Pliny the Younger, Russian River Brewing Company’s super-hoppy triple India pale ale, will be released Friday, March 20. It will be available until April 2 and is expected to bring thousands of self-proclaimed beer geeks to Russian River Brewing Company’s Santa Rosa and Windsor brewpubs.

This year marks the 22nd anniversary of the Pliny release, which select local bars and restaurants had on tap in February.

To get you primed for Pliny time, we’ve answered some of the most common questions about the coveted brew. Click through the above gallery for photos from previous Pliny releases, plus some quick facts.

What’s the big deal?

Russian River brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo first brewed “Younger” in 2005. At the time, it was the only beer of its kind: the first triple IPA. It is only available for a limited time at the brewery’s Santa Rosa and Windsor brewpubs. Until 2022, it was released in February. Since then, it has been released in March. (Since 2022, it has also been released to a selection of bars and restaurants before its official in-person release.) At the brewpubs, Pliny is only available on draft and is served in 10-ounce glasses. Patrons can also buy and take home bottles of the coveted beer — three bottles per guest are sold on a first-come, first-served basis, only available at the brewpubs.

OK, when can I get my hands on some Pliny?

Russian River Brewing Co.’s brewpubs in Santa Rosa and Windsor will be pouring Pliny from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, March 20 through April 2. The beer will be available each day until the brewpub runs out of that day’s allocation. Pliny pilgrims can expect long waits to get into the brewpubs; lines start to form around 5 a.m. Once inside, guests are allotted two and a half hours at the pub, three “Youngers” (10-ounce pours) and three bottles of Pliny to take home.

If Pliny is so popular, why not just make more of it? 

According to Russian River Brewing, Pliny the Younger is a very time consuming and expensive beer to brew. It requires an exceptionally large amount of raw materials — malt and hops in particular — and takes up significant tank space at the brewery. In other words, it’s just not worth the money and effort to make more Pliny — especially when the limited supply seems to be working out just fine.

Is there any way to skip the line?

In 2018, for the first time in Younger history, a lucky few got to cut the line. Following the wildfires in October 2017, Russian River Brewing launched Sonoma Pride, which raised funds for fire relief efforts in part through $25 donations for a chance to win Pliny line-cutting privileges. Since then, however, there are no cuts allowed. For the best shot at a short wait, the time to come is midweek during the evening (Windsor is your best bet). But, believe it or not, a lot of people actually want to experience the line — come rain or shine — because “that’s where the event is.” But standing in lines has rules…

How do I master the line (and not get kicked out)? 

No matter how pumped you are about Pliny, waiting in line for hours can be boring, and bored people do silly things. Therefore, there are rules: no smoking, no drinking, no bottle sharing (in line or inside the brewpub), no camping in front of businesses (leave your pop-up tents and easy-ups at home) and come with your entire party — don’t cut in front of people who have been waiting for hours because “your friends saved your spot;” that’s not cool.

What happens once I get inside? 

Russian River Brewing Company keeps track of allotted time and pours with a four-tabbed wristband — not, disappointingly, with chalk marks like meter maids. Tabs are removed as Youngers are poured; the fourth tap is for purchasing Pliny bottles. Draft pours are not transferable, but bottle allocations can be transferred to other people in your party. Inside, Plinys can be paired with pub fare. Naturally, “Pliny” bites are the most popular pick, but “Drew” bites are also worth a try. The Windsor brewpub has more food options.

What does Pliny taste like? 

Pliny the Younger is a rendition of other Russian River Brewing Company favorite Pliny the Elder, except with more hops, malt and higher alcohol (the beer finishes around 10.25% AVB). The hops used in the recipe include Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic, Nectaron, Simcoe, Warrior and Tangier. According to those in the know (and Russian River Brewing Company’s website), it is loaded with hop flavors and is surprisingly smooth and dry for the amount of alcohol and malt.

Who is this Pliny character anyway? And how do I pronounce Pliny? 

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, a.k.a Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author and magistrate of ancient Rome. Pliny’s uncle, Pliny the Elder (also a Russian River beer), helped raise and educate him, and later adopted him. Pliny Jr. and Pliny Sr. witnessed the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, which took Pliny the Elder’s life. While most people pronounce the popular beer “ply-knee,” the “correct” Latin pronunciation is actually “plih-nee” – rhyming with “mini.”

What’s the Windsor brewery like? 

The Windsor brewpub can accommodate up to 200 Pliny enthusiasts (the Santa Rosa pub’s capacity is 135). The food menu offers more options than the Santa Rosa location, including burgers, double-fried Kennebec fries, fish and chips, salmon, schnitzel and salads. If you need some fresh air, you can step out on a year-round patio and 1-acre pet-friendly beer garden. In addition to Pliny the Younger, visitors can sample other popular Russian River Brewing beers.

I’m from out of town; where is a good place to stay? And how do I get around after I’ve had my share of Plinys? 

Russian River Brewing Company has partnered with a number of local hotels that are offering “Special Younger Rates” during the two-week release: Art House Hotel, Courtyard Marriott, Hotel E, Hampton Inn & Suites, Vintners Resort and The Astro Motel in Santa Rosa, Hampton Inn and Suites in Windsor and DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Rohnert Park.

Want to explore Sonoma County post Pliny? Uber and Lyft are available in Santa Rosa and Windsor. The SMART train is another good option.

What if I am pining for Pliny, but am not willing to wait in line for hours? 

