in a bowling alley as a kid, where his stepdad was the bartender. Here is their 30-second tour Instagram video.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date Pliny the Younger 2026 information.
Jeopardy! Bar Leagues
Herlinda mentions her friend Lisa Brower who is the host of a live local version of the game show Jeopardy! They are the only official Jeopardy! bar league in Sonoma and Marin Counties. It is officially sponsored by Sony Television. They worked with a company called “Geeks who Drink” that organized the business. They got the rights to produce it and set up an entirely digital system of results reporting. Everything is on your phone. As an officially sanctioned event the questions come from the Jeopardy! staff.
They are launching the national Jeopardy! bar league championships. Teams from around the country will be divided into regions with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. The winner national winner gets a sponsored trip to Los Angeles, a studio tour to meet the host and team and an exclusive audition. They also win an official Jeopardy! party at their home venue. Herlinda and Daedalus consider putting a team together, a dream team with them and Aurelio and Mindi.
@19m Daedalus, a host, asks how you become a host of Jeopardy! Their answer button is on their phone, laptop or tablet. The tournament will go on for the next 8 weeks. There are links to it all at Rewind Arcade website.
@23m Thanks for plugging the podcast on the radio show! 🔌🍻
Rewind Arcade has kept their licenses to beer and wine. This way, they are eligible to allow all ages in the locale. If they served distilled spirits, they could not admit people under 21. They have a jukebox and DJs once or twice a month on a Friday or a Saturday. Pinball community is fully inclusive and accessible. Adam’s son is eleven years old and is a pinball wizard.
00:39:44
Mar 26, 2026 11:23 PM
First Taste of Pliny the Younger 2026
Natalie and Vinny Cilurzo join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha with the first taste of Pliny the Younger 2026. This is the 22nd year that Russian River Brewing Company makes Pliny the Younger.
“It’s the biggest news of the year in beerdom,” declares Daedalus Howell. For the last 22 years, Brew Ha Ha has hosted the first taste of Pliny the Younger and this is Daedalus Howell’s first time as the host, for this big event.
Pliny the Younger has become a “colossal, global event,” says Daedalus. Natalie Cilurzo describes the pressure that they all feel at RRBC during Pliny. Life throws curveballs, like recessions, weather and Covid, but Pliny pours on. “We keep doing the best we can. “We are just elated when we see people waiting on Friday morning,” says Natalie.
Vinny Cilurzo describes Pliny the Younger as using seven hops, the same as last year, but in a different mix. It’s always (about) 10.25% ABV. It used to be 11 but they dialed it back. The malt is a mix of two malts. There is “two row” malt from the US and Canada and some Pilsner malt. It has is a lot of sugar that gives it a dry taste. There was a potential of smoke taint in the region where their Simcoe hops come from. They had to pick the hops earlier.
Vinny summarized the history of Pliny the Younger. It was available for five years before the world discovered it. In 2010 there were people waiting outside the brewery at 7AM. Vinny did not know that their beer was Number One and Number Two in the world, on two influential beer rating sites. “We still don’t know how it happened.”
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date Pliny the Younger 2026 information.
The Community of Pliny the Younger
They did fill growlers and they didn’t distribute it. It was a small batch but word got out to beer enthusiasts. That was a moment when curiosity about beer was rising, back then. Today Craft Beer is established. Back then, there was a novelty factor.
Vinny and Natalie both say that their favorite part of the whole thing is walking the line and meeting the customers. Herlinda appreciates that both Vinny and Natalie are natural teachers. Also, they are working as hard as their staff, to make the event a success. “It’s a lot of fun for us,” says Natalie. It has turned into a big reunion. They get visitors from all over the world. There are people who have met in line at Pliny the Younger who have gone on to get married. It’s a pilgrimage. You can meet people from around the corner and around the world. Some people have an annual friends reunion at Pliny.
00:44:34
Mar 18, 2026 11:23 PM
Dr. Hoby Wedler
Dr. Hoby Wedler, a PhD organic chemist and sensory expert, is back on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell. He has been on the show before, the last time was this episode back in August of 2020. His Instagram has almost 480,000 followers as of today’s show date.
