Brew Ha Ha Podcast Harry Duke & Herlinda Heras

Tony Magee returns to BHH with Herlinda Heras.



Tony Magee, the now-retired founder of Lagunitas, is back on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. His last time on the show was this episode in 2018. He and his wife have a ranch where they host retired horses and also some cattle.



Herlinda Heras has been working with the Museum of Sonoma County to organize On Tap, the exhibit about craft beer history that is opening this weekend. Tony sat for a video interview for the exhibition and he is pleased to be part of it. He started Lagunitas in 1993 and grew it into one of the largest breweries in the country. In 2017 Heineken acquired the company. Tony tells the interesting back story to the acquisition. Lagunitas was beginning to sell beer outside the US, which is not easy to do. He also had grown Lagunitas to a point where the US market was starting to feel saturated with new beer brands as the popularity of craft beer grew. He started to think about a longer term plan for the company, rather than endure infinite domestic competition. Heineken was (and is) the last family-owned global brewer.

Finding the Right Partner

All the other big companies are multinationals. Tony says Lagunitas never really discussed the acquisition with other companies because none of them had Heineken’s character. Hearing him tell the story, he sounds really pleased with how it all happened. He says he thought of the brewery as an art project, with an artist will eventually sell and once that happens, that’s it. He gives credit to Heineken for updating the structure of the business operation but for not changing the beer or the recipes and the brew master is still there.

This is the best time in the last thousand years to be a beer lover. -Tony Magee

Herlinda asks what the inspiration was for the brewery. For Tony, he was doing a completely different job. He was in commercial printing sales and he was a home brewer. His brother got him a home brew kit for Christmas of 1992, in January of ’93 he brewed it, and by December of 1993 the brewery was open. He recognized things in brewing that reminded him of music. As musician that helped him understand brewing.



See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.



A lot of Lagunitas beer is IPA style and hop focused. His friend Grant Johnston who was a brewer at Marin Brewing would also homebrew. He was experimenting by adding his hops late in the boil, which boosted the flavors and didn’t let bitterness develop by boiling too long. This was how they created a hop-forward style that became the central thesis of the brewery.



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.



22:50, they mention Cappuccino Stout, which Tony says may be one of the earliest coffee beers in the US.  (In a Kurt Vonnegut story written long before the craft beer era, there is a mention of an award-winning beer in a fictional Indiana state fair, and coffee was the secret ingredient.)



Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!



They also mention the 420 Waldos and the Lagunitas beer that celebrates the story. The Waldos were guests on Brew Ha Ha on this episode back in 2019.

John Burton, beer memorabilia collector, is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras today. He is working with Herlinda Heras who is assisting the Museum of Sonoma County with its upcoming exhibition ON TAP, about Sonoma County hops and the history or craft brewing.



John Burton made a great collection of beer memorabilia while he worked as a bartender in Santa Rosa for a long time. He also operates a well-known bartending school called Santa Rosa Bartending.



Herlinda has organized interviews with some of the biggest names in local beer history, like Tony McGee and Mark Carpenter, for the museum. She connected them to John Burton and he will be providing some choice items for the exhibit.



Grace Bros. was a local brand that started in 1897 in Santa Rosa and the brand continued until the late 1960s. John’s collection of bottles and cans starts in their first year. John has a lot of Grace Bros. pieces.

A 1960s Grace Bros. Beer Commercial

In the show, we hear a 30-second commercial for Grace Bros. beer, from John's collection. It was recorded probably in the 1960s in Hollywood, California. In the 1940s, Grace Bros. was the fourth-largest brewery in California. Here is the commercial:



http://brewhaharadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Grace_Bros_Beer_30_sec.mp3



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.



John Burton is a member of a beer memorabilia organization that organizes exhibits. Herlinda’s friend Ken Hartoonian also has a collection. He was a guest on Brew Ha Ha recently. John shares memories of the Grace family and how they decided to stay in Santa Rosa instead of Southern California.



See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.



John is also the writer and publisher of some books about his collection. He has also written an instructional book about bartending, called Bartending Basics.



Herlinda is organizing a reception for all of the ‘legends’ of the local brewing industry. She will invite the founding fathers and mothers of the business. She is looking forward to the On Tap exhibition being full of really interesting, beautiful and memorable material.



Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!



Russian River Brewing is a sponsor of the exhibit, so is Lagunitas and Oliver’s Market. The sculpture garden is beautiful and they will turn it into a beer garden for one evening. The grand opening is April 27.

Richard McChinak and Ben Kerstetter from Battle of the Brews are in-studio guests on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. Richard McChinak, is the Battle of the Brews co-chair, and Ben Kerstetter is the newly elected incoming President of the 20/30 Club, Santa Rosa chapter n. 50.



The 20/30 Club started doing this event 27 years ago. They only had about 20 breweries back then but now there are many more. Saturday April 6 from 1-5 pm at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. There are 20/30 chapters all over the country. They do a lot of fundraising events for under-privileged youth in Sonoma County.



As musical attractions, Battle of the Brews has Painted Waves and Voodoo Vultures playing plus a local DJ Rob Cervantes, who is a Drive Hall of Famer.



Herlinda Heras has been going to Battle of the Brews since its beginning. This is Herlinda’s eleventh time judging at this event. It’s a chance to meet all her friends in the business. The weather is supposed to be good. One year the band was Digital Underground but they had to scale it back after that year.



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 is a big Raffle Station in the middle of the show. All of the money raised goes to causes related to helping kids. The $95 admission ticket gets you all the food and drinks you can manage to enjoy, plus all the music and the whole scene. They also have cider, hard kombucha as well as non-alcoholic options.

A Great Day for Barbeque

This year the Barbeque section is different, they doubled the number of BBQs and brought in many other food vendors. There is an entire parking lot full of food vendors.



