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Summer is kicking into gear in Sonoma County. Time to sip on a cold one on a shaded patio or at a lively bar – we’ve lined up a few favorite beer venues for summer fun. Added bonus: we asked each spot for a summer brew recommendation. Click through the above gallery for details.

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Summer has arrived and with it even more great places to raise a glass. From wine and beer to organic flavored spirits, there’s a plethora of new tasting rooms from which to enjoy the drinks Sonoma County has to offer. Click through the gallery above for new spots to visit right now.

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First it was tequila and now it’s beer – it seems the Napa Wine Train keeps getting sidetracked. On June 18, it diverts from its regular wine route as it turns into The Hop Train, taking passengers on a beer-infused trip through Napa Valley. The two-hour experience, hosted by local craft brewery Napa Palisades Beer Company, includes a two-hour “rail tour,” small bites and Palisades brews.

“We’re putting beer before Bordeaux and cans before corks,” says the Hop Train website. Napa Valley Wine Train managing editor Rich Evans says they are “excited to showcase the region’s incredible beer offerings and provide an alternative experience for those interested in trying something new.”

And something new it is. This is the first beer-centric experience offered by the Napa Valley Wine Train and it also features a new addition to the train: an open air car with 360-degree views. The two-hour trip includes tastings of three Napa Palisades beers: Loco IPA (7.5% ABV), 1849 Gold Rush Red Ale (5.7% ABV), and Little Loco Session IPA (4.9% ABV). Pub grub bites, prepared by the train’s culinary crew, will include chipotle chicken tacos, caprese salad, buffalo wings, mushroom toast, and smoked duck sliders.

The Hop Train starts June 18 and runs through October. Tickets start at $75 per person and $50 for locals. napavalleywinetrain.com.

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Bad spirits beware – the gargoyles are here. The first Northern California outpost of Stone Brewing has opened in downtown Napa.

Founded in 1996, the Escondido-based brewery has made a name for itself with IPAs that satiate the palates of the pickiest of hopheads. The company has seen expansive growth in recent years (perhaps their gargoyle-decorated bottles and cans are indeed warding off bad spirits): Stone beers are among the top selling on the craft market and, with the opening of the new Napa brewery, Stone Brewing now operates in ten locations, including Berlin, Germany.

While wildly popular, Stone Brewing beers are not for the faint of heart: hoppy brews like “Ruination” (an 8.5% AVB Double IPA) and “Stone Ripper” (a 5.7% ABV San Diego Pale Ale in a can) pack a punch – even the brewery’s pilsner is hoppy.

The Napa brewery and taproom, a whooping 9,500 square-feet space, is housed in the historic Borreo building on the waterfront in downtown Napa. The stone structure required a healthy investment from Stone Brewing in order to retrofit and renovate, while preserving the historic integrity.

“Restoring this historic building has been a complex process which we have been careful to steward with the utmost respect,” said Greg Koch, Stone Brewing Executive Chairman and Co-Founder. “So it is with much pride, and no shortage of relief, that we finally open the doors knowing that we took the time to do it right.”

Seven years in the making, Stone Brewing Napa finally opened its doors on May 6, to hundreds of fans – many had spent hours on the road from throughout Northern California for a chance to sip beers and dine on the Napa River.

The brewery has 24 beers on tap, including regular and seasonal offerings, and growlers can be filled a the tasting bar. Beers are brewed on site, with glass windows offering guests a view of the inner workings of the brewery. The two-story building has a bar with ample seating, and a dining room upstairs. Downstairs, guests will find a tasting bar, fireplace lounge and outdoor seating overlooking the river and downtown Napa.

Chef Chris Kurth, who relocated from San Diego to oversee the Napa brewery kitchen, serves up lunch and dinner daily. The menu features locally sourced produce and includes Choripán Argentinian Sausage Sandwich, a Poke Fire Bowl, and the Stone Brewing Impossible Burger – all with suggested beer pairings.

“Seven years after I first stepped foot in the Borreo building,” shared Koch, “this place is just what I dreamed of – a top-notch destination devoted to celebrating craft beer.”

Stone Brewing is open seven days a week and is located at 3rd and Soscol Ave., Napa. 707-252-2337, stonebrewing.com.

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Sonoma County may be a wine lover’s playground but, in recent years, the region has also evolved into a mecca for microbrew maniacs. While wine and food pairings have become old hat for some, Sonoma Beer Country is now serving up a new kind of duo.

On Tuesday, May 15th, Santa Rosa restaurant John Ash & Co. will team up with Seismic Brewing Co. to create combinations of beer and food that even the pickiest gourmands and beer nerds should enjoy. During a “special beer pairing dinner,” John Ash sous chef (and hophead) Danny Girolmo will serve “an innovative, seasonal four-course meal,” paired with four Seismic brews.

