Brewpubs have always been community hubs. In the past few years, Sonoma County’s breweries have broadened their appeal with craveable food, competitive game nights, and a growing list of beverages.
Here are the locals using their talents to create a brewery culture where everyone is welcome and fun is always on tap.
A beer-can artist taps visual flair
Walking past the beer aisle in the grocery store is tough for Nicky London.
“I always twist the cans so the labels show,” he says. “I do it for all the brands that I’ve worked with.”
One of the most sought-after beer-can artists in Sonoma County, London says he’s simply solving a problem for breweries in a crowded market by helping them stand out.
As art director and head of design at Cooperage, he’s 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.
In an age of eye-popping wraparound labels hyping a constant rotation of varieties, London taps into his own unique visual flair — sometimes trippy and cartoonish, other times macabre with dark, painterly brush strokes — often playing with pop cultural references.
For a “Clear and Loathing” beer, a play on a Hunter S. Thompson classic, he hid Easter eggs like flying stingrays and a creepy hitchhiker deep in the label.
Having worked in both the restaurant and wine industries, he loves the communal vibe of the beer business. “If you’re not buying my beer on the shelf and you’re buying somebody else’s, it’s still a win for beer. I don’t take those types of things personally. I’m like, hell yeah, people are still out there looking for fun stuff — and that gives you the drive to create the next fun thing.”
Favorite Beers:
- Cooperage Brewing’s Crispy Crusher American pale ale
- Moonlight Brewing’s Death & Taxes black lager
Sonoma County’s classic comebacks
Fogbelt Brewing co-owner Paul Hawley remembers Red Tail Ale fondly. “That was the beer my dad used to drink, so that was the beer I’d grab from the fridge at home,” he says. The amber ale and flagship beer for Mendocino Brewing Company, which opened California’s first brewpub in 1983, developed a cult-like following.
The pub closed in 2018, but when a new owner bought the former Ukiah facility, he inherited its recipes and approached Fogbelt about a Red Tail revival. Hawley’s team consulted original brewers, then tweaked the recipe, adding a dry hop “to pop up the aromatics” before launching in March 2025.
It’s the latest blast from the past in local beer comebacks. In 2024, childhood buddies resurrected three Third Street Aleworks beers 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.
In an industry obsessed with the next new thing, it’s nice to look back, Hawley says. “People seem to be going back to stuff they know and like, rather than demanding something new all the time.”
Red Tail’s reception has been enthusiastic — Fogbelt is doubling production this year to 600 barrels. “Every week we get calls and emails from people grateful that it’s back,” says Hawley. As for his dad, who frequented the old Hopland brewpub and once trained red-tailed hawks, “He’s excited to have it in his fridge again.”
Favorite beers:
- Fogbelt’s Godwood Triple IPA
- Moonlight’s Reality Czech Pilsner
The brewer banking on Belgians
Born in Belgium and raised in the United States, brewer Hendrik Cuver has something to prove at Cuver Brewing in Windsor. “It’s really a cultural passion project,” he says. “We wanted to show people what beer would taste like if you had a Belgian beer in Belgium.”
It’s a bold move in a market over-saturated with hazies and other hop-driven IPAs. But people are taking notice. “I’ve had a lot of people tell us, ‘You’re the brewers’ favorite brewery.’ Since our Belgians are kind of unique, they like to come here,” Cuver says.
The name “Cuver” is an amalgam of his family’s last name, Verspecht, and his wife Amber’s maiden name, Cushing. “Put them together and it just happens to be a French verb that means ‘to ferment,'” he says.
His father, Jan Verspecht, is the owner, while his father-in-law, Reed Cushing, is the other brewer. Amber does the marketing.
A fourth-generation brewer, Cuver took up homebrewing at the age of 15. That’s when he began experimenting with adding Meyer lemon peel and California bay laurel leaves to the brew — what eventually became his signature Pepperwood saison ale, the brewery’s best seller.
Five years into the business, the ultimate compliment is when vacationing Belgians drop by for a beer. “When they tell me that it tastes like home, then I’m happy — that’s all I’m trying to do.”
Favorite beers:
- By Her Bootstraps White IPA, a Cuver collaboration with the Pink Boots Society (March 2026 release)
- Old Caz Beer’s Bukovany Pivo Czech pilsner
— John Beck
A Sonoma County cicerone
While most are familiar with the term sommelier, an expert in wine, fewer are aware of the beer world equivalent — the cicerone. “Cicerone is Italian for guide,” explains Sebastopol resident Allo Gilinsky, one of a number of Sonoma County cicerones.
Gilinsky’s 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’s 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. “Most of your certified cicerone studies are tasting bad beer,” says Gilinsky.
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. “You become part of a community of people who are passionate about beer and beer education. It’s a ‘welcome to the club’ type of moment,” he says.
Since returning to Sonoma County from Boston last year, Gilinsky has focused on building his business, Craft Beer Concierge, providing beer education for beer lovers and businesses alike.
“I like to make beer approachable and intriguing to people. It brings people together over a beverage.”
Top 5 picks from a local beer expert
Wee Nibble Saison, Moonlight Brewing: “This one really scratches the itch for any lover of Belgian yeast and saisons. Pairs beautifully with food and sunshine.”
Happy Hops, Russian River Brewing: “This hoppy offering doesn’t get quite the love it should. A beer that expertly bridges the palate for fans of both classic bitter and newer tropical IPAs, it’s got a boatload of hops in it and remains well balanced.”
Dark Sarcasm, Barrel Brothers Brewing: “For a robust beer, it doesn’t 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.”
Wok This Way, Cooperage Brewing: “A light yet flavorful lager that’s made with jasmine rice. One you want on their patio on a hot day and should not be missed.”
Dobbel, Cuver Brewing: “A beer that’s so true to style, I could cry. Belgian Dubbels are complex, warming, and meant to be drunk over conversation, and Cuver’s really hits the mark.”
— Jennifer Graue
This roundup is from our Ultimate Guide to Sonoma County’s Beer Scene, originally published in the March/April 2026 issue of Sonoma Magazine.