Matt, James & Cassius.

Herlinda Heras visits Ghost Town Brewing in Oakland, plus we have three other guests on Brew Ha Ha with Harry Duke and Herlinda Heras today. Matt Inlow from Flagship Taproom, Cassius Camus from Battle of the Brews and James Holt, owner of Civilization Brewing are also in the studio.

The Battle of the Brews is Saturday April 1, from 1 to 5 pm. It is the 26th annual beer event hosted by the Active 20-30 of Santa Rosa. In addition to a fund raising event it is a BJCP Judged beer event. It has also evolved into a barbeque competition. It is held at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. In the Grace Pavillion Building there will be 65 different breweries and a large stage with a succession of bands. There will be food and drink galore, too.

Matt Inlow from Flagship Taproom will also be at Battle of the Brews. This will be the brewery’s third time there. At the Flagship Taproom they have a great menu, and since the Battle of the Brews needs 500 servings of an item, they chose their rosemary smoked pork tenderloin sandwich, for the competition. Picture smoked pork tenderloin, with freshly made aioli sauce, melted brie and arugula all on a soft brioche bun. They have a wood-fired smoker for tri-tip, chicken thighs and pork ribs.

There are three locations of Flagship Taproom. A group of friends opened the first one opened in Cotati in 2016. There are  20 rotating beer taps and they do barbeque. They also like events, so they have trivia nights, tap takeovers, comedy shows, with indoor and outdoor events. They are also in downtown Santa Rosa, at 446 B Street. Then at the end of April 2022 they opened a location on the Windsor Town Green. They are at 1001 McClelland Drive.

Herlinda Heras calls in from Oakland where she is visiting Ghost Town Brewing. It is near the Oakland Coliseum where the A’s play. Ghost Town has been around for about 10 years but became famous during the pandemic after they started canning their beer. Herlinda will be a judge at the Battle of the Brews. Herlinda has been a beer judge at several international competitions and it is fun for her to be judging in her own backyard for once.

The next beer they taste is called Super Lemon Haze. Their different hazy beers are named after different bud strains, like Pineapple Express and Moon Rocks. It’s a simple beer with great aroma and fruity flavor from 100% Citra hops. It is always a top seller.

Civilization Brewing is located at 490 Mendocino Ave. at the corner of Ross St. (where the old Local Barrel used to be). They have decorated it with a lot of “weird stuff” from junk shops and antique dealers. They have arcade games and big statues, and an old cathode ray tv tube for playing the really old video games. The last beer is the Peach Rhubarb Sour.