The Capital Region craft distillery scene is starting to catch up with the rest of the country.

With daytrip-worthy destinations in the Capital Region, wine enthusiasts no longer need to pay the higher prices and drive to Napa to get a world-class winery experience.

PODCAST: Wineries in the Capital Region have added an array of amenities to keep oenophiles closer to home.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Precision Medical Products primarily focused on products for post-surgical patients. But with PPE in short supply nationwide, the company swiftly allocated all its resources toward the production and distribution of N95 and KN95 respirators.

Thanks to a temporary relaxation of Alcoholic Beverage Control laws, most California breweries have pivoted to curbside and delivery business. But how much longer local breweries will survive — and what the long-term effects of the pandemic on the Sacramento-area beer scene will be — remain unknown.

The Sacramento food scene is often defined more by its restaurateurs than its restaurants. Some culinary titans roll out an array of unique concepts throughout their careers. However, microcelebrity status doesn’t come without challenges.

UCLA researchers predict that California’s economy will get hit harder by the coronavirus than most U.S. states. However, the Greater Sacramento Economic Council is already leading the local recovery effort. 

As county and state orders compelled most people to remain at home, the Sacramento art world took a huge hit. However, creativity has continued to flourish in quarantine.

The coronavirus quarantine has devastated the Sacramento restaurant scene. We talked to several prominent local restaurateurs to see how they are handling the situation. 

The Berkeley-based Fieldwork Brewing Company unveiled plans in January to expand in Sacramento, increasing the size of its taproom from 1,400 to 4,900 feet.

PODCAST: As the Sacramento craft beer scene continues to mature, will local drinkers abandon their ales and learn to love the lager?

PODCAST: While the general American drinking public prefers lagers over ales, craft breweries often give these cold-fermented brews the cold shoulder. Yet some area brewers believe the balance is starting to shift.

While the general American drinking public prefers lagers over ales, craft breweries often give these cold-fermented brews the cold shoulder. Yet some area brewers believe the balance is starting to shift.

The new Slice Beer Company in Lincoln features a big name in the local beverage scene. 

Sacramento Beer Week, entering its 10th year, is one of the longest running regional craft beer celebrations in the country. As this year’s event prepares to kick off April 26, the statewide craft beer scene is stronger than ever. California is now home to more than 980 breweries, compared to fewer than 300 in 2012, according to statistics released by the California Craft Beer Association.

After several weeks of rumors, two years of lobbying from Visit Sacramento and over a decade of fruitless attempts by local chefs to capture the attention of the most influential food guide in the world, Michelin finally rolled into town in March.

Although High Water Brewing has been in operation for more than eight years, there has long been confusion about exactly what city the craft-beer business calls home.

Sacramento’s first woman to become Advanced Sommelier aims to elevate the local wine scene. 

Dark beers have developed a serious sweet tooth.

A promotional effort created by the City and supported by the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce, the Barrel District is an attempt to unite these craft beverage manufacturers and brand Rancho Cordova as a distinct destination for beer and spirits.

National research shows that while big beer’s market share continues to plummet and craft beer has plateaued, the spirits industry is on the rise — a trend bolstered by women and millennials.

Even for a brewery based on embracing history, six years old is a little young to be over the hill.

In 1971, UC Davis became the first university in the country to add a fermentation science major to its undergraduate course catalog. However, even though — nearly five decades later — California is nearing 1,000 craft breweries, and despite the legal and regulatory morass that awaits every new brewery owner, Dan Croxall believes that earlier this year, he conducted the first-ever craft beer law class at an American law school.

The battered metal lockers inside the gargantuan walk-in freezer at Roseville Meat Company have been around for 72 years — since this popular butcher shop first opened up.

The Dad’s Kitchen owner signed a lease on a 1,000-square-foot property on 24th and K streets in Midtown Sacramento in August 2017. Julio Peix planned to convert the former dental office into Cider House — the city’s first cider bar — for an early 2018 debut, but construction delays stretched on for over a year.

Things change fast in the craft beer world. The industry trends from five years ago are already outdated, which is evident with the new East Sacramento eatery The Other Side by Track 7 Brewing Company. The classic industrial vibe of the first two Track 7 locations has been replaced by bright, warm colors and a sprawling layout.

Over 70 breweries are currently operating in the greater Sacramento area, but only four of them — Solid Ground in Diamond Springs, Gold Hill in Placerville, Dueling Dogs in Lincoln and the Dancing Fox — are also licensed to make and sell wine, cider, mead or other types of alcoholic beverages.

Originally conceived as a Pan Pacific pissing match, the World Butchers’ Challenge has since exploded into a truly global competition. It began in 2011 when Beef + Lamb New Zealand CEO Rod Slater bet an Australian colleague a bottle of whiskey that his country boasted the better butchers.

Traditional butcher shops are making a comeback in the Capital Region.

There are several reasons why Sac City Brews Neighborhood Tap House at the Tallac Village Shopping Center in Tahoe Park has quickly become one of the most laid-back beer bars in the Sacramento area.

As a Core Member of the National New Play Network, the B Street Theatre has produced over 100 new works in the last 30 years. However, out-of-the-box ideas like the New Comedies Festival underline the need for theaters to continue evolving to meet shifting customer demands.

New beers are prime currency in the world of craft beer. Walk into any of the 60-plus independent craft breweries in the Sacramento region and you’ll probably encounter an enormous tap list filled with 10-20 beers in a diverse range of styles. Come back a month later and you’ll probably find that at least half of those taps have changed to different beers.

There is probably no stronger indication of the strength and maturity of the Sacramento beer scene than the fact that so many breweries, both local and out-of-town, have opened or plan to open second or third locations in the area.

Comstock’s spoke with a few women brewery owners in the Capital Region about their diverse backgrounds, their paths to leadership and their thoughts on getting more women into craft beer.

Placer County will soon be home to it’s third farmhouse brewery, marrying farm-to-fork ideals with the craft beer craze. Do these breweries offer the area trappings to make it a tourist destination? 

As Sacramento’s craft beer scene exploded, breweries opened on the outskirts, but now breweries and beer bars are migrating to the grid.

Why is Auburn beer blowing up? Besides the amenable climate, perhaps the appeal lies in the area’s clean and balanced water that originates as the Sierra snowpack.