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If you haven’t heard of Healdsburg Brewing Co., now you have. And if you haven’t had their beers, now you might. The brewery was a nano operation for years. Launched in 2007 by Kevin McGee, whose family recently purchased Anderson Valley Brewing Co., Healdsburg Brewing made less than 1,000 gallons of beer per year, which McGee brewed and personally delivered to a handful of North Bay restaurants and bars. So it went for a decade.
The brand was sidelined in 2018 for a time as McGee and his family arranged and finalized the purchase of the comparatively giant Anderson Valley Brewing in 2019. Now, McGee is relaunching his nano brand, and beers are beginning to appear in stores this month.
The rollout has begun closer to the home base in Boonville, but McGee says that by the end of this month Marin County stores should be carrying his beers.
For now, the brewery’s beer lineup, which is being made at Anderson Valley’s facility, consists
of three beers — the Robust Porter, India Pale Ale and Blonde Ale. The porter is as creamy as it is rich, with flavors of toast, coffee and chocolate softened by a velvety smooth mouthfeel. The blonde is zesty and zappy, with bright summer flavors of stone fruit and grapefruit.
The IPA, for me, was a curiosity when I opened the sample can sent my way. The beer had some bitterness but otherwise was dominated by the malt and caramel notes we typically expect to find underneath the fragrant hop flavors in most IPAs. I asked McGee
what IPA style he was aiming for with his beer, and he says it is indeed a throwback to the style’s roots that reflects what IPAs tasted like a century and more ago.
“This is a very old-school, English-style IPA,” he says. “It’s so different from the
West Coast IPAs that everyone makes, and that’s why I made it.”
In other words, it marks a diversion from the industry’s focus on hugely fruity and hoppy IPAs.
McGee says he has “literally dozens of other beers that I’ve brewed over the years that we’ll cycle as limited releases, but we are choosing a more focused approach for launching and establishing the brand.”
Breweries reopen
At the statewide level, breweries everywhere are pushing forward the throttle as they take advantage of relaxed COVID-related restrictions. Indoor and outdoor drinking is again an option, as is having a beer without a meal.
You may remember that last year, brewers became peeved when state officials required that they serve food with their beer. This was a huge inconvenience and financial hit for small breweries that have no onsite kitchen.
It was also unquestionably unfair, since the same requirement didn’t apply to wine tasting venues — even those operating out of the same building as a brewery. So, the California Craft Brewers Association sued the state. In mid-March, the state retracted its regulatory punch to brewers, and the age-old tradition of having a pint has returned, burritos be danged.