Tasting through a unique and rare selection of history’s finest while enjoying all-you-can-eat pizza paired along the way.

America’s first microbrewery was in Sonoma, and California’s first brewpub was just up the road in Mendocino County. As much as Anchor Steam and Sierra Nevada set standards for what “California Beer” meant, it was the micro-est of breweries hidden in the isolated small towns of the far north that planted the seed instigating the spread of craft beer to the rest of the state.

This tasting will feature beers from six pioneering breweries that were built by hand from scratch, many of the beers initiating styles that were unique to California. The beers will serve as a starting point for a discussion of the evolution and spread of breweries and beer styles to the rest of California. A few current rarities will be included to show that “the 707” continues to foster innovation in brewing.

Presenter:
While beer manager for Spike’s between 1981 and 1995, Wine Warehouse beer specialist Charles Hiigel introduced the Beer Festival concept to California in 1983. His annual interviews with brewers throughout the 1980s kept him updated on each new brewery, often while it was still in construction, and allowed him to follow the growth patterns of breweries and their emerging beer styles. His notes during beer festival planning resulted in the annual Tasting Guide to the California Festival of Beers, the state’s first brewery guidebooks from 1987 to 1992.