Tyler Lafferty from Third Street Aleworks and Steve Doty from Shady Oak Barrel House are our two guests on Brew Ha Ha today with Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon.

The FeBREWary celebration is going on in Santa Rosa, sponsored by Visit Santa Rosa. Go to the website for information about how to participate in the 2022 Beer Passport. (SF Beer Week is also going on.) There are 14 craft brewers in the program this year. You pick up your passport at Wilibee’s and if you get 11 stamps, including three free ones, you can win a colorful medallion. There are not just Santa Rosa breweries in the Beer Passport program. Bear Republic and Old Caz in Rhonert Park and also Seismic in the Barlow in Sebastopol are also among the participating breweries.

Brew Ha Ha is sponsored by the Santa Rosa branch of Yoga Six located in Coddingtown Center. 

Tyler has been at Third Street Aleworks for 13 years, while other businesses in the neighborhood have come and gone. They opened 26 years ago this March. They got new owners a couple of years ago in the Spring 2019. He is the fourth brewmaster they have had. The last two years have been a challenge. They used to sell 90% of their beer over their own bar, now 80% goes out in cans and the rest in kegs to different places. It was hard to get food delivered so they partnered with some of their neighbors to deliver local produce. They did it until they were able to open indoor dining again. They have a new beer called PBR People’s Beer of Rosa. Blanca Molina, a local artist, designed its label.

Third St. Ale Works supplied food to the vaccination clinic that Herlinda set up with her friends, every Thursday. Tyler is proud that the owners care about supporting the community in these ways. Their menu is not as extensive as it once was, since they have had to become more agile, as a lot of other business have. They have done some remodelling. They also have “Tightwad Tuesday” with specially priced beers and bratwursts and a resident food truck, Tacos Tijuana, as well as others which are rotating on different days.

Brew Ha Ha is sponsored by Russian River Brewing Co.

Harry Duke has known Steve Doty since before the pub was opened. 420 1st St. in Santa Rosa. Shady Oak Barrel House was a home brew project that grew into a business. He started just making sours in barrels and needed to expand to start an actual tap room. They also have Cosmo the brewery cat. They adopted him after one of the fires. Cats are good around a brewery to protected the grain from rats and mice. Cosmo was catnapped but later was returned.

Shady Oak Barrel House started with a focus on barrel aging and spontaneous and wild fermentation. Since they opened the taproom they also make other kinds, like a triple IPA that he brought. The Shady Oak Barrel House also has an arcade with pinball and old 80s-era video arcade games. They are also a dog friendly location. They have a spacious location that used to be an automobile dealership. The King Street Giants, formerly known as Dixie Giants, for Mardi Gras. They will also have the food vendor Bayou on the Bay whose chef comes from Louisiana and makes all authentic recipes from down there. They also have trivia night every Thursday.

Finally, these two breweries have produced a collaboration brew. Back in 2018, they brewed a Baltic Porter with a large amount of rye in it. They decided to age it in rye whiskey barrels. Due to the pandemic it has been in barrels for two years. It was a 7.5% multi-dark lager but now it is up to 10% alcohol. It has many layers of flavors. They are releasing it tomorrow.