The first time I encountered the idea of ‘Voodoo’ was in a syndicated episode of the late ‘70s TV show ‘The Hardy Boys’–based on the best-selling series of books. It’s an odd reference, I know–but nothing about the early ‘80s feels normal–so it will have to do. Needless to say, voodoo as portrayed in the show was mysterious, scary and utterly unpredictable–but at the same time, it was enticing and begged further exploration. That’s how I felt the first time I ran into the guys from San Francisco’s own Cherry Voodoo Brewing when I met them a year and a half ago on a brisk Super Bowl Sunday in the famous garage housing Elizabeth Street Brewery.

At the time, the boys from Cherry Voodoo were a young startup—capable of kegging and running a jockey box to dispense their own curious style of voodoo. I don’t remember much (I attribute this to the voodoo), but I do remember I liked it enough to keep my eyes on this little enterprise.

Fast forward 18 months to the familiar, dark surroundings of North Beach’s famed Church Key beer bar and I’m sitting across the table from Yuri and Greg–founders, proprietors, evangelists and witch doctors of what has evolved into a substantial force in the San Francisco brewing community. We spent a few hours talking about the industry and learning about Yuri’s early days hauling kegs up crooked stairwells for his pals at Thirsty Bear, over several well-poured glasses of Cherry Voodoo’s own fabulous Tripel. The beer clearly had leanings to its Belgian namesake… but was distinctly west coast, thanks to the use of plenty of hops (three types to be exact) and its rock n’ roll attitude (more a product of the company rather than the beer itself).

Unfortunately, due to the limited production coming out of Cherry Voodoo, we were only able to check out the Tripel—but are anxious to get our hands on Filth Pig (a double-hopped, French Oak-aged tribute to the band Ministry), Gangster (homage to a life-threatening experience en route to fellow San Francisco mainstay Speakeasy) and the elusive Thermonuclear (the name says it all).

There was never a Hardy Boys episode about picking cherries… which is a good thing, as the fruity part of Cherry Voodoo is similarly absent and truth be told, the Hardys weren’t particularly known for their taste in beer. Do you see the connection? I don’t. In any case, if you’re in the Bay area and looking to explore some of San Francisco’s up-and-comers—I highly encourage you to seek out the Voodoo that that these guys do so well. Follow Cherry Voodoo on Twitter at or visit their website.

Kristina (@hopmonkey) is a digital and social media marketer who believes life and beer should be full of hops and monkeying around.