Ned Lawson from Ethic Ciders is here with Dana Glei from the Gravenstein Apple Fair on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. We featured Ned Lawson and Ethic Ciders on this episode back on August 1, 2024, before last year’s Gravenstein Apple Fair.

Herlinda calls the fair “the cutest little country fair” with old-fashioned attractions and lots of fun. The music lineup is on this page of the website. The Gravenstein Apple Fair takes place at Ragle Ranch Park in Sebastopol on August 9th & 10th.

The craft cider tent started with just a few producers and this year there will be 18 different local producers there. The only rule at the fair is that the apples have to be grown locally, from within 100 miles.

New Lawson started Ethic Ciders 10 years ago and opened the tasting room a year and a half ago. They are “orchard to glass” and they “do the whole thing right there.” Ethic Ciders also makes a brandy (called a Pommeau in French) and a non-alcoholic product. They are also starting to produce a cider vinegar tonic. They make it not by de-alcoholizing cider. Instead, they start with apple cider vinegar and add lycee, lemon balm and hibiscus.

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.

Ethic makes a cider called 1870. In the Gold Rush era, homesteaders planted a lot of apples in the area. As the Gold Rush waned, some of those orchards fell into disrepair. Then these apples were rediscovered later.

Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻

The Gravenstein Apple Fair is August 9th & 10th at the Ragle Ranch Park in Sebastopol. If you buy your tickets early there is a discount, so don’t wait!

Dr. Ron is here with Docta-Ron beer, along with Natalie and Vinny Cilurzo on Brew Ha Ha with Herinda Heras and Steve Jaxon.

Natalie and Vinny Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Company are in the studio with guests from New Zealand. Brent McGlashen is a fifth-generation New Zealand hop grower. He and Vinny spent today brewing the test batch of a special beer they will release later this year. Also in the studio is Dr. Ron Beatson who is the most famous New Zealand hops expert, and David Biondi, who represents New Zealand hops in the US. The beer Docta-Ron is named after Dr. Ron.

Their special beer will use a new variety of hops called NZ-109. It has taken ten years in development. The special brew will use this new variety of hops that they nicknamed “Juicy.” The California Lake Cluster was imported to NZ in 1897. New Zealand wanted to produce hops that were different. They only produce about 1.5% of the world hops crop, so they need to be special and different. Vinny says they love NZ hops. He compares them to NZ Sauvignon Blancs which have their own intense flavors compared to the same grapes grown anywhere else in the world. These hops are so potent that a little goes a long way.

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.

Herlinda tells about how her father, who was in the Navy, says that New Zealand was the most beautiful place he ever visited. New Zealanders have been growing hops for over 200 years.

New Zealanders follow the British usage of calling the letter Z “zed” where in the US it’s “zee.” So Dr. Ron calls it “N Zed one-oh-nine” where we would say NZ-109 with the Z as “zee.”

Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻

Their climate is mild, called a tempered oceanic climate. The mountains shelter the hop growing areas from rough weather. The hops area is right next to Marlbourough, at the top end of the south island. With good free draining soils and good rainfall, it’s a good climate for hops. They do have high UV light in New Zealand, which may be good for hops. Brent explains that hops are a significant export, and they export about 80% of their crop. The hop farms let the sheep roam through the hop fields and they keep the lower two or three feet of the hops clean.

Brent’s family purchased their farm in 1900 and they are celebrating 125 years of growing hops this year.

The beer named Docta-Ron is named after “the real Dr. Ron” who is in studio today. There are five New Zealand hops in this beer, mostly Nectaron, which is Dr. Ron’s last product, Vinny calls it his “swan song.” Docta-Ron is basically a New Zealand-style IPA. Dr. Ron describes Nectaron’s origin and tells about how California Lake Cluster hops were the “grandmother” of Nectaron.

Brent tells an important story about how the craft brewing industry helped encourage changes in hop farming. At first, before the craft brew revolution, hope were just hops. Now, brewers are as interested in which hops they are using and where they come from. This puts the hop farmer in communication with the brewers and ultimately all the way to beer drinkers.

Devin Biondi also gets to tell about being the US rep for New Zealand hops, which includes a lot of travel.

Photos by CR Photography for Vicario Productions. Top photo L-R: Devin Biondi, Herlinda Heras, Brent McGlashen, Dr. Ron Beatson, Natalie & Vinny Cilurzo. 

The floor at Admiral Maltings.

Ron Silberstein, a co-founder of Admiral Maltings in Alameda, joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. He used to run The Thirsty Bear Brewing Company for 27 years in downtown San Francisco. At Admiral Maltings they also have a pub called The Rake in the same building, overlooking the malting floor. It is located on a former Naval base. (Alameda Naval Air Station was one of the biggest Navy airports anywhere.)

