Let the Moon Send You on Your Way, at Moonlight Brewing #Visitsantarosa

Greetings fans and followers! This is the seventh in a multi- part series of reviews highlighting the breweries I visited during the Great Beer Now Roses, Rivers, and Peanuts Beer Tour 2018. My visit focused on Santa Rosa, California and surrounding areas, which happen to rank among the best locations in the United States for craft beer. Sit back, open a bottle or can of your favorite craft beer, and follow me along on my journey. Cheers!

 

Craft breweries keep on keeping on, and they continue to open at a steady pace. Some fear that a bubble is in the near future and craft brewery closures are just around the corner, but there is one brewery that has shown it has what it takes to weather the storm and make way for the peaceful light of the moon. That brewery is Moonlight Brewing, located at 3350 Coffey Lane in Santa Rosa, California.

Dancing in the Moonlight

Located in a warehouse area, Moonlight Brewing is small in size overall but has enough meeting space to make it attractive to small groups of friends. You are first greeted by the bar area when you enter and you can start off with a quick serving of beer before making your way to the back area, where customers convene. There are tables and chairs in this section, and you are seated right next to the brewing equipment.

Moonlight Brewing was founded in 1992 and is one of the oldest continuously operating breweries in California. They brew a large variety of beers and brew them gluten- reduced but not gluten free. I also learned that they have an active partnership with brewing behemoth Lagunitas Brewing, located a short distance to the south, in nearby Petaluma, CA.

Beer Serenade

Moonlight Brewing has about six to eight beers available at any given time. Here is a summary of the beers I tried when I visited, listed alphabetically by name, followed by the style and my Untappd rating on a five point scale:

• Bombay by Boat, American IPA, 4
• Death and Taxes, Dark Lager, 4.5
• Misspent Youth, Pale Ale, 4
• Reality Czeck, Pilsner, 4
• Toast (Slightly Burnt), American Amber, 3.75
• Twist of Fate, Bitter, 4

Overall Average Rating: 4.04

The beer at Moonlight Brewing is consistent in quality and the standout in the pack for me is Death and Taxes, a dark lager. The overall average rating of more than four stars speaks to the quality of the beer brewed and served here.

Moonlight Feels Right

Moonlight Brewing is a long- lived brewing operation in Santa Rosa and one of the many breweries I visited in Santa Rosa on my beer tour. Hearing that this brewing had been around for 25 years was quite a surprise and I looked forward to discovering the results of so many years of brewing prowess.

With its location in an industrial area, Moonlight Brewing takes on the look and feel of an industrial space. Walk past the taproom to the back and you will find seats directly adjacent to the brewhouse, for a get-close-to-the-beer-production feeling of intimacy. Some might find this a little too low key, but I actually like places like this. The non- pretentiousness means that the brewery doesn’t necessarily take itself all that seriously and you feel extremely casual and relaxed.

Casual or not, however, Moonlight Brewing does take its beer seriously and their quarter century of brewing expertise is on display in each beer they serve. I liked the entire lineup but I was particularly drawn to the Death and Taxes, a dark lager. This was about as well- made as one could ask for this style of beer and it isn’t surprising that it ranks among the brewery’s top sellers.

Moonlight Brewing operates using a 20 barrel brewhouse and its beers are distributed throughout California. For a place that has been around for 25 years, some guests might expect larger and greater things. From what I could tell from talking to the bartender and others, Moonlight’s ownership is fully aware that they could take things to a higher level, but they are content operating as a local brewery. They are smaller than other breweries of the same age, but that means a more intimate experience in an atmosphere that is about as low- key and casual as you can get.

Not many breweries or other businesses last for 25 years. With this level of longevity, Moonlight Brewing is one of the state’s and the nation’s oldest craft breweries and while the facility isn’t going to win any beauty contests for its design or features, it is nonetheless a cool place to sip on the sweet suds that have made Santa Rosa a craft beer haven. In the words of the 1970’s band Starbuck, there “Ain’t Nothin’ Like the Sky to Dose a Potion…The Moon’ll Send You on Your Way.” Moonlight feels right to me, and I recommend it for your next Santa Rosa brewery excursion. So pay a visit to Moonlight Brewing the next time you’re in the Santa Rosa area. And tell them Great Beer Now sent you.