Hoby was born sightless, and was raised to have high expectations for himself. He was inspired by his great high school chemistry teacher who has worked at Petaluma High School for a while. He thought he might study history because the prospect of needing an assistant to perform manual jobs in a chem lab. But his graduate advisor was a computational organic chemist. This subject provided an avenue for him to study chemistry with more independence. His original goal was to teach freshman chemistry at the college level. He is an inspired teacher and wants to make his subject more than a requirement. “Hey maybe this is something really interesting that I never thought I would love.” He taught several freshman chemistry courses while at UC Davis. He prepared lessons and study materials carefully, but found that many students just wanted “the minimum knowledge value” to simply pass the class.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date Pliny the Younger 2026 information.
Then Hoby met Francis Ford Coppola, who asked to organize truly blind tastings at his winery. Hoby then trained his palette by tasting and smelling things, day after day. He was at UC Davis where the brewing program was going on right next to where he was getting his PhD in computational organic chemistry. Professor Charlie Bamforth, “The Pope of Foam” worked nearby, so did Michael Lewis.
An Intersection of Art and Science
Hoby thinks of wine and spirits and beer as a very fine intersection between art and science. Science gives us the tools and art gives us the way we want to use those tools. Herlinda first met Hoby Wedler at one of his Tasting in the Dark events. Guests were encouraged to take their time and focus on taste and smell. They use the blindfold “…so people can focus on their other senses even more.”
Today they will taste two brews, a barleywine and a Tripel from CuVer Brewing in Windsor.
Herlinda admits that as a beer judge, she begins by looking at the beer. Is it clear? What color is the foam? Hoby says you can smell the carbonation. Hoby points out that you can hear the carbonation too. When he smells the cuVer, he tastes clove, allspice, a bit of nutmeg and orange peel. These elements are coming from the yeast, which produces esters. Belgian yeast is special and produces esters that carry these fruity flavors. He can also taste the malt. It has a low-to-mid hop profile but the flavor is dominated by grain and malt, and the ester compounds coming from the yeast. He also knows that the water in Belgium is special, it’s very pure. Herlinda smells coriander and also the alcohol.
Tasting in the Dark
Hoby promotes his tasting experience called Tasting in the Dark. It works with many kinds of foods and beverages, including wine, beer, spirits, olive oil, vinegar and even beef. He did a tasting experience of scotch, gin and bourbon for the launch of a new kind of freshwater fish bait. The bait is designed to be attractive to the fishes’ sense of smell.
Hoby’s Instagram has grown explosively in the last year. He put a few reels online from their tastings and they proved to be very popular. Some of them were from Hawaii about tropical fruit. They went from 3000 followers to 480,000 followers today.
The second tasting is a Barleywine called Bigfoot from Sierra Nevada. Hoby knows Ken Grossman who started Sierra Nevada out of the back of his pickup truck in 19790. Barleywine uses light hops and so much malted barley that the beer has a similar alcohol concentration to wine, 9.6% ABV.
00:34:36
Mar 12, 2026 11:23 PM
Jenna Bautista, Pink Boots Society
Jenna Bautista from the Pink Boots Society, also a Senior Quality Analyst for Lagunitas, joins Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha.
Jenna Bautista joins Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha, with Adam Bosch from Parliament Brewing Co. also in studio.
International Women’s Day is Sunday March 8, this year. There is a whole weekend of Pink Boots Society collaborations to check out.
Lagunitas has made Glass Breaker, using Nectaron, Simcoe, and O-33 experimental hops. It has pine and stone fruit flavors and is a little over 8.5% ABV. It will be released this Saturday.
Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date Pliny the Younger 2026 information.
The Pink Boots Society North Bay has partnered with CuVer in Windsor to brew a Belgian IPA called By Her Bootstraps. HenHouse is releasing The Coven, a botanical rice lager flavored with sage, grapefruit and lemon peel and lavender. They are releasing it at Fort Point Valencia on Sunday.
Jenna was just in New Orleans for the Pink Boots Society conference. They had a couple hundred women and non-binary people working in the beverage industry. They had a speaker from Europe who talked about advocating for yourself in a tough industry and how to advocate for others.
Friday there is a performance of Werewolf on Holiday at Lagunitas, too.
00:07:44
Mar 5, 2026 11:23 PM
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