Brew Ha Ha

<p><a href="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/visit-santa-rosa.png"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-4442 size-full" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/visit-santa-rosa.png" alt="FeBREWary" width="300" height="87" /></a>Chris Kren-Mora from <a href="https://www.visitsantarosa.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Santa Rosa</a> is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras, presenting <a href="https://www.visitsantarosa.com/eat/breweries-pubs/beerpassport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Santa Rosa Beer Passport</a> and <a href="https://www.visitsantarosa.com/events/signature-events/febrewary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FeBREWary</a>. Chris has been on Wine Country Radio before but this is his first time on Brew Ha Ha. This week marks the 12th anniversary of Brew Ha Ha on the radio and 8 years of the podcast.</p> <p>To promote the local brewing industry, we emphasize the pronunciation of the month of FeBREWary, and the Santa Rosa Beer Passport promotion is also starting now. The month of February also brings Pliny the Younger from Russian River Brewing Co., with two weeks of release to bars and taprooms, before the March release in their two locations. They have different menus on 4th St. in downtown Santa Rosa and at the big Windsor location.</p> <p>Chris visited <a href="https://henhousebrewing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HenHouse Brewing</a> around the corner from the studio, on his way in. They sent over a beer for Beatles fan Herlinda, called “The Walrus Was Paul” which shows the HenHouse chickens crossing the street, in imitation of the famous Abbey Road album cover.</p> <p>HenHouse has both locations – Petaluma and Santa Rosa – on the Beer Passport itinerary. Starting on Saturday Feb. 7, there is a special shuttle service. It includes Cooperage, CuVer in Windsor, Santa Rosa’s HenHouse, Moonlight Brewing in Coffey Park, Shady Oak on B St. in Santa Rosa and both locations of Russian River Brewing Co. And the Smart Train goes to Windsor now, so that is a great option too. Old Caz is a Beer Passport stop, but they are not on the shuttle itinerary. February is a low month for tourism, so these promotions are intended to raise traffic in an otherwise slow period.</p> <p>Herlinda and Chris continue, while tasting some brews from Shady Oak. They agree that Shady Oak is a great locale as well as great brewers. Herlinda was a judge at their smash burger competition, along with Hunter Fieri, Guy Fieri&#8217;s son. They had six smash burger trucks in competion. Chris has brought several beers to taste today, from breweries participating in Santa Rosa Beer Passport. 🍻</p>

<div id="attachment_4201" style="width: 250px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4201" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="wp-image-4201 size-medium" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/hanabi-lager-nick-gislason-240x320.jpg" alt="hanabi lager" width="240" height="320" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/hanabi-lager-nick-gislason-240x320.jpg 240w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/hanabi-lager-nick-gislason.jpg 540w" sizes="(max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px" /><p id="caption-attachment-4201" class="wp-caption-text">Nick Gislason of Hanabi Lager</p></div> <p><em>1/22/26 &#8211; Santa Rosa, CA &#8211;  Since there is no live radio show today, for the podcast here is an encore performance of one of our favorite shows from last year, with Nick Gislason of Hanabi Lager. Brew Ha Ha will be back live on 1/29 with Janelle and Chris from Visit Santa Rosa talking about FeBrewary and Santa Rosa Beer Passport.</em></p> <hr /> <p>Nick Gislason, co-founder and Head Brewer at <a href="https://hanabilager.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hanabi Lager</a> Co. is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell.</p> <p>Herlinda Heras is just back from Belgium and brought back so much beer that she had to pay for overweight suitcases. Daedalus is also back from his own trip to Paris and London. He gets to reconnect with Herlinda for a few minutes before having to leave for an event later this evening. One of the beers that Herlinda brought back is from the Saint Sixtus Monastery in Westvleteren, where she visited. Daedalus gets to taste it before he has to take off.</p> <h4>Hanabi is Japanese for &#8220;Fireworks&#8221;</h4> <p>The labels feature drawings of the patterns that different Japanese fireworks make, up in the air. Nick explains that “hanabi” means fireworks, in Japanese. “Hana” means flower and “bi” means fire, so literally their word for fireworks means “fire flowers.” The fireworks manufacturers used these drawings in the 1800s to describe their products, before photography was available to show the patterns that they make.</p> <p>Nick grew up on San Juan Island in Washington, and learned brewing from an uncle who was a home brewer. In college he brewed at Boundary Bay Brewing in Bellingham, where he met his wife. They both became winemakers and launched Hanabi Lager about six years ago.