As we told you back on the first day of the federal shutdown, the impasse on Capitol Hill has put the kibosh on federal alcohol licensing activities, including permits for new facilities and approval of new labels. That implies all kinds problems for brewers, winemakers, distillers and cideries, from stalling [...]
Bear Republic says its seasonal Racer X double IPA should be back on the shelves by the middle of the month. They describe the beer as the Big Brother of their flagship Racer 5, though the X is a little darker and more in line with a malt-forward English IPA [...]
Our new friends down at Carneros Brewing are getting into the Oktoberfest spirit with "Octubrefest," a weekend-long fiesta starting at 5:30 p.m. on Friday with the tapping of a keg of their limited edition "Doble IPA" and continuing on Saturday and Sunday, all with music, games, traditional German food, pumpkin patch [...]
Mendocino Brewing Company celebrates its 30th anniversary this week with a new single hop ale paying tribute to the early days of California brewing. The beer will feature exclusively Cascade hops, the hop that flavored the iconic New Albion Ale, first brewed in Sonoma in 1976, and later the backbone [...]
Fans of Santa Rosa's Third Street Aleworks will be able to enjoy the brewery's best selling Bodega Head IPA at home now. General Manager Mike Mathot tells me that the beer should hit the shelves of area stores soon in 22 oz. bottles, known to beer geeks as bombers. It [...]
Windsor's St. Florian's Brewery is marking its six month anniversary with a new brew, its California Common (what would otherwise be known as a "Steam Beer" had Anchor not long ago trademarked the name). Co-owner Amy Levin says the beer should start hitting the shelves in the region in the [...]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbPD5BLqMRk&feature=youtu.be Wine and beer are pretty close cousins, from a production point of view, but they tend not to mix all that much in real life, either socially or physically. "Beer Bar" and "Wine Bar," for example, tend not to conjure the same mental images. Nor do you find a [...]
Bear Republic is putting its well-regarded seasonal Café Racer 15 in bottles for the first time, starting in July, the brewery said this week. The 22 oz bottles, often known to the beer fluent as “bombers,” will hit California shelves the first week of the month. It should [...]
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