A clucking good time is in store for beer lovers starting Monday, Feb. 6, when HenHouse Brewing releases its highly anticipated Big Chicken \u201cZero-Day\u201d Double IPA at taprooms, bars and restaurants throughout the Bay Area.<\/p>\n
This will be the eighth annual release of Big Chicken, and HenHouse expects to pour 60,000 pints of the sudsy stuff within the week. What makes Big Chicken special is that it\u2019s packaged, delivered and served in a single day, preserving its arresting freshness.<\/p>\n
Founded in 2012, HenHouse sells a variety of IPAs, plus pale ales, stouts, saisons and sours, many of them released on a rotating basis. Those who live in Sonoma County know a new HenHouse beer seems to appear on store shelves weekly.<\/p>\n
The Santa Rosa-based brewery has inspired a sense of pride among Sonoma County beer drinkers who remain stoked on the brewery\u2019s ultra-fresh, hop-driven beers and clever, esoteric packaging.<\/p>\n
More than 400 bars and restaurants will serve the West Coast-style Double IPA beginning Monday, Feb. 6, through Friday, Feb. 10. But you also can sample Big Chicken during the weekend, by heading to the HenHouse taproom in Santa Rosa or Petaluma, where it will be poured through Sunday, Feb. 12 \u2014 if it lasts that long.<\/p>\n
Sonoma County bar and restaurant locations that will serve Big Chicken were announced on HenHouse\u2019s social media channels<\/a>\u00a0Jan. 31, including Acre Pizza in Petaluma and Sebastopol, Brew Coffee and Beer in Santa Rosa, Duke\u2019s Spirited Cocktails in Healdsburg, Flagship Taproom in Cotati and Hopmonk Tavern in Sonoma.<\/p>\n Find all locations here:<\/strong><\/p>\n Refreshed each year, the recipe for Big Chicken highlights the HenHouse production team\u2019s favorite ingredients, techniques and trends from the previous 12 months. \u201cZero-Day\u201d refers to the beer\u2019s fleeting availability.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the most exciting things about this year\u2019s release is that we used Genie Barley from Crane Farms in Penngrove, which was malted at Admiral Maltings in Alameda,\u201d said Zach Kelly, HenHouse\u2019s brewmaster. \u201cSonoma County is really focused on agriculture, so using more locally grown ingredients and developing tighter relationships with our farmers is important to us.\u201d<\/p>\n But blink and you\u2019ll miss it. Big Chicken is expected to fly the coop in a matter of days. Cans of Big Chicken 2023 will only be available at the HenHouse Santa Rosa Brewery Tasting Room and Petaluma Palace of Barrels. Cans will be allocated each day from Monday, Feb. 6, to Sunday, Feb. 12. HenHouse said it can\u2019t guarantee the daily allocations will last until closing or after Feb. 12.<\/p>\n At 10% ABV (alcohol-by-volume), this year\u2019s Big Chicken is all you\u2019ve ever wanted in West Coast-style Double IPA. A combination of Simcoe, Cascade, Centennial, Mosaic and CTZ hops provides burly, dank, resinous pine aromas lifted by notes of fresh, ripe grapefruit. The full-bodied mouthfeel gives way to a hop-imbued burst of fresh grapefruit, followed by a complex yet crisp finish.<\/p>\n For HenHouse Brewing, this year\u2019s release of Big Chicken is especially significant as it\u2019s the first time the beer was produced with the brewery\u2019s new carbon dioxide-capture system.<\/p>\n During the fermentation process, carbon dioxide is typically released into the atmosphere, where it adds to greenhouse gas emissions. With carbon-dioxide-capture technology, HenHouse is able to recover the carbon dioxide and use it to carbonate their beer.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many byproducts in beer production, and the CO2-capture system has allowed us to make a dent in our carbon footprint,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cAt HenHouse, we think about how we can improve processes instead of just doing them as fast as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information, visit henhousebrewing.com\/bigchicken<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can reach Staff Writer Sarah Doyle at 707-521-5478 or sarah.doyle@pressdemocrat.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/henhouse-brewing.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\nGreener than hops<\/h4>\n