</p> <div id="attachment_149" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.russianriverbrewing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-149" decoding="async" class="wp-image-149 size-medium" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-300x150.jpg" alt="russian river brewing co." width="300" height="150" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-300x150.jpg 300w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-768x384.jpg 768w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-149" class="wp-caption-text">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 hours, menus, beers and more.</p></div> <h4>Grain-Forward Lagers</h4> <p>Nick says Hanabi makes grain-forward lagers. They are tasting the Hana Pilsner, which Herlinda says has a refined taste. Nick explains that beer is made from grain, and water, and hops are like a spice. Hops is like the barrels to wine, where the grapes are the main ingredient. So Nick focusses his energy in using the most delicious grains in the world. That fact that these plants are so important to human nutrition for thousands of years makes them sacred.</p> <div id="attachment_3862" style="width: 330px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.pizzaleah.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3862" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-3862 size-medium" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo-320x60.png" alt="pizzaleah" width="320" height="60" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo-320x60.png 320w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo.png 518w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3862" class="wp-caption-text">Visit our sponsor <a href="https://www.pizzaleah.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PizzaLeah</a> in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻</p></div> <p>They select grains mainly for the flavor they give to the beer. These flavors mostly come from old heirloom varieties of grains. Heirloom varieties of grain can be compared to heirloom tomatoes, for their superior flavor.</p> <p>To make beer, Nick explains, first you grow the grain, then sprout the seeds, then you have to arrest their growth before it goes too far. Then you dry them and lightly toast them. This process is called malting. Then you steep a barley tea, spice it with hops, and ferment it, basically. They do four different beers, one for each of the four seasons. Each one features a different heirloom grain. The Summer beer uses Eraclea, a grain from Italy.</p> <p>Nick is also a part-time pyrotechnician. He works with Lopez Community Fireworks back home in Washington. They practice the Japanese art of fireworks.</p>

<div id="attachment_4429" style="width: 330px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/sf-beer-week-2026.jpg"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4429" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-4429" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/sf-beer-week-2026-320x160.jpg" alt="SF Beer Week 2026" width="320" height="160" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/sf-beer-week-2026-320x160.jpg 320w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/sf-beer-week-2026-1024x513.jpg 1024w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/sf-beer-week-2026-768x385.jpg 768w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/sf-beer-week-2026-960x480.jpg 960w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/sf-beer-week-2026.jpg 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-4429" class="wp-caption-text">SF Beer Week 2026</p></div> <p>Sayre Pietrowski is back on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell, to introduce SF Beer Week, coming soon this February 20 through March 1, 2026. <a href="https://brewhaharadio.com/sayre-pietrowski/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sayre was on the show last August</a> when he had recently been named Executive Director of the <a href="https://bayareabrewers.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bay Area Brewers Guild</a>.</p> <p>This is Sayre’s first time for SF Beer Week as the Executive Director. He explains that the guild was born from an alliance of local beer organizations that got together and promoted a beer festival. Then they learned that other cities had beer weeks. So they decided to bring it to San Francisco, with the support of great brewers like Pliny the Younger and Anchor Brewing. In 2008 or 09 the whole guild was a small enough number to fit on one evening’s menu.</p> <div id="attachment_3862" style="width: 528px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.pizzaleah.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3862" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-3862 size-full" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo.png" alt="pizzaleah" width="518" height="97" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo.png 518w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo-320x60.png 320w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 518px) 100vw, 518px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3862" class="wp-caption-text">Visit our sponsor <a href="https://www.pizzaleah.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pizzaleah</a> in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻</p></div> <h4>IPA 2000</h4> <p>Nick Mamere the brewmaster at Bartlett Hall was 9 years old when the first SF Beer Week took place. On January 29, he is hosting a 7-barrel batch of what IPA tasted like in the year 2000. It’s called IPA 2000. Then, in Oakland, they will make a brew called IPA 2025 with the same brewer, at Brix Factory Brewing and brewer John Gillooly. They have plans for a whole series, IPA 2010, 2015 and 2020, then one called 2030 to guess about the flavors to come. Sayre compares these retro brews to a cover song. On January 22, the North Bay Guild will be brewing IPA 2020 at Old Caz.