Announcing the Lagunitas Taproom

Sonoma County is full of breweries, it seems as if I talk about it on a daily basis (why shouldn’tI?). Most of these breweries have a place where you can come and sit down and have a few beers, and on a good day, run into the people involved in the process of brewing the beer.  On brewery not included in that group was Lagunitas in Petalumma. Notice I said “was.” 

Today marked the opening of the Lagunitas Taproom.  Located in the former offices and the lawn between there and the brewery, the Lagunitas Taproom offers beer lovers a chance to drink a beer at the brewery without having to make the time for the brewery tour, which will still be offered Monday through Friday at 3pm.  The Taproom will be open Wednesday through Sunday with weekday hours of 3-9pm and weekend hours of 1-7pm.

While the pictures you’ll see here are of the current Taproom, more changes are to come.  Let’s call the current setup Stage 1.  The temporary bar is located inside with the patio fully completed. Food is availabvle from Jerome’s BBQ and offered outside in a catered setup.  In stage 2, work on the inside bar will commence with the cooler being pushed outside and access to the inside bar closed.  Stage three will mark the final stage of the process, with an indoors bar and kitchen serving grilled sandwiches and snacks.

Through all stages of construction, expect live music daily.  You might even catch owner Tony Magee stepping on stge from time to time as he’s been known to pluck a guitar string every now and again.  Also, for dog lovers, it wouldn’t be Lagunitas if your dogs weren’t welcome on the patio, as a couple furry friends have been sighted at the new digs.

In addition to regular taps, there have been talks of one-off brews making an appearance at the Taproom, so there is plenty of reason to swing by and see what’s brewing down at Lagunitas.

All news coming from Petaluma isn’t Taproom rleated as I had a chance to try some of the newest beers that are fermenting at the brewery.  The bases of these beers may not be new, but the final product should be something to be excited about.  I got a chance to try their Ruben and the Jets which has been aged in bourbon barrels since December.  Two months ago they added some “brett” to this barrel and just 3 weeks ago, some cherries.  While the sample I had tasted a bit young I was told this would be given another 3 months or more to age.  I have high hopes for this beer as the barrel tasting was definitely impressive.

Also in their barrels I saw a few others that piqued my interest.  While I didn’t get to sample these, there was a Ruben and the Jets with “brett” and raspberries as well as a Farmhouse Saison with “brett” and blackberries.  It will be interesting to see where these beers go in the coming months.

Hop Stoopid is getting minor tweaks around the brewery. What was introduced to me as “Hop-tarded” they’ve upped the hop levels in these Hop Stoopid recipes to 5 pounds per barrel.  While the recipe isn’t quite hoppy enough by Lagunitas standards, I have to say the bottle I sampled was fantastic.  I can only imagine what it will take to create the brew that is suitable for public consumption.

Finally, in a case of bad news, good news (and potentially good news), the Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ has disappeared from many shelfs locally.  That’s bad. Imperial Red has been replacing this beer in the coolers where Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ had been previously. That’s good.  Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ may be making a return.  That’s good.

So there you have it, all your Lagunitas news in one tidy package.  Cheers!