John Burton, Beer Historian

John Burton is back on Brew Ha Ha with Herlinda Heras and Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon. He has been on the show once before, on this episode of April 11, 2024 and he was also the subject of this recent article in the Press Democrat.

For long-time Sonoma County residents, John Burton is well-known, because one of his business was a bartending school that he ran for 47 years and recently closed for retirement. Herlinda was just a kid when John’s late wife Nancy was the mayor of Santa Rosa.

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John tells his story, starting at restaurants and the Flamingo. He met Virginia Grace when the Sonoma County Fair was the centerpiece of the social season. She didn’t know much about her family history in brewing and they started talking about it. Soon after, he wrote a book about Grace Brothers Brewery.

Russian River Brewing Co. is open in Santa Rosa on 4th St. and at their big Windsor location. Visit their website for up-to-date hours, menus, beers and more.

Breweriana

Breweriana encompases everything related to beer, be it foam scrapers, bottles and cans and especially advertising. On Saturday Aug. 9 at 8:00 the Bennet Valley Grange on Grange Rd. there will be free a show of about 50 tables of breweriana wares. John does it almost like an antiques road show. He describes it as a combination of local history and collecting. If you have something you might be interested in selling to a collector, these are the people to meet.

Grace Bros. was the fourth largest brewery in California during its heyday. They had other brands and produced beer in southern California too, in Los Angeles under the name of Southern. They had 140 different paper labels and 90 different can labels.