</p> <div id="attachment_149" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.russianriverbrewing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-149" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-149 size-medium" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-300x150.jpg" alt="russian river brewing co." width="300" height="150" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-300x150.jpg 300w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-768x384.jpg 768w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-149" class="wp-caption-text">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 hours, menus, beers and more.</p></div> <p>Herlinda remembers that two years ago, SF Beer Week had an astronaut theme and she thought people were dressing up. She and her college friend dressed in red Star Trek Uhuru dresses. It turned out that they were the only people in costume but it ended up being a fun time.</p> <h4>SF Beer Week and more</h4> <p>Sayre tells us the same thing he tells him members, that they would like to create an atmosphere about SF Beer Week similar to the excitement that surrounds the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau. This means an event where people know there will be an abundance of great beers along with fun experiences. He remembers 2017 and 2018 before the pandemic when it was like that and they want to build back up to that level of excitement and participation.</p> <p>In terms of volume, beer is a larger market than wine. Sayre notices that wine has a lot more information around it that people like to study. His job now is to try to build up that kind of culture of appreciation around beer. The more there is for people to know about beer, the more they can share information and enjoyment with others. Herlinda mentions that sometimes, non-profit organizations hire leaders with management skills but who come from outside their industry. She appreciates the fact that Sayre is already a local beer insider, in his new role with the Guild.</p>

<div id="attachment_4411" style="width: 160px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/russian-river-keepers-rob-shwenker.jpg"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4411" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-4411 size-thumbnail" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/russian-river-keepers-rob-shwenker-150x150.jpg" alt="russian river keepers" width="150" height="150" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-4411" class="wp-caption-text">Rob Shwenker, Russian River Keepers</p></div> <p>Natalie Cilurzo from <a href="https://www.russianriverbrewing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russian River Brewing Co</a>. and Rob Shwenker from <a href="https://russianriverkeeper.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russian River Keeper</a> join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha. This is Rob’s first time on the show. Natalie has been on many times before, the last time was <a href="https://brewhaharadio.com/pliny-the-younger-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this episode last January</a> for the preview of Pliny the Younger.</p> <p>They are here to present a new beer called <a href="https://www.russianriverbrewing.com/brew/russian-river-110-west-coast-pils/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">110 West Coast Pils</a>, which refers to the number of miles that the Russian River Runs, from Ukiah down to Jenner. Vinny Cilurzo made it for the first time last year, and came up with the name of this beer. Natalie felt the need to do something positive for the river. She worked with with Russian River Keepers several years ago. Then she and Vinny were invited to the annual Russian River Keeper gala where she met Rob. Their idea was to distribute their new West Coast Pils with a portion of the proceeds going to Russian River Keeper. This arrangement is for perpetuity for as long as they make 110. “It’s not a promotion, it’s a commitment,” says Daedalus.</p> <div id="attachment_149" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.russianriverbrewing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-149" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-149 size-medium" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-300x150.jpg" alt="russian river brewing co." width="300" height="150" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-300x150.jpg 300w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-768x384.jpg 768w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-149" class="wp-caption-text">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 hours, menus, beers and more.</p></div> <h4>Russian River Keeper</h4> <p>Rob describes the purpose of Russian River Keeper as protection of a healthy Russian River habitat. “Our mission is a healthy, fishable, swimmable equitably shared Russian River. (&#8230;) We pull about 500,000 pounds of trash out of the watershed every year.