Coming to the northern outpost of Sonoma County, many think of Bear Republic and their new production brewery when it comes to beer. If you're looking to drink beer brewed in Cloverdale, your best bet will be to swing by the Ruth McGowan's Brewpub on the corner of East 1st and North Main. Ruth's has been brewing local beer here for over 7 years and has more pedigree than many would expect from a pub with approximately 500 barrels of production a year.
Opened on St. Patrick's Day 2002, Ruth McGowan's received a lot of help from local brewing celebrity Vinnie Cilurzo, who helped put the brewery together and developed the first 4 beers served in-house. Following Vinnie's footsteps was Peter Kruger who can now be found overseeing many of the beers at Bear Republic across town. Most recently Eric Kirchner was the head brewer before heading down to Santa Rosa to help with Vinnie at Russian River.
Today you'll find head brewer Glen Uber manning the brewer's paddle of the 12 barrel system located directly behind the bar inside the brewpub. While you'll still find the same four in-house beers available everyday, there are some changes going on.
First look for a new twist to their Floyd IPA. Brewed with 7 hops and coming in at 7.1%, Uber has kept the unique lemon extract in the dry-hopping but switched to an Amarillo dry-hopping as well as changed the malt bill slightly for a lighter mouthfeel and bigger overall hop presense.. The result is an IPA that holds it own in a county known for IPA.
You can also look for a new slew of specials to come out of the fermenters in the coming months. First up will be an Oatmeal Stout, perfect as the weather cools down. Also on the schedule will be a return of the Citric Wheat, brewed with whole local lemons. For the 8th Anniversary party coming up this spring there promises to be something truly special. Be sure to swing by and ask Glen what he has planned.
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