For this month’s Bay Area brewery tour, I headed up to Windsor in Sonoma County. While the town is known for its nearly two dozen wineries, it’s also home to several impressively good breweries, including Cuver Brewing, Barrel Brothers Brewing and the legendary Russian River Brewing, as well as Tilted House Ciderworks.
Cuver Belgian Brewers
Brewmaster Hendrik Verspecht of Cuver Belgian Brewers in the taproom of the brewery founded by two families: the Cushings and the Verspechts. It draws its name from the first few letters of each family name. (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks)
Cuver Belgian Brewers, which opened in 2021, was founded by two families, the Verspechts from Belgium and the Cushings from Sonoma County, and the brewery’s name combines both. An electrical engineer, Jan Verspecht moved his family to the U.S. and taught his son Hendrik (now Cuver’s brewmaster) to home brew, in part because they were missing Belgian beers from home. Homebrewing was a hobby too for co-founder Reed Cushing, whose daughter is Hendrik’s now-fiancé, Amber Cushing.
The brewery idea began after the Santa Rosa fires, when many of their neighbors lost their homes. Encouraged by the positive feedback from friends, the Verspechts ramped up their homebrewing. Hendrik was finishing his master’s degree in biochemistry and biotechnology in Belgium when his father told him that the former Saint Florian’s Brewery was on the market. They decided to take the plunge.
They opened soon a few months later with five core beers, including Pepperwood Signature Saison Ale, their take on a Belgian saison brewed with Meyer lemon peel and California bay laurel. It’s since won multiple awards at the California State Fair.
The other brews are all quite tasty — a nice oasis of Belgian beer in the heart of the West Coast brewing scene. The taproom is comfortable, like a home bar in someone’s den, complete with dart boards, books and games, and a beer garden. They serve snacks, and on Fridays, there’s a food truck.
Details: Open from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, noon to 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. on Sundays at at 7704 Bell Road; cuverbrewing.com.
Barrel Brothers Brewing
Barrel Brothers Brewing co-founder Don Weber stands at the Windsor taproom and kitchen where visitors can pour their own drinks, making it easier to sample a variety of brews. (Courtesy Jay R. Brooks)
Barrel Brothers Brewing was founded in 2015 by brothers-in-law Don Weber and Wesley Deal, wine industry insiders who had started homebrewing in a garage. By the time Deal was in college, studying fermentation sciences at UC Davis, they had a plan in place to open a brewery upon graduation.
Their first brew, Dark Sarcasm, is a smooth, chocolatey porter with a touch of added vanilla. Other core beers are include a double IPA, BrotherMaker, Naughty Hops IPA, Hazy, Dad Pants pilsner and Por Qué No, a Mexican-style lager.
They also do seasonal, experimental beers, along with a barrel and sour program, so there’s always something interesting to try. I’m fond of the delicious Snozberries Taste Like Snozberries, a great name for a sour fruit beer. Several of their beers are available in a non-alcoholic version and taste remarkably similar to their full-strength counterparts. They also make ready-to-drink cocktails and play around with smoothie or slushie beers, loaded with fruit and beer.
Barrel Brothers uses a by-the-ounce system that allows you to self-pour as little or as much as you want from 39 taps of their beer, cocktails, wine, cider, smoothie/slushies and housemade seltzers. It makes it very easy to sample their offerings and discover your favorites.
The tasting space is open with lots of light, and a large outdoor seating area spills out from the back. The kitchen offers a full menu with everything from corn dogs and chicken satay to curries, burgers and sweets. They also have live music and stand-up comedy events several times a month.
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Details: Open from noon to 9 p.m. daily at 9238 Redwood Highway, Suite 128; barrelbrothersbrewing.com.
Russian River Brewing
This venerable Santa Rosa brewpub celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this year, and its 5-year-old production facility and brew pub in Windsor has quickly become a destination for beer lovers. They offer a full menu that’s entirely different from the Santa Rosa one, plus guided and self-guided tours available by reservation.
Details: The pub is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily at 700 Mitchell Lane; russianriverbrewing.com.
Tilted Shed Ciderworks
Be sure to check out Windsor’s Tilted Shed Ciderworks too. Founded in 2011 by Scott Heath and Ellen Cavalli, the cidery is one of the best I’ve visited. They go out of their way to celebrate ciders made with apples from local orchards and their natural ciders are brewed using wild fermentation.
Details: Open from 2 to 7 p.m. on Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at 7761 Bell Road; tiltedshed.com.
Contact Jay R. Brooks at [email protected].
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