&#8221; They work to prevent trash from entering the river because ultimately that leads to the marine environment. They also do restoration, fighting to preserve animal and plant species. One example is the giant bamboo that they are removing. It is a massive user of water and hard to remove.</p> <p>Russian River Keeper is also an advocate for the river at all applicable levels of government. Some of Rob&#8217;s job involves lobbying in Sacramento for favorable environmental legislation. They are members of the California Coast Keeper Alliance. Worldwide there are about 300 different water keepers.</p> <div id="attachment_3862" style="width: 528px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.pizzaleah.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3862" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-3862 size-full" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo.png" alt="pizzaleah" width="518" height="97" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo.png 518w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo-320x60.png 320w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 518px) 100vw, 518px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3862" class="wp-caption-text">Visit our sponsor <a href="https://www.pizzaleah.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pizzaleah</a> in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻</p></div> <p>The Russian River used to be one of the largest salmon runs in the country. Russian River Keeper helped end the practice of extracting gravel from the river. There are fewer fish and so fewer apex predators and overall a less fertile environment. They have seen some species coming back too. They also help during times of flood. There are unhoused people near the river that they help, who need assistance evacuating in a flood emergency.</p> <h4>110 West Coast Pils</h4> <p>They are tasting Russian River 110 West Coast Pils. It is a relatively new beer style, low alcohol, only 5.2% ABV, but hopped like an IPA.</p> <blockquote><p>&#8220;It drinks like a Pilsner but you get that hop punch.&#8221;</p></blockquote> <div id="attachment_4025" style="width: 160px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://brewhaharadio.com/docta-ron/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4025" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-4025 size-thumbnail" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/docta-ron-natalie-vinny-bhh-fi-150x150.jpg" alt="docta-ron" width="150" height="150" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-4025" class="wp-caption-text">Herlinda with Dr. Ron and Natalie</p></div> <p>They will have it in cans in March, in advance of Pliny the Younger, and in anticipation of river weather. It has 4 hops, Tangier, one of the newer hops, and then all New Zealanders, Nectaron and NCH 106 and NCH 109, which haven&#8217;t got their nicknames yet. It takes about 10 years for a new hop variety to reach the market ready to sell. There are a lot of tests it has to pass. Those last two are still in the development phase. Those two come from <a href="https://brewhaharadio.com/docta-ron/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Ron, who was on this episode of Brew Ha Ha in May of last year</a>. Since New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere, we have to wait several months to get them here. But we get the hops from Yakima right away.</p> <p>Natalie tells the story of how she and Vinny moved to Sonoma County when Vinny got the brewer&#8217;s job at Russian River Brewing which was at the time a division of Korbel. When Korbel decided to leave the beer business, Vinny and Natalie and partners were able to acquire the company. The rest is the history of craft brewing. But when they first lived in the area, they crossed the <a href="https://sonomacounty.gov/development-services/sonoma-public-infrastructure/sonoma-public-infrastructure/divisions/roads/services/bridges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wohler Bridge</a> on their honeymoon then on Vinny&#8217;s commute. It is on the label of 101 West Coast Pils because it represents their love of the river and the whole scene.</p> <div id="attachment_4418" style="width: 730px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/wohler-bridge.jpg"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4418" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-4418" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/wohler-bridge.jpg" alt="russian river keeper" width="720" height="405" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/wohler-bridge.jpg 720w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/wohler-bridge-320x180.jpg 320w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-4418" class="wp-caption-text">The Wohler Bridge</p></div> <p>&#160;</p>

