For folks planning to enjoy wine country in the coming months, beer drinkers will be happy to know there’s a place for them as well. Hopmonk Tavern is a new venture from Dean Biersch (of Gordon Biersch fame) that has opened in a 105-year-old California historic landmark building in Sebastopol, just at the intersection of Highway 116 and Highway 12 in Sonoma County. Hopmonk offers innovative and seasonal gastropub fare from chef Lynn McCarthy, craft beers from Europe and smaller regional producers in the U.S, including 75-plus bottled beers, 16 drafts and two cask-conditioned ales, plus a 55-seat classic beer garden to enjoy it all in, and an acoustic performance stage for music. There’s even a regional bike trail that passes through the front of the property. Located adjacent to the tavern and beer garden is The Abbey, a 200-person, 2,000-square-foot music venue.

Entering the music room at the Hopmonk Tavern is a full-body shock for those acquainted with the room's former life at the Powerhouse Brewing Company or the Sebastopol Brewing Company (seen above). Dark lighting, votive candles and disco-ball glints quaver high in the room's exposed wooden rafters; two tree braches descend from the ceiling, with futuristic yellow lightbulbs as fruit. The whole experience is like a Tahoe-ski-lodge-meets-Space-Mountain: it's fancy, but it's manageably fancy. (Gabe Meline, bohemian.com)