The evening will begin with a reception, during which guests can sip Seismic’s Alluvium pilsner while nibbling on appetizers, including pizza with Black Pig bacon, smoked tomato, and roasted garlic crème fraiche.

The first and second courses will include grilled puntarelle (a type of chicory) with boquerones, croûtes, sauce salmoriglio and caperberries, and a summer salad of prosciutto, melon, hearts of palm, red dragun, and cabernet vinaigrette, paired with Liquifaction, a Kolsch-style ale, and Namazu, an oat pale ale, respectively.

A Sonoma County beer pairing wouldn’t be complete without an IPA: the Szechuan seared duck main course will be served with Seismic’s Shatter Cone IPA. And there’s IPA for dessert, too: Seismic’s Megathrust IPA will combine with strawberry-banyuls (a dessert wine) sorbet with mint, tonka beans, and tropical fruits, to complement the beer’s tropical notes of mango, papaya, pineapple and tangerine.

The dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $95 per person and if you enjoy yourself a little too much, you’re in luck – John Ash & Co. also has a hotel onsite, the Vintners Inn, where you can rest your weary head and full belly. Tickets on sale now. Learn more here.

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To most of the world, Sonoma and Napa are synonymous with wine. But in recent years, the region known as Wine Country has also become known as a mecca for craft beer lovers. Now, a new addition to the local beverage scene is merging wine and beer.

St. Clair Brown, a Napa winery, recently revealed that they have added a “nanobrewery” to their operations. The winery, which opened four years ago in the city of Napa, bills itself as an “urban winery,” and is nestled among culinary gardens with a greenhouse tasting room. The winery hosts music performances and locals nights, and offers wine tastings of their small production wines, which include sauvignon blanc, muscat, rosé, zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon. And now, there’s craft beer, too.

Since opening the winery in 2014, St. Clair Brown co-founder and winemaker Elaine St. Clair had dreamt of adding a brewery to the operations. A former winemaker at Domaine Chandon and former brewmaster and co-owner of Napa Ale Works, she founded St. Clair Brown with co-owner Laina Brown with the intention of creating small batch wine (they make about 1,000 cases a year) and small production craft beer.

“I’ve always wanted to get back to beer,” shares St. Clair, “If we were going to be here for the rest of our lives, I really wanted to be able to do both again.” (St. Clair holds a degree in Fermentation Science from the University of California at Davis, with a focus in both winemaking and brewing).

St. Clair Brown’s nanobrewery (“a scaled-down microbrewery”) is the first of its kind in the city of Napa, which has seen an uptick in breweries over the past few years as more locals and visitors have become thirsty for something more than wine. The brewery produces ten beers, about 60 gallons of each batch, which are bottled by hand in re-sealable Champagne bottles. The beers are unfiltered, naturally carbonated, and malt-driven, with a preference for a less bitter or heavily hopped profile.

“I’m a traditionalist in my palate choices. I want to make beers that are just wonderfully balanced,” says St. Clair.

St. Clair Brown winery serves three beers on tap, with weekly rotations through the beer lineup. Their current beer offerings include a little something for everyone: pilsner, honey wheat ale, farmhouse saison, pale ale, red ale, Scottish ale, brown ale, black IPA, porter and oatmeal stout. Tastings, glasses and growlers are offered.

St. Clair Brown Winery & Brewery is located at 816 Vallejo St., Napa, CA 94559. 707-255-5591. stclairbrownwinery.com. 

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New businesses are popping up around Sonoma County like flowers in spring. As we speak, 27 new businesses are either open or getting ready to open their doors. From wineries and breweries to French bakeries and luxury hotels – and more Mexican food than you can shake a stick at – we can’t wait to check out these new additions to the Sonoma County scene. Check out the slideshow above for all the details.

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With so many high-quality breweries, taprooms and beer venues to choose from in Sonoma County, a beer lover can easily get overwhelmed. To help our fellow beer geeks out, we’ve decided to pick out a few of our favorite local spots – town by town. First out is Petaluma – click through the gallery for all the sudsy details.

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Sonoma County is a beer lover’s dream destination. From some of the highest ranked breweries in the world to unassuming yet well-stocked brew pubs, you can find it all here. Generally, local and visiting beer enthusiasts gravitate toward the cities of Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Sonoma and Healdsburg, but in between these wine country hot spots, just east of Hwy. 101, are two towns worth a visit.

We recently toured Rohnert Park and Cotati and checked out five beer venues you should add to your beer bucket list. From breweries and taprooms to family friendly venues and bottle shops, click through the gallery above for all the details.

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