Brewpubs have always been community hubs. In the past few years, Sonoma County\u2019s breweries have broadened their appeal with craveable food, competitive game nights, and a growing list of beverages.<\/p>\n
Here are the locals using their talents to create a brewery culture where everyone is welcome and fun is always on tap.<\/span><\/p>\n Walking past the beer aisle in the grocery store is tough for Nicky London.<\/p>\n \u201cI always twist the cans so the labels show,\u201d he says. \u201cI do it for all the brands that I\u2019ve worked with.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the most sought-after beer-can artists in Sonoma County, London says he\u2019s simply solving a problem for breweries in a crowded market by helping them stand out.<\/p>\n As art director and head of design at Cooperage, he\u2019s created more than 100 labels for the Santa Rosa brewery. He also plies his trade as a freelance artist, painting cans for Fogbelt, Moonlight, and Marin County-based Pond Farm breweries.<\/p>\n In an age of eye-popping wraparound labels hyping a constant rotation of varieties, London taps into his own unique visual flair \u2014 sometimes trippy and cartoonish, other times macabre with dark, painterly brush strokes \u2014 often playing with pop cultural references.<\/p>\n For a \u201cClear and Loathing\u201d beer, a play on a Hunter S. Thompson classic, he hid Easter eggs like flying stingrays and a creepy hitchhiker deep in the label.<\/p>\n Having worked in both the restaurant and wine industries, he loves the communal vibe of the beer business. \u201cIf you\u2019re not buying my beer on the shelf and you\u2019re buying somebody else\u2019s, it\u2019s still a win for beer. I don\u2019t take those types of things personally. I\u2019m like, hell yeah, people are still out there looking for fun stuff \u2014 and that gives you the drive to create the next fun thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Favorite Beers:<\/strong><\/p>\n Fogbelt Brewing co-owner Paul Hawley remembers Red Tail Ale fondly. \u201cThat was the beer my dad used to drink, so that was the beer I\u2019d grab from the fridge at home,\u201d he says. The amber ale and flagship beer for Mendocino Brewing Company, which opened California\u2019s first brewpub in 1983, developed a cult-like following.<\/p>\n The pub closed in 2018<\/a>, but when a new owner bought the former Ukiah facility, he inherited its recipes and approached Fogbelt about a Red Tail revival. Hawley\u2019s team consulted original brewers, then tweaked the recipe, adding a dry hop \u201cto pop up the aromatics\u201d before launching in March 2025.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the latest blast from the past in local beer comebacks. In 2024, childhood buddies resurrected three Third Street Aleworks beers<\/a> after the Santa Rosa brewpub shut down the previous year. Before that, Rich Norgrove of Bear Republic joined the Grace family, once synonymous with Sonoma County beer, to brew a limited release Grace Bros. Bavarian Lager. Russian River Brewing has long paid tribute to Grace Bros. with its Happy Hops IPA and Velvet Glow lager.<\/p>\n In an industry obsessed with the next new thing, it\u2019s nice to look back, Hawley says. \u201cPeople seem to be going back to stuff they know and like, rather than demanding something new all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n Red Tail\u2019s reception has been enthusiastic \u2014 Fogbelt is doubling production this year to 600 barrels. \u201cEvery week we get calls and emails from people grateful that it\u2019s back,\u201d says Hawley. As for his dad, who frequented the old Hopland brewpub and once trained red-tailed hawks, \u201cHe\u2019s excited to have it in his fridge again.\u201d<\/p>\n Favorite beers:<\/strong><\/p>\n Born in Belgium and raised in the United States, brewer Hendrik Cuver has something to prove at Cuver Brewing in Windsor. \u201cIt\u2019s really a cultural passion project,\u201d he says. \u201cWe wanted to show people what beer would taste like if you had a Belgian beer in Belgium.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a bold move in a market over-saturated with hazies and other hop-driven IPAs. But people are taking notice. \u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of people tell us, \u2018You\u2019re the brewers\u2019 favorite brewery.\u2019 Since our Belgians are kind of unique, they like to come here,\u201d Cuver says.<\/p>\n The name \u201cCuver\u201d is an amalgam of his family\u2019s last name, Verspecht, and his wife Amber\u2019s maiden name, Cushing. \u201cPut them together and it just happens to be a French verb that means \u2018to ferment,’\u201d he says.<\/p>\n His father, Jan Verspecht, is the owner, while his father-in-law, Reed Cushing, is the other brewer. Amber does the marketing.