Beer Me! — Sonoma Brewing Company — Petaluma, California, United States

Read about our trip to Germany and Prague at
The "Beer Me" Blog!

This is not the official web site of

Sonoma Brewing Company

Dempsey's Restaurant & Brewery

50 East Washington Street
Petaluma CA 94952
Telephone: +1 707-765-9694
Hours: Open daily at 11:30am.
Brewer: Peter Burrell
[Update]

Notes

Visited: August 16, 1992

Opened: 1991

Annual Production: 700 bbl

Contributors: Arash Shahzadi, Diane Crawford

Good beer and eats...and the final stop on my Beer Odyssey on August 16, 1992.

Directions: Highway 101 North from San Francisco - or South from Santa Rosa - to Petaluma. Exit at Washington Street and go west. Dempsey's is in the Golden Eagle shopping center about a mile along on the left.

Updated: April 19, 2010

Beer List

Bad Bear Brown

American-Style Brown Ale
- Date: May 7, 1994 (#325)
  
  Package: draught
  
  Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA
  
  Score: 14½ points
  
  Overall Impression (3)
  Dark dark red clear. Reasonable head. Chocolate malt aroma. Very bitter start. Black malt takes over from there. Not sweet at all. I like it, but it's not a Brown Ale. As a Porter, it's a 17 at least...
- Date: August 16, 1992 (#1934)
  
  Package: draught
  
  Place: at the brewery
  
  Overall Impression
  Good brown. Just sweet enough. Could use a bit more "roasty" flavor, but maybe not.

Dunkelweizen

South German-Style Dunkel Weizen/Weissbier

Date: November 7, 1994 (#589)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 17½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Brown, great head. Brown wheat aroma. Could be stronger. Brown flavors and sweet. Very nice bitter finish!

Golden Eagle

Golden or Blonde Ale

Date: August 16, 1992 (#1936)

Package: draught

Place: at the brewery

Overall Impression
Light pale.

Harry's Stout

Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout

Date: August 16, 1992 (#1937)

Package: draught

Place: at the brewery

Overall Impression
Thin, a little astringent. Nope.

Date: December 12, 1992 (#2495)

Package: draught

Score: 12 points

Overall Impression (2½)
No head, but high carbonation. Plenty of wheat sweetness along with dark malt flavors. Minimal hop character until finish. Sticky sweetness may be appropriate, but not to my liking. Not a Bock.

Date: December 27, 1994 (#664)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 13½ points

Overall Impression (2½)
Red. Thick white head and lots o'carbonation. Smells like straw...malty. Some biscuit flavor, some Redhook-ish hoppiness. Finishes clean.

Date: June 4, 1993 (#1164)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 13½ points

Overall Impression (2½)
Definitely red...few bubbles. Chocolate and crystal malt aromas. Good body. Bitterness a little too intense at first. (Found these notes on a beermat two years - and exactly 1100 beers - after I wrote them!)

Date: June 3, 1995 (#992)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 13½ points

Overall Impression (2½)
Golden, some haze, good head and carbonation. First impression: an unburned cigarette! (?!?) Not bad, but I've never smelled a beer like this. Smoked malt? Malty flavor. Pretty clean. Maybe a mild Altbier.

Date: September 2, 1995 (#1159)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 14½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Hazy yellow, moderate carbonation, good head. Fruity hoppy nose. Big hoppy flavor. Finishes clean.

Date: December 18, 1994 (#658)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 15½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Pale, hazy, big head. Clean aroma...some malt. Big. Some bitterness early...fades. Some alcohol flavor, not much.

Date: December 12, 1994 (#309)

Package: draught

Place: Lyon's Brewery, Dublin CA

Score: 14 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Thin head, hazy. Faint and fruity aroma. Hoppy and smooth. Very warming, but not alcoholic-tasting. Cloying, which would keep me from drinking a lot of it.

Date: May 16, 1993 (#27)

Package: draught

Score: 14½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Very much unfiltered! Alcoholic aroma, a little hoppy. Smooth, very hoppy mouthfeel. Warming.

Date: August 12, 1995 (#1129)

Package: draught

Place: The HopYard, Pleasanton CA

Score: 14½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Red, low carbonation. OK head. Nice hoppy nose. Bitter, hoppy flavor all the way to the finish.

Date: December 26, 1994 (#660)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Score: 15 points

Overall Impression (2½)
Amber, OK white head. Low carbonation. Fruity aroma, some caramel malt. Fruity, hoppy hop flavor. Pleasant bitter finish. Very low carbonation.

Date: June 27, 1993 (#101)

Package: draught

Place: Lyon's Brewery, Dublin CA

Score: 15 points

Overall Impression (2½)
It's red, alright. Aroma consists of hops and hops. Get ready for this one... Seems thick, but I'll bet it's thinner when it's cold. Good crystal malt flavor, but very nearly overwhelmed by the hops (intense). Served from their solitary beer engine. Warmer than the rest of the beers here...too warm. Odd flakes in the bottom of (finished) glass.

Date: August 16, 1992 (#1939)

Package: draught

Place: at the brewery

Overall Impression
Amber. Less body but more flavor than Golden Eagle.

Date: (Date unknown) (#1940)

Package: draught

Place: Pacific Coast Brewing, Oakland CA

Overall Impression
Very hoppy, rich and smooth, nice golden color. Good stuff.