Moonlight Brewing Company Receives Harvest Fair Award for Excellence in the Craft Beer Industry

With ingredients such as Redwood twigs taken from the tree in his brewery’s front yard, Brain Hunt and his Moonlight Brewing Company make crafted beer that’s at once uniquely Sonoma County and World-class. He’s a pioneer in the booming craft beer industry and a leader in the art of making craft beer, with beer aficionados eagerly awaiting his Moonlight releases available only in limited supplies. From his flagship beer “Death and Taxes” to his Redwood twig inspired “Working for Tips,” Hunt innovatively creates beer in harmony with his locale; and he has played a vital role in establishing Sonoma County among the World’s premiere craft beer regions. The Sonoma County Harvest Fair is pleased to present Brian Hunt and Moonlight Brewing Company of Santa Rosa with the 2015 Award for Excellence in the Craft Beer Industry.

“It blows my mind to think about how far this industry has come in such short time. We’re in the midst of a revolution, it’s truly phenomenal.” said Hunt upon hearing of the award. “When I got out of brewing school in 1980 there were 43 craft breweries in the World. Today, we have that many in Sonoma and Napa counties alone.”

“For me, this endeavor has always been about making great beers that people love. When it comes to quantity and distribution, I don’t have the ambition to take on the World. But producing quality beers, “World-class” quality you could say, that are uniquely mine and uniquely Sonoma County, that matters to me,” adds Hunt.

Hunt started Moonlight Brewery in rural Santa Rosa in 1992. Small by most comparisons, the brewery produces about 2500 barrels per year. Whereas the original brewery was in a converted tractor barn, today the Abbey de St. Humulus in Santa Rosa is home to the Moonlight Brewery. A share of its hops are grown on site and harvested around September. Currently all of the beers are sold only in kegs and can be found in San Francisco, the East Bay and North Bay counties. Mendocino and Lake Counties have a few spots, and there are rare sightings in Santa Cruz, Seal Beach, and San Diego.

“Moonlight Brewery was chosen based on the creativity and innovation Brian Hunt has displayed in his craft beer enterprise,” says Katie Fonsen Young of the Sonoma County Harvest Fair. “Hunt is a true craft beer pioneer and to be commended for putting Sonoma County on the map for excellence. Not only do people love his beers, he should win an award for their creative names alone,” she adds.

Some of Hunt’s craft brews contain ingredients not found in a beer mug since The Middle Ages, while others are entirely new. Classically trained at UC Davis, the wine country brewer loves the richness and diversity of Sonoma County flora, which explains why he uses some of it as ingredients in his beers. Currently, the brewery produces five year-round production beers and four seasonal beers.

The Sonoma County Harvest Fair is proud to honor Moonlight Brewing Company with the 2015 award for Excellence in the Craft Beer Industry. The Harvest Fair will celebrate Moonlight and Brian Hunt, along with fellow Harvest Fair award recipients, during the Sonoma County Harvest Awards and dinner September 27 at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. The celebration is open to the public with a limited number of tickets available at HarvestFair.org or at the Harvest Fair Box Office located at 1350 Bennett Valley Road in Santa Rosa.

The 2015 Sonoma County Harvest Fair will be October 2-4 at the Sonoma County Events Center and Fairgrounds. The popular and prestigious annual event includes the World Championship Grape Stomp, wine, beer (including those from Moonlight Brewing Company) and cider tasting, food and wine-related seminars, tastings, workshops and much more. For more information, visit HarvestFair.org or call (707) 545-4200. You can also follow "Sonoma County Harvest Fair" on Facebook.