<\/p>\n A fourth-generation brewer, Cuver took up homebrewing at the age of 15. That\u2019s when he began experimenting with adding Meyer lemon peel and California bay laurel leaves to the brew \u2014 what eventually became his signature Pepperwood saison ale, the brewery\u2019s best seller.<\/p>\n Five years into the business, the ultimate compliment is when vacationing Belgians drop by for a beer. \u201cWhen they tell me that it tastes like home, then I\u2019m happy \u2014 that\u2019s all I\u2019m trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Favorite beers:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 John Beck<\/em><\/p>\n While most are familiar with the term sommelier, an expert in wine, fewer are aware of the beer world equivalent \u2014 the cicerone. \u201cCicerone is Italian for guide,\u201d explains Sebastopol resident Allo Gilinsky, one of a number of Sonoma County cicerones.<\/p>\n Gilinsky\u2019s passion for a well-pulled pint began with beer drinking and bar hopping in college, then blossomed while tasting his way through flights at Lagunitas and working as a tour guide at Russian River Brewing Company\u2019s Windsor facility during its early days. While working on the East Coast, he pursued a cicerone certification, a self-directed course of study that culminates with a written test and a tasting exam that requires aspiring cicerones to identify things like beer styles and off flavors. \u201cMost of your certified cicerone studies are tasting bad beer,\u201d says Gilinsky.<\/p>\n While many who complete the certification are brewers and taproom managers, the program is open to anyone who wants to wear their beer geek status as a badge of honor. \u201cYou become part of a community of people who are passionate about beer and beer education. It\u2019s a \u2018welcome to the club\u2019 type of moment,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Since returning to Sonoma County from Boston last year, Gilinsky has focused on building his business, Craft Beer Concierge<\/a>, providing beer education for beer lovers and businesses alike.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to make beer approachable and intriguing to people. It brings people together over a beverage.\u201d<\/p>\n Wee Nibble Saison, Moonlight Brewing:<\/strong> \u201cThis one really scratches the itch for any lover of Belgian yeast and saisons. Pairs beautifully with food and sunshine.\u201d<\/p>\n Happy Hops, Russian River Brewing:<\/strong> \u201cThis hoppy offering doesn\u2019t get quite the love it should. A beer that expertly bridges the palate for fans of both classic bitter and newer tropical IPAs, it\u2019s got a boatload of hops in it and remains well balanced.\u201d<\/p>\n Dark Sarcasm, Barrel Brothers Brewing:<\/strong> \u201cFor a robust beer, it doesn\u2019t get much better for me than this porter that hits all the right notes of coffee and chocolate flavor. A great beer to drink, and an even better beer to cook with.\u201d<\/p>\n Wok This Way, Cooperage Brewing:<\/strong> \u201cA light yet flavorful lager that\u2019s made with jasmine rice. One you want on their patio on a hot day and should not be missed.\u201d<\/p>\n Dobbel, Cuver Brewing:<\/strong> \u201cA beer that\u2019s so true to style, I could cry. Belgian Dubbels are complex, warming, and meant to be drunk over conversation, and Cuver\u2019s really hits the mark.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Jennifer Graue<\/em><\/p>\n This roundup is from our\u00a0Ultimate Guide to Sonoma County\u2019s Beer Scene<\/a>, originally published in the March\/April 2026 issue of Sonoma Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nA beer-can artist taps visual flair<\/h3>\n
![\"Cooperage](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SMG-L-BeerFeature-030126-CC002.jpg\")
![\"Cans](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SMG-L-BeerFeature-030126-CC003.jpg\")
\n
![\"Moonlight](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/D1A22703-C426-4EAE-BF2B-64C924C539FB.jpeg\")
![\"Fogbelt](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/a439730c-dfee-5c0c-91e9-1e6c8d75da8a.jpg\")
Sonoma County\u2019s classic comebacks<\/h3>\n
![\"Pat](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/30fe0cb0-1502-5e97-899d-0548c6bf912e.jpg\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6EFB9A19-BAFD-46C9-945C-F98ECD88E45D.jpg\")
\n
![\"Co-founder](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TPD-L-BS-020826-CUVER2.jpg\")
The brewer banking on Belgians<\/h3>\n
![\"Beer](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TPD-L-BS-020826-CUVER6.jpg\")
![\"Beer](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TPD-L-BS-020826-CUVER8.jpg\")
\n
![\"Certified](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TPD-L-BS-020826-CUVER5.jpg\")
A Sonoma County cicerone<\/h3>\n
![\"Moonlight](\"https:\/\/www.sonomamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/132cf4ae-01a3-5224-afe2-5117d0c166a8.jpg\")
Top 5 picks from a local beer expert<\/h4>\n