You may have heard by now that today is National Beer Day. You don’t really need to twist my arm to drink a good beer, but I decided to look into how this holiday came about. With a little research, I learned that April 7th, 1933 was the first day [...]
101 North Brewing Company, located in Petaluma, was the big winner at this year’s ‘Battle of the Brews’ that took place on Saturday, March 28th. For the second year in a row, the Heroine IPA was awarded the best American IPA in the competition. Their Naughty Aud Imperial Stout was [...]
Eight top Bay Area chefs and two mixologists will be traveling to Chico to participate in Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's Beer Camp. These ten professionals will spend two days brewing a custom beer, which they will eventually serve exclusively at the respected restaurants and bars they represent. While in Chico [...]
Most beer drinkers are not aware that in the early years most of the brewing was done by women. While researching the history of beer on the internet, I stumbled across some interesting reading about Ninkasi. Long before founders Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge agreed to name their Eugene, Oregon [...]
I will confess to being a NorCal Beer Geek. I do my best to spend my money on small production northern California beer so as to help the small breweries stimulate the local economy. There are some great local options to consider when celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Moylan's Brewing Company’s [...]
Fogbelt Brewing Company is owned and operated by a couple gentlemen in their mid-thirties. Paul Hawley and Remy Martin collectively have thirty years of wine industry experience, but decided to pursue another passion by opening a brewery in Santa Rosa. I paid Paul and Remy a visit at the brewery [...]
Spring is just around the corner, officially beginning on Friday, March 20th. Longer days full of sunshine and outdoor craft beer drinking events await us. Before we start making evening and weekend plans between now and the end of the summer, we must first do some Spring cleaning. I suggest [...]
The Active 20-30 Club of Santa Rosa #50 will host the 19th Annual Battle of the Brews fundraiser on Saturday, March 28th. The event will once again be held in the Grace Pavilion at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. Attendees will have the option of purchasing a ‘People’s Choice Main Event’ [...]
Palooza Gastropub & Wine Bar, located at 8910 Sonoma Hwy. in Kenwood, is surrounded by wine tasting rooms and vineyards. Owners and managers of the Sonoma Valley wineries frequent the restaurant for its delicious food, wine, and beer. Yes, I said beer. While wine is the main focus of the [...]
Local beer, cider, and spirits producers will be coming together under one roof at The 2015 Sonoma County Beer, Cider & Spirits Conference. The event hosted by the Sonoma County Economic Development Board will take place on Friday, February 27th from 1pm to 5:30pm. The venue will be the Hyatt [...]
A home brewer’s dream is to someday make a batch of beer that they can share with the masses. Taps Beer Co. & Kitchen, 101 North Brewing Company and Petaluma Downtown Association are coming together to host a home brewer’s competition to make that dream a reality for one lucky [...]
The 7th Annual SF Beer Week officially kicks off this Friday, February 6th, and will conclude on February 14th. Over six hundred events hosted and organized by more than two hundred breweries, restaurants, bars and retail shops will help celebrate the craft beer industry throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. [...]
St. Florian’s Brewery will be celebrating their 2nd Anniversary on Saturday, February 7th. The celebration will take place at the brewery taproom located at 7704A Bell Rd. in Windsor. The all day celebration will be between 12pm and 8pm. Belgian Style Flashover, a new limited release beer, will make its [...]
RateBeer released their list of 'Top 100 Beers in the World for 2014' this morning. Russian River Brewing Company has five beers on this prestigious list. Beatification, Consecration, Supplication, Pliny the Younger and Pliny the Elder all made it. RateBeer is one of the largest and most respected beer forums [...]
The 11th annual release of Russian River Brewing Company's Pliny the Younger is less than three weeks away. This year's two week release begins on February 6th and runs through February 19th. A limited amount will be allotted each day. After the day's allotment runs out it won't be sold [...]
A resident of Santa Rosa for most of his life, Peter Lopez Jr., 34, has taken over the duties of beer blogger for the Press Democrat. He has been a part of the beer and wine industry for almost his entire adult life and brings a wealth of knowledge. Currently Peter is a partner at the Healdsburg Emporium where he does the beer and wine purchasing. He is also the wine 
buyer at Fircrest Market in Sebastopol and the administrator of the NorCal Beer Geeks group on Facebook.
Beer is a big business in this part of the world, with some of the best and most sought-after brews made right in our own back yard. But too often that beer culture is hidden behind the iconic wine industry that defines the region. The Beer Country blog will bring you news and notes about our local brew scene, and maybe a little about cider while we’re at it. Have news, ideas, or questions that need answering? Drop a line in the comments section of the blog or email us at info@pressdemocrat.com