<div id="attachment_4396" style="width: 330px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/young-and-yonder.jpg"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4396" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-4396 size-medium" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/young-and-yonder-320x320.jpg" alt="young and yonder" width="320" height="320" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/young-and-yonder-320x320.jpg 320w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/young-and-yonder-150x150.jpg 150w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/young-and-yonder.jpg 720w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-4396" class="wp-caption-text">Herlinda, Tim and Shennen</p></div> <p>Shennen O&#8217;Donnell and Tim Welch, owners of <a href="https://www.youngandyonder.com/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Young and Yonder</a> distillery, join Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell on Brew Ha Ha.</p> <p>Tim found a distillery that was already built and available for sale, so he bought it. It was a distilling facility and event space. They started a live music space due to Shennen&#8217;s experience. She grew up at <a href="https://mystictheatre.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Mystic Theater</a> which her parents owned and she has worked there all her life.</p> <p>Tim worked as a distiller for <a href="https://moylansdistilling.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Moylan&#8217;s</a> and won awards for many distilled products. Tim&#8217;s buddy from college was also a distiller who opened a distillery of his own in Mississippi. So he ran the place for &#8220;a lot of years.&#8221; They focussed on whiskey but also made other distilled products.</p> <p>Young and Yonder is located up in Healdsburg. Shennen describes their location as &#8220;Industrial Chic&#8221; with a casual fun funky feel. Tim does private tours and tastings.</p> <p>All of their grain comes from <a href="https://admiralmaltings.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Admiral Maltings</a>. All the botanicals for the absynthe and the gin come from San Francisco Herb Company. All organic and local. Admiral Maltings had a big distillers festival. The Rake Pub at Admiral Malting also serves Young and Yonder. Admiral Malting has been on Brew Ha Ha <a href="https://brewhaharadio.com/admiral-maltings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on May 1 of this year on this episode</a> and the year before too, <a href="https://brewhaharadio.com/admiral-maltings-of-alameda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">right here on June 20, 2024</a>. They focus on locally grown grain, so that their malt does not have to travel long distances.</p> <div id="attachment_149" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.russianriverbrewing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-149" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-149 size-medium" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-300x150.jpg" alt="russian river brewing co." width="300" height="150" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-300x150.jpg 300w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi-768x384.jpg 768w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/russian-river-fi.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-149" class="wp-caption-text">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 hours, menus, beers and more.</p></div> <h4>Russian River Brewing Co. Release in Jan. 2026</h4> <p>Russian River Brewing Co. has a special release coming out on Saturday, January 10, 2026. So Natalie Cilurzo will be on the first Brew Ha Ha show of the new year, on Thursday, January 8, 2026.</p> <p>As they are tasting a lime vodka made by Young and Yonder also makes absynthe and gin, which use lots of botanicals. Their botanicals come from San Francisco Herb Company. Tim describes their line, there is a 100% single malted rye, and a high rye bourbon, which is 60% non-gmo corn, 30% rye 5% barley 5% wheat. The single malt is 100% barley, but not released yet. They also have some barrel finished bourbons and rye. They use port and sherry barrels from <a href="https://www.portworks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sonoma PortWorks</a>, which are their next door neighbors.</p> <p>They also make an Absynthe which is made with wormwood. The flavors in this drink take a long time to describe. &#8220;Taste it!&#8217; And since Young and Yonder are a full-service distillery, they also make gin. Tim has just made his second batch of it. 60 lbs of botanicals go into the mix, then 15 more pounds.</p> <div id="attachment_3862" style="width: 330px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.pizzaleah.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3862" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-3862 size-medium" src="http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo-320x60.png" alt="pizzaleah" width="320" height="60" srcset="https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo-320x60.png 320w, https://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/pizzaleah-logo.png 518w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3862" class="wp-caption-text">Visit our sponsor <a href="https://www.pizzaleah.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PizzaLeah</a> in Windsor for the finest pizza menu, great beers and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻</p></div> <p>Young and Yonder also make Amaro, which goes by its Italian name in English. There are many brands of Amaro in Italy. Some famous brands are Ramazzotti, Averna, Lucano and Montenegro. They are all slightly different liquers made from herbs. They are traditional, medicinal and artisinal, a triple play!</p> <p>How much is science versus art? As a distiller, is it more one or the other? Well, if you are making something the same every time, then you are very careful, but if you are experimenting, you&#8217;re your own boss.</p>