Admiral Maltings is reintroducing an old-fashioned way of making malt that makes a high quality product. Barley is the most commonly used grain for beer and whiskey. Grains have to be broken down before the yeast can do its job. So the grain is soaked which lets it start to germinate, then they stop the process and dry it.

They grow all of their grain in California. Before WWII, barley was the largest California crop. Then, the floor is actually cooled, because germination itself produced heat.

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.

Russian River just won a Gold at the World Beer Cup for their STS Pilsner, and a Silver for Damnation. They use Admiral Malt. Drake’s also won a Gold in the Cream Ale category.

They were just at the California Craft Brewers Cup. Admiral Maltings produces one tenth of one percent of the available malt, but they won 8% of the medals from the recent CCB Cup. Of course, it’s the brewers who win the medals, but they do use Admiral Maltings malt.

Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻

Don’t miss IT’S THE MALT, the 2nd Annual Malt Festival at Admiral June 28. It’s their celebration of malt. There will be at least six pro-am collaborations to taste. There will be beers that demonstrate malts made from all different kinds of grain, including wheat, rye, barley, oats and corn. They will also feature whiskeys, like their American Single Malt Whiskey. It has to be 100% malted barley from a single distillery to qualify.

As a local provider of malt for local breweries, Admiral Maltings provides the freshest possible product, comparable to freshly roasted and ground coffee, or like freshly baked bread.

Fogbelt Brewing Company owner Paul Hawley is here along with Native American brewer Pedro Mancilla to tell about the return of Red Tail Ale.

Hawley, co-founder of Fogbelt Brewing Company is here along with Native American brewer Pedro Mancilla to talk about bringing back Red Tail Ale. Fogbelt is making some of Mendocino Brewing’s classic Red Tail Ale. This was the most famous brew early in the craft brewing movement. In the 1980s it was one of the leading new beers.

Fogbelt Paul tells how he and Remy Martin started the brewery in 2013 after home brewing for a time. Remy studied brewing at UC Davis. They opened their brewpub on Cleveland Ave in Santa Rosa in 2014, then outgrew that space. They moved production to an offsite warehouse. Then in 2022 they opened the Healdsburg Beer Garden in the red caboose.

Pedro Mancilla introduces himself. He is the brewer at Fogbelt Brewing company. He has Native American Ancestors and shares “I am of you and you are of me” in his native language. The Red Tail Hawk in a symbol of wisdom, protection and care for the land. The Red Tail Ale project is more than a beer, it is a celebration of his connection to his heritage. Don Barkley developed the recipe back then for Mendocino Brewing and now he has given the recipe to Fogbelt.

Herlinda met Pedro when they were at an event at Anchor Brewing, where Pedro used to work. He was working there and had access to Fritz Maytag’s extensive library of books about brewing. She saw him reading a book that was about brewing at that event, so she asked him about it.

The owner of Chobani yogurt has purchased Anchor Brewing and its assets, so there are good propects for a return of Anchor Steam and Liberty Ale.

There were several other “bird beers” that Mendocino Brewing made. Fogbelt has started with Red Tail Ale but they also plan to bring the others back. These include Eye of the Hawk, Talon, White Hawk, Black Hawk, Blue Heron and Peregrine.

Right now, Red Tail Ale is available at the big local retailers, such as Oliver’s, Tip Top, Wilibees, Bottle Barn and others. Fogbelt has the distribution rights so they are in charge of that.

Cascade and Cluster hops, caramel malt for the amber red hue and the taste as well. Herlinda judges it “delicious.”

Marin County Civic Center and Lagoon Park.

Drew Patterson joins Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha to talk about the Marin Irish Festival. It is coming back to Lagoon Park, Marin County Fairgrounds on May 3 and 4, 2025. It’s a celebration of Irish music, dance, and culture. They will have more than 40 artisan vendors and craft booths. Feast on traditional Irish food (corned beef and cabbage, fish and chips, shepherd’s pie). To drink, there will be pints of Guinness, Harp, and local hard ciders and ales.

The Marin Irish Festival is a production of Red Barn Productions. They are famous for The Great Dickens Christmas Fair and the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. The festival takes its inspiration from Beltane, the ancient Celtic holiday that celebrates the arrival of summer—with Maypoles, music, dancing, and revelry.

They will have live Performances on Four Stages and, new for this year, an officially sanctioned Irish dance competition. The Ceili on the Lake Championships are a sanctioned feis (pronounced FESH) in partnership with the Jackie Flynn Irish Dance Academy. For information and registration, visit marinirishfestival.com/feis

In addition to all that, there will also be Sheep Herding Demos with real Sheep Dogs, plus sheep shearing and wool spinning!  The San Francisco Gaelic Athletic Association will demo hurling, Gaelic football, and Camogie, featuring fast-paced 5-on-5 blitz matches.

