Moonlight Brewing Company
Brian Hunt opened the first microbrewery in Santa Rosa in 1992 and still decides a beer is done by sight, smell and taste. Death & Taxes is the black lager people come for. Children and dogs are welcome.12
Why go
Hunt was brewing before there was a craft beer industry to brew in.1 His process runs on barley, grains and herbs, and on his own senses instead of a schedule.1 Moonlight turned 34 in August 2026 and marked it on a Saturday with Patty's Mexican Food, The Spot, Gabacool Provisions and La Churroteka parked outside and Roots Fusion on at three.2
The taproom keeps a weekly rhythm. Trivia on Wednesday, free bingo on Thursday for all ages, and $2 off pints on Tuesday and Sunday.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: Death & Taxes. Sonoma Magazine calls it a San Francisco-style black lager and reckons it converts people.1
- Order: Reality Czeck, the pilsner, and the 14 P° Special brewed in the same style if it is on.2
- Order: whatever landed this month. August 2026 brought Serial Delusion, a West Coast IPA, the Cellar Clown Märzen and the Deep Cut lager.2
- Avoid: a Monday. The taproom runs Tuesday to Sunday.2
What locals & experts say
- Sonoma Magazine (7 August 2025):
A sip on a Moonlight beer will bring you back to a time when the beer world was not dominated by hoppy IPAs; and the San Francisco-style, black lager 'Death and Taxes' will make the previously pure join the dark side, for sure.
1 - Sonoma Magazine on the brewer:
Moonlight head brewer Brian Hunt is old school. Hunt was crafting brews before there was even a craft beer industry, and his Moonlight Brewing became the first microbrewery in Santa Rosa when it opened in 1992.
1
Good to know
- Hours. 4pm to 9pm Tuesday to Thursday, 1pm to 10pm Friday, noon to 10pm Saturday, noon to 7pm Sunday.2
- Children and dogs are welcome, in the taproom's own words, as long as they behave.2
- Moonlight publishes a monthly food truck calendar, so you can see who is parked outside before you go.2
Verdict
should-visit — Sonoma Magazine says Death & Taxes 'will make the previously pure join the dark side,' and calls a sip of Moonlight a trip back to before the IPA years. Hunt judges a beer finished by sight, smell and taste and builds them on barley, grains and herbs. The taproom runs trivia on Wednesday and free bingo on Thursday, and it threw its 34th-anniversary party in August 2026 with four food trucks, a DJ and live music from three in the afternoon. One unbylined magazine roundup and the brewery's own list are all the outside evidence there is.