Lagunitas Brewing, Petaluma, Calif.

Welcome to a special stop on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Lagunitas Brewing Co., 1280 N McDowell Blvd, Petaluma, Calif.
Train line: SMART, Petaluma North
Time from Larkspur: 48 minutes (zone 3)
Distance from station: 700 m

The Lagunitas Taproom in Chicago closed 2½ years ago when Lagunitas consolidated all of its operations in its Petaluma campus. It's easy to understand why: Petaluma is a billion times better than Megaluma, for starters. (Ah, ha ha, ha.) I visited the Chicago taproom several times before the Brews and Choos Project begain in 2020, but not since. When I discovered I had a full day to myself in the Bay Area last weekend, I decided to trek up to Sonoma County to visit.

They had so many beers there simply isn't a way to try them all. In addition to their 9 year-round beers, the Petaluma taproom had 21 limited releases and several THC drinks. I tried four, starting with the Cans Keep Secrets Pale (5.0%), which hit me with mango on the nose, though it didn't have that much of a fruit body despite having so many other flavors and a strong hop presence. A Little Fuzzy hazy IPA (6.1%) almost felt like a lager, initially subtle with a pleasing piney hops build. The West Coast IPA, I Have A Plan (7.0%), had crisp, forward hops with no overwhelming flavors; I would buy a 6-pack if I lived in the area. I finished with the Wooli Jumpah hazy IPA (6.4%), with a pineapple nose followed by big apricot and almost syrupy fruit on the first taste.

Unlike the Chicago taproom which had limited outdoor space, the Petaluma headquarters has a sprawling all-weather terrace that probably seats 500 people. They also allow dogs, like this bully who really wanted to be my friend:

They have a full food menu of which I only tried the Caesar salad, due to my grazing through two farmers markets on the way up to Petaluma.

Beer garden? Yes, huge
Dogs OK? Outside only
Televisions? None
Serves food? Full menu
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes