BREWERY TOURS

Want to learn fun facts, juicy stories, industry insider information and tasting notes about the beer you’re drinking? Are you an experienced home brewer or zymurgist (fermentation scientist), or are you just curious about how various styles of beer are brewed? Perhaps you’d like to know more about hops, which used to be a staple crop here in Sonoma and are now making a comeback.

Our brewery tours are fun, insightful and memory making.

THE PERFECT CRAFT BREWERY EXPERIENCE

If you said YES to any of the above, then a Thunderstar Brewery Tour is for you! We specialize in private van/shuttle bus brewery tours around Sonoma County and the North Bay. And our friendly, professional drivers provide a safe, enjoyable ride and keep DUI worries from spoiling your day.

You’ll get the royal treatment with lunch, tastings at each brewery and — for groups of eight or more — a knowledgeable tour guide.

What’s included on the tour?

Safe round-trip transportation to three different breweries
Beer tastings at each stop
A tasty box lunch to put some food in your belly
A cooler filled with chilled bottled water to rehydrate you between stops
A knowledgeable tour guide (for groups of eight or more) with stories, tasting notes, and industry insider information about the beer and the breweries. Our guides are passionate about craft beer.

BREWERIES, DISTILLERIES & CIDER HOUSES

Following are some of Sonoma County’s best-known breweries — shape your tour by picking three from the list below. Here’s a short description of each one, but you may want to check out their websites before making your selection. To find individual websites, we suggest you start here: https://www.sonomacounty.com/activities/breweries.

LAGUNITAS BREWING COMPANY (PETALUMA)

Lagunitas makes a variety of awesome beers but is best known for its big, aggressively hopped, West Coast-style pale ales and IPAs.

THIRD STREET ALEWORKS (SANTA ROSA)

Excellent brewpub known for its award-winning, British-inspired ales as well as its contemporary takes on newer American craft beer styles. Also offers an excellent choice of food.

COOPERAGE BREWING COMPANY (SANTA ROSA)

Another new Santa Rosa brewery with a fun atmosphere and games. It specializes in Belgian styles and IPAs.

DEMPSEY’S BREWERY (PETALUMA)

Petaluma’s oldest brewery, Dempsey’s brews a variety of exceptionally well-balanced beers. It overlooks the river in the Historic Downtown district.

OLD REDWOOD BREWING COMPANY (WINDSOR)

Considered a nanobrewery due to its size and production, Old Redwood focuses on very small batches of premium beer styles. In addition to a couple of year-round standards, it brews a new variety almost every month. Join their beer club to taste them all.

STUMPTOWN BREWERY (GUERNEVILLE)

The huge deck overlooking the Russian River at Stumptown (Guerneville’s former name) is one of Sonoma County’s most breathtaking places to enjoy a beer. In addition to its own delicious craft brews, Stumptown also serves a few hard-to-find favorites from other local breweries.

OLD POSSUM BREWING COMPANY (SANTA ROSA)

To share our vision, we strive to use only the best ingredients in our food and beer. We lean on our neighbors – farmers, ranchers, bakers, butchers, maltsters and hop growers — who all help us achieve a hyperlocal product. We love our beers and hope you enjoy them as much as we take pleasure in making them.

SEISMIC BREWING COMPANY (SANTA ROSA)

From our Pilsner to our IPA, each of our beers is brewed true to style, but with our own Northern California twist. Because we want to preserve this beautiful region for the next generation, we are pioneering new brewing tech and using renewable energy sourced right here in Sonoma County to help establish new benchmarks of sustainable brewing.

PLOW BREWING COMPANY (SANTA ROSA)

A brand new brewery in Santa Rosa founded by a former brewer from Lagunitas, Russian River and Speakeasy. His resume speaks for itself.

WOODFOUR BREWING COMPANY (SEBASTOPOL)

Inspired by the Belgian and German brewing traditions, Woodfour is known for pushing the envelope with unique fermentations.

BEAR REPUBLIC BREWING COMPANY (HEALDSBURG)

Always busy, Bear Republic is best known for its flagship Racer 5 IPA. It also brews a variety of excellent beers from across the spectrum.

HENHOUSE BREWING COMPANY (SANTA ROSA)

A West Santa Rosa beer destination that brews a range of interesting styles, including sours and saisons.

BARREL BROTHERS BREWING COMPANY (WINDSOR)

A smaller 10-barrel brewery in Windsor that brews everything from lagers and IPAs to porters and sours

RUSSIAN RIVER BREWING COMPANY (WINDSOR)

Guided tour with a knowledgeable guide lets you observe the brewing process, smell the fermentation and taste our brews. (All guided and self-guided tours have been placed on hold till 2021 due to Covid-19. Thank you for your understanding. Once tours resume, the Tour Lobby will normally be open for self-guided tours daily, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.)

FOGBELT BREWING COMPANY (SANTA ROSA)

The name was inspired by the coastal fog rolling through Northern California’s towering redwoods. This brewery does all open fermentation and offers an excellent craft beer assortment. It names each beer after specific redwood giants. Brews made with fresh, Sonoma-grown hops are a Fogbelt specialty in season (late July through August). Fresh hops give beer a distinctive flavor that differs from that of typical kiln-dried hops used in year-round brewing. Formerly a staple crop here, hops are now making a comeback thanks to the NorCal Hop Growers Alliance, which works to grow the market and develop best farming practices.

MAP

ITINERARY:

PICKUP LOCATIONS:

Rohnert Park — Roberts Lake Park & Ride (by Golf Course Dr. and Roberts Lake Rd.)
Cotati: Smart Train Depot, 8100 Santero Way, Cotati, CA 94931
Healdsburg — Park & Ride (Healdsburg Ave. and Grant Ave.)
Vallejo — Ferry Terminal

ITINERARY

MEETING AND PICK-UP:

We’re happy to pick you up from your home, hotel, SMART train station, Vallejo or Larkspur Ferry Terminal, or a pre-arranged location that fits your needs. Rates will vary depending on pickup location.

At the end of the tour we’ll be happy to call you a cab, drop you off at a nearby restaurant, hotel or any safe place so you won’t need to drive.

If you have any questions, please call or email us and we’ll be happy to help.

PRICING

Price per guest in your group: $100 to $125 depending on brewery tasting fees.

If you have any questions, please call or email us and we’ll be happy to help.

Must be a mature adult, ready to enjoy beer responsibly, 21 years or older, to participate in this tour.
Alcohol service is conducted by brewery staff members.

Although many of our local breweries welcome dogs, for the safety of other passengers and our drivers we cannot accommodate dogs on our vans or mini buses at this time. Thank you for your understanding.

We want you to have a wonderful experience.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?