Original 420 flag, from the Waldo’s official website.

All five of the original 420 Waldos are in the studio today on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Waldo Dave and Waldo Steve were on Brew Ha Ha once before, on this episode of April 18, 2019. This time, all five of them are here.

Steve, Dave, Jeff, Larry and Mark are here, they are the original Waldos from San Rafael High School in the early 1970s. There is ample documentation of their invention of the expression 420 on their website. It is the first time all five of them have been together for a radio interview.

They used to hang out on the wall, every day between classes and after school. “We were all about comedy and having fun.” They also listened to a lot of music, including the great bands from the Bay Area at the time. Lagunitas makes a special 420 Waldos beer and they have some of it in studio today.

At the time, one of them had a brother who was in the Coast Guard who knew of a secret garden. One of them got the map.

Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻

So their meeting spot was the Louis Pasteur statue at school, and their buzzword was “420 Louis” to meet at the statue at 4:20 PM. That became just “420” then the term became “…secret code that we accidentally created.” It was still illegal and one of their fathers was a narcotics officer so they needed cover. The term extended to their group of friends and beyond.

There was also a connection to the Grateful Dead. Waldo Mark’s father was a real estate agent who ended up selling houses to three members of the band. He got tickets to concerts and the guys got to hang out with the band at concerts and one of them eventually got to be a roadie. He was using “420” at the time and the term started spreading through the Dead community.

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.

Each of the Waldos went on to professional careers in the Bay Area and they are now retired or semi-retired. They were also always into in what they called “safaris” where they went on adventures to investigate interesting stuff. Once they visited some researchers who were doing holographic images. “They were cub scout field trips but we were stoned.” One day Waldo Steve drove his 1966 Impala on the airport runway.

Another day they climbed onto the girders on the Golden Gate Bridge, when there was no security on the bridge. They jumped onto the protective nets which were “bouncy.” Another time they took a trip to LA and the police stopped them on the road when they mistook the Waldos for the SLA (who had kidnapped Patti Hearst). They wanted to see a taping of the Johnny Carson show, but the stop caused them to miss it, so they went to Disneyland. Listen to their telling of that story about 31 minutes in.

Brian Donaldson from Lagunitas has brought some of Lagunitas’ special 420 Waldos release, a 10.7% brew. He also brought some hop water and other brews. The Lagunitas brewers invited the Waldos to taste different hops and to choose the ones they thought tasted most like cannabis.

Waldos on three! One, two, three WALDOS! Woo hoo!

James Pardieu and Richard McChinak, co-chairmen of the Battle of the Brews 2025 join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Richard was in the studio last year on this episode to promote the same event.

Battle of the Brews 2025 will be Saturday April 12 from 1-5 PM at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. This year marks the 25th annual event. It is sponsored by the Active 20-30 Club of Santa Rosa, a charity organization for persons between age 20 and 39. Members age out at 40, so there are always new people on the scene.

More than half of the event is about BBQ now. There is also cider, Kombucha and mead. Herlinda is judging the beer competition in the morning, for the 11th or 12th year. The first time she remembers being the only female judge, but that’s not the case anymore.

Admission is $95 which includes all you can eat and all you can drink, responsibly! All the money raised goes to serve underprivileged youth in Sonoma County. Last year they raised over $72,000 and they have totaled over 1.5 million dollars over the last several years.

The club uses the funds they raise for many local charities targeting youth. The have contributed to the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County. Each member also participates in shopping for school supplies, benefiting over 200 kids last time. There are constant needs. “If there’s a need, we’re here to fill it.” Each chapter has their own area that they support.

Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻

Leah Scurto, the owner of PizzaLeah, is going to Parma for the world pizza championship, April 8-10.

The Battle of the Brews is not only about beer because now they include coffee and teas and tisanes. There will be at least 50 breweries, a few coffee and tea shops and so far 18 confirmed restaurants and probably more by show time. HenHouse and Old Caz are among the breweries.

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.

The 20-30 club has different chapters all around the country and also some outside the US. There will be visitors from Panama this year. The club has some members who attended some events as children, then grew up and joined the society.

DJ Rob Cervantes will be there, and the band Voodoo Vultures will play their only event of the year.

In December they hold an event for children who would not otherwise be able to enjoy a full holiday celebration, with a Christmas dinner, presents, Santa Claus, arts and crafts and lots of love.

The Cuvers.

Hendrik Cuver and his wife Amber Cuver, from CuVer Brewery in Windsor, join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha today. They are here to talk about their Windsor, California brewery where they specialize in Belgian beer. Hendrik was on this episode of Brew Ha Ha back on September 16, 2021, when they were just opening the brewery. He was also on this episode on May 5, 2022, a year and a half later.

