Sonoma Springs turns 10 and is throwing a party

Sonoma Springs celebrates double digits with a party on July 21.|

Sonoma Springs Brewery 10th anniversary all-ages party

From 1 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 21. Admission is free and there will be a special 10th anniversary beer, entertainment from Sonoma Sound Syndicate and the Mark Larson Band, a cornhole tournament and food from Johnny Barbeque.

The taproom is open regularly from 4 to 9 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays and from 1 to 9 p.m. the rest of the week.

Like seemingly everything in life these days, the craft beer landscape moves quickly. Within the past decade Sonoma County has seen several breweries come and go and it seems like it wasn’t all that long ago that the Sonoma Springs Brewery was running its tiny brew pub just off the Plaza on West Napa Street. However, this weekend Sonoma Springs will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary with a blowout taking place at its new(ish) brew pub in the former Nicholas Turkey Farm building at 19449 Riverside Drive.

When asked about the changes over the years, Sonoma Springs Brewing partner Derek Drennan had much to say, having seen the changes first hand.

“The market is incredibly different than it was when we started a decade ago,” he says. “I think the biggest thing we have had to adjust to was the death of the flagship beer.”

For those who don’t speak beer lingo, that might sound scary and a bit daunting but it’s actually an interesting insight that only comes from a dedicated “hop head.” What Drennan means is breweries are much more flexible and creative these days in terms of types of beer they’re brewing – whereas a decade ago or even longer, consumers may have only got to know a brand like Lagunitas IPA or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale which was the bulk of what a brewery would make. Nowadays, new beers are flying in and out of taprooms and refrigerator aisles at an insanely quick pace.

Drennan agrees and adds “while we still produce our flagship Subliminal Gold IPA and our Sonoma Springs Kolsch year round, the name of the game is innovation for us.” The results can be seen on their taproom menu as well as in the brewery’s lofty goal of releasing one new beer a week – a goal they’ve hit every week in 2018 thus far, save two.

As an example of their dedication to hard work and creativity, Drennan points to a unique Sonoma Springs beer dry hopped with an extremely interesting ingredient.

“We brewed a classic cream ale and dry hopped it with Oreo cookies,” laughs Drennan. “The five gallon keg in the taproom went in a couple of hours so we decided to brew it up on a larger scale and ended up canning it for the release in June.” The beer, named BakeShop, currently sports a crisp 3.5 out of 5 stars on the popular beer connoisseur app Untappd, and Drennan describes it as “a fun beer and certainly unique.”

Add Drennan: “We have done Milkshake IPAs, Kettle Sours, all sorts of Hazy concoctions in addition to our normal IPAs and Pale Ales.”

Since they restarted the business in their new location on Riverside Drive, he says, they’ve been focused on innovation and trying to “push the envelope” in brewing.

“We actively encourage our brewhouse team (which includes Brian Nelson, Shawn Whitaker and Daniel Paddock) to experiment, bringing in new grains and hops to mess around with,” said Drennan.

Speaking of innovation, an obvious question revolves around the challenges of being the only beer brewer in a wine town. While one might think there would be some resistance or complications, Sonoma Springs seems to have found a way to make the uniqueness of location work to its advantage.

“We actually embrace being the only brewery in Sonoma,” says Drennan. “For example, we source wine barrels locally for some of our barrel-aged projects and our bar is actually made of old barrel staves as well.”

While he admits “wine is still king here,” Drennan urges doubters to come to the taproom on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. “I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people say that they have been tasting reds all day and just want a beer,” he says.

Aside from Drennan, Robert Raney also serves as active partner in the brewery which has steadily churned out more kegs each year. Drennan says three years ago, they put out 800 barrels (each of which contains 3,968 ounces) followed by 1,200 the next and then 2,000 in 2017. The brewery is aiming for 2,500 barrels this year and will need it with over 300 accounts in place and growing by the month.

One can find Sonoma Springs Brewery beers as far south as Santa Cruz, over to Sacramento as well as everywhere in Sonoma County where fine beers are sold including Whole Foods, Raley’s and Safeway. As for further expansion, the brewery plans to add more indoor seating as well as some much-desired outdoor seating to its brewpub. Owners are also hoping to expand to a secondary taproom in early 2019.

Everyone (yes, including dogs and children) is invited to the Sonoma Springs Brewery 10th anniversary party this Saturday, July 21, from 1 to 6 p.m. Admission is free and there will be a special 10th anniversary beer, entertainment from Sonoma Sound Syndicate as well as the Mark Larson Band, a cornhole tournament and food from Johnny Barbeque. And a portion of the days proceeds will go to Pets Lifeline of Sonoma.

Sonoma Springs Brewery 10th anniversary all-ages party

From 1 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 21. Admission is free and there will be a special 10th anniversary beer, entertainment from Sonoma Sound Syndicate and the Mark Larson Band, a cornhole tournament and food from Johnny Barbeque.

The taproom is open regularly from 4 to 9 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays and from 1 to 9 p.m. the rest of the week.

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