See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.



The judging is a BJCP-sanctioned event. There is also a People’s Choice award. Some brewers will bring exclusive beers brewed just for the event. There are even awards for Best Chicken and also a People’s Choice award for barbeque.



Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!



There are so many beers and it is so much fun that it is easy to drink more than you thought you would. So plan you transportation with all the options available, except driving.

Today’s Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras is a Triple Header! We have three great guests. Cynthia Caughie from Homerun Pizza is our guest on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras and she brought some Knuckleballs, their specialty. Cynthia was also on Brew Ha Ha in November, on this episode. Ryan Frank, head brewer at Headlands Brewing is here. Ron Lindenbusch is also in today. He is a founding father of Lagunitas and a self-titled beer weasel, however emeritus.



Ron Lindenbusch's complete interview is on his own dedicated podcast episode, right here. This episode is all about Homerun Pizza. Ryan Frank’s talk about Headlands Brewing is also on its own podcast episode. This way, each guest gets to have a unique online destination for their own search traffic. Also, it keeps the individual podcast episodes to a nicer, shorter length.



Cynthia got to spend some time in Arizona for Spring Training, and the players loved the knuckleballs. Watch the Homerun Pizza website for evidence of how much the players like them.

Homerun Pizza is open daily.

Homerun Pizza is open Sunday Monday and Tuesday from 3:00 to 8:00; Wednesday & Thursday 11:30 to 8:00 pm and Friday & Saturday 11:30 to 9:00. Happy Hour is every night from 3-6 pm. Every Wednesday, 2 Knuckleballs for $5. It’s their signature dish, their pizza dough stuffed with mozzarella cheese and with bacon or peperoni. They are doing a special Knuckleball, with sausage, and also a vegetarian version with tomato and basil.



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.



Right now this year they are doing one specialty Knuckleball per month. For Valentine’s Day they did Nutella and pretzel, with salted caramel. For March, it’s the Sausage Knuckleball.



See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.



They have a dish called Homerun Fries, made with French Fries, bacon, jack and cheddar cheese and their Homerun Sauce, a spicy Ranch. Herlinda calls it Sonoma County Poutine which is hilarious!



Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!

Ron Lindenbusch, Hopland Tap founder and owner, is back again on Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras. He has been on Brew Ha Ha several times, including this episode on July 5, 2018, again on May 28, 2020 along with Natalie Cilurzo, and again on May 6, 2021. These episodes chronicle Ron's career with Lagunitas up to and including the Heineken purchase.



Today's live radio show is a triple-header. We have two other guests in the studio along with Ron today. The episode with Cynthia from Homerun Pizza is here. Ryan Frank, brewmaster at Headlands Brewing, also has his own podcast episode on this page.



Since he left Lagunitas at the end of a very successful run, Ron found the perfect location in Hopland to set up the tavern that he always dreamed of. Steve remembers when it was the Hopland Brewery, they had bands including some pretty famous ones. Hopland Tap also does live music. This Saturday the band is Left-Hand Monkey Wrench.



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 Heras is helping the Museum of Sonoma County develop its upcoming exhibition ON TAP about the history of brewing in Sonoma County. Ron Lindenbush was with her at the museum today to record some video that will be used in the exhibition. He personally holds a lot of the stories of the history that is the subject of the exhibit.



See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.



They are tasting a non-alcoholic beer that Ron makes. It actually tastes like beer. One is called Electro Lime. Ron explains that it is made just like beer, then the alcohol is removed. What remains is a beverage that actually tastes like beer. The non-alcoholic beer scene is completely different than it was ten years ago.



Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!

A Headlands Brewing 4-pack with its paper collar.



Ryan Frank, Headlands Brewing head brewer, joins Brew Ha Ha with Steve Jaxon and Herlinda Heras, in studio today, with Cynthia Caughie and Ron Lindenbush. Each of the other guests have their own podcast page from today, Cynthia from Homerun Pizza is here and Ron Lindenbush is here. In this episode, we hear mostly from Ryan Frank.



Headlands Brewing started in Marin County but has recently put roots down in the East Bay. They have a taproom in Lafayette and they produce their beer in Pittsburg. They are dedicated to philanthropy and they pledge 1% for the Planet. Ryan describes Earth to Beer, a collaboration among 40 different breweries. “A better world is brewing,” is the slogan.



They are tasting a Kolsch which is a beer from Koln, a light crisp soft and floral beer, an ancient German specialty. They source all of their own materials locally, including Admiral Malting in Oakland. He chose Pacific Northwest hops, to make it a California interpretation of a German Kolsch.



See our sponsor Victory House at Poppy Bank Epicenter online, for their latest viewing and menu options.



Headlands Brewing is located at 3420 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette. It’s kid friendly, dog friendly and has great food. Their beer is available at Homerun Pizza, Earth to Beer Kolsch is on draft. They are also at Barley and Bine, and Beer Baron. Bottle Barn has some cans and they are on promotion at northern California Whole Foods stores.



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.

Bingo at Homerun Pizza

Cynthia tells about Bingo at Homerun Pizza on the last Tuesday of the month. It’s free, kid friendly and a lot of fun. Ryan Frank gets to taste a sausage Knuckleball with the Earth to Beer Kolsch, just like they serve it at Homerun Pizza.



Visit Homerun Pizza, home of the Knuckleball! Fresh pizza dough made from scratch daily, la pizza è deliziosa!



Headlands Brewing uses paper collars on their 4-packs. This fact starts Ryan into a description of all the choices they make in packaging to reduce their footprint, use less plastic and promote recycling. You can see the paper collars in the picture above.



April 27 ON TAP opens at the Museum of Sonoma County. Herlinda describes a lot of her efforts looking for content. Make sure you don't miss this exhibition which will be a big hit.