Also today, Harry Duke will be calling in live from Russian River Brewing Co. in Windsor. The Pliny the Younger public event is in full swing there. His portion of this live radio show will be on this separate podcast episode page, to allow each guest to have their own audio and podcast indexing.

Hendrick and his father were used to drinking Belgian beers when they immigrated to California in 2012. A year later they started home brewing in order to have the beer that they wanted. They continued doing that while Hendrick was back in Belgium getting his Master’s degrees in Biochemistry. Then when St. Florian’s brewery came up for sale, they made the purchase. The history of Cuver Brewery and the two families that founded it are closely intertwined. Hendrick invited his fiancée Amber and her family to meet his family at Thanksgiving. Amber’s father Reed Cushing became a partner in the brewery. When Hendrick and Amber got married, they changed their surnames to Cuver, derived from combining Cushing and Verspecht. Read the whole story on the Cuver website, on this page.

Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻

Belgian ales can have combinations of different flavors, from malt, hops and specially chosen yeasts. The Belgian beers range from a 4.4% abv whit to a quad that is 10.3%.

The first beer that they are tasting is a white IPS, which is a hybrid style between a Belgian wheat beer and an IPA. It is called “By Her Bootstraps.”

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.

Herlinda mentions some news in the beer industry. Moylen’s in Marin is closing, the owner is retiring. Marin Brewing Company closed last year. Also, Anderson Valley Brewing has sold to a winery owner and Fal Allen has moved to Kauai where he is still a brewer. There are lots of changes in the brew business.

Cuver is located on Bell Road in Windsor, around the corner from Russian River, in the Windsor Beverage District. The tap room offers 11 different beers. They have Food Truck Fridays from 4 to 7.

Herlinda has brought a rare Vienna lager from Vienna, Austria. She recently visited Martin Voigt there, he has been on BHH when he was traveling in California.

Harry Duke and Natalie Cilurzo

Harry Duke is live at Russian River Brewing Co. in Windsor on this special edition of Brew Ha Ha to talk about Pliny the Younger 2025 from the floor of the Russian River Windsor pub.

Also today on Brew Ha Ha, Hendrik Verspecht from CuVer Brewing is visiting Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras in the studio. That portion of today’s show is on this other podcast page, to allow each guest to have their own audio and podcast indexing.

Natalie Cilurzo is with Harry to talk about how it’s all going. Pliny the Younger is a triple IPA which gets a recipe tweak most years. This year, the addition of Tangier hops brings some orange, grapefruit, tangerine and mango, in addition to other hints of pine resin. It’s a little more bitter than last year, which counteracts the fruitiness and elevates the flavor profile. It is remarkably smooth, for 10.4% abv.

The annual release of Pliny the Younger 2025 this year runs from March 21 to April 3. It will be on tap and in bottles to go until April 3. The wait times today are about 2 hours downtown, and more than 3 hours in Windsor. Natalie and Vinny like to greet the visitors waiting in line and they make a lot of friends.

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.

There are visitors from all over the country and some international visitors too. Pliny the Younger’s economic impact on Sonoma County is consistently strong. The Chamber of Commerce reports that it brings in several million dollars of extra business every year.

Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻

Next week, April 3 is also the 2oth anniversary of the RRBC pub on 4th St. in downtown Santa Rosa.

Wade Johnson and Justin Bowman from Oliver’s Markets and Erin Latham from Moonlight Brewing Co. join Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras on Brew Ha Ha. Wade Johnson is the head of the gourmet cheese department at Oliver’s Market. Justin Bowman is the beer and spirits manager at Oliver’s Market in Cotati.

Erin Latham is here from Moonlight Brewing Co. She has brought their We Love LA beer to taste and to describe the fund raising campaign. Erin was also on BHH last year on August 15, along with Brian Hunt, to promote the 32nd Anniversary party. Last week we talked to Andy Link of Common Space Brewery in Los Angeles. They are leading the We Love LA effort.

Moonlight’s We Love LA beer is an American style lager that will be released this Saturday at their taproom. They have a roster of bands and other performers plus food trucks. 3350 Coffee Lane. A portion of the proceeds from the beer sales goes to the United Way Los Angeles. They are also accepting direct donations.

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.

Wade Johnson takes care of cheeses at all the Oliver’s stores. He has brought three cheeses to taste today. They are a California-made Gouda, an Irish cheddar and Point Reyes Farmstead Bay Blue. He started at Oliver’s in 2010 and “grew up behind the cheese counter.”

Visit our sponsor Pizzaleah in Windsor for the finest pizza menu and the most authentic flavors around! 🍕🍻

Justin brought beers to pair with these. One is Color Me Murphy Irish Red Ale and an Irish Stout called Top o’ the Morning. They also have a Guinness stout with the little widget that simulates a fresh draft pour. Herlinda tasted a Guinness non-alcoholic beer that tasted as good as the full alcohol version.