No worries. Pliny the Younger’s close relation, Pliny the Elder, is available year-round — bottled or on tap. You can also check out local restaurants and bars that may have some Younger left on tap.

Where to get Pliny the Younger

Russian River Brewing Co. Santa Rosa: 725 Fourth St.; 707-545-2337. Windsor: 700 Mitchell Lane; 707-545-2337.

Hours: Both brewpubs will be open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. from March 20 through April 2. Pliny will be available each day until the brewpub runs out of that day’s allocation. Customers can expect long wait times, with lines starting to form around 5 a.m. or earlier.

Information: russianriverbrewing.com/pliny-the-younger-release

Sarah Doyle, Sofia Englund, Maci Martell, Jess Poshepny-Vallery and Christi Warren contributed to this article. 

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This year marks the 15th annual release of Pliny the Younger, the world-famous, uber-hoppy triple India pale ale produced by Russian River Brewing Company. The beer will be released and available from February 1-14 at Russian River’s downtown Santa Rosa brewpub and new Windsor brewery.

[Here are 10 things you need to know about Pliny the Younger.]

Every year, beer nerds from around the world flock to Sonoma County to get a taste of the coveted brew, which clocks in at a whopping 10.25% ABV. To ensure hopheads won’t have to travel far to rest up after their Pliny adventure, Russian River has partnered with several Sonoma County hotels to offer discounts to fans in February. Click through the gallery for details.

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For the past two weeks, Santa Rosa streets have been lined with Pliny pilgrims eagerly awaiting a sip on Russian River’s most coveted brew. While this February frenzy has become a cherished annual event for many, standing in line for five plus hours is not for everyone. If you lack the patience necessary to taste Pliny the Younger or didn’t get a chance to try the famous beer this year, we have picked out five Sonoma County brews you may not have heard (as much) about but that are just as good and definitely worth seeking out. Click through the gallery above for all the details.

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Since its debut in 2004, Pliny the Younger’s popularity has only grown. Its annual release has become a cultural event and every year in February the line circles the block around Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa. The good news (for those who do not like to wait in line) is that Pliny production has increased since it was first released and Russian River Brewing Company is no longer the only place where you can get a taste of the triple IPA.

Taprooms, bars and restaurants around the Bay Area, Sacramento, San Diego, and parts of Pennsylvania, Colorado and Oregon, now receive kegs of Pliny the Younger during the annual release. But, as usual with Pliny, it’s all very hush-hush and no one knows for sure who will receive a keg this year. There is a list of bars and taprooms that traditionally get a keg of Pliny – but that may be subject to change, and some bars and taprooms do not announce that they have Pliny, in hope that their allocation might last longer. Beer geeks are now closely monitoring Russian River Brewing Company’s Facebook and Instagram for Pliny news, and so should you if you want a taste of this rare brew. Click through the gallery above for a list of Sonoma County bars where you might find Pliny the Younger (based on previous years’ allocation, and what we’ve heard through the “beervine”). Other Bay Area bars listed below. Happy Pliny hunting! Know of any more Sonoma County spots that will get Pliny? Send us an email. 

Bay Area and Sacramento bars that might get Pliny: 

Pi Bar (San Francisco)

Rosamunde Sausage Grill (San Francisco):

Public House SF  (San Francisco)

Zeitgeist Taproom (San Francisco)

City Beer Store (San Francisco)

Monk’s Kettle (San Francisco)

The Trappist (Oakland)

Beer Revolution (Oakland)

The Good Hop (Oakland)

The Bistro (Hayward)

Wine Affairs (San Jose)

University of Beer (Sacramento)

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With so many high-quality breweries, taprooms and beer venues to choose from in Sonoma County, a beer lover can easily get overwhelmed. To help our fellow beer geeks out, we’ve decided to pick out a few of our favorite local spots – town by town. First out is Petaluma – click through the gallery for all the sudsy details.

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Harvest time in Wine Country has traditionally meant grape picking and winemaking but with the growing popularity of craft beers, hops are becoming our region’s “other” hot crop. As hop varieties and flavor profiles proliferate in beers, brewers have begun to follow the lead of grape vintners and wine bottlers before them by planting their own hop farms to gain more control of their ingredients and finished products. And it’s no surprise that some of the brewers who are taking hop harvesting the most seriously are those who started with grapes. Here are nine Sonoma brewers who swapped wine for beer.

Barrel Brothers Brewing Company, Windsor: Wesley Deal and Daniel Weber
Brothers-in-law Wesley Deal and Daniel Weber both previously worked in wine. Deal worked as assistant winemaker for two years at a winery in Healdsburg before becoming inspired by his father-in-law’s love for home-brewing. He then decided to study brewing science at U.C Davis. Weber worked in sales and marketing in the wine industry and took an equal liking to the beer world when likewise inspired by the same father-in-law, Tom Sather.

Deal’s and Weber’s love for the brewing craft led them to take their hobby to the next level when they opened Barrel Brothers Brewing Company in Windsor. Recently they have begun working with fellow brewer Steve Doty of Shady Oak Barrel House to bring the characteristics of the Sonoma terroir to beer. On their two acre hop farm north of Windsor, the partners plan to create a spontaneously fermented lambic series to share with local beer lovers and travelers alike.

Barrel Brother’s Brewing, 399 Business Park Ct, #506, Windsor 95492, 707-696-9487, barrelbrothersbrewing.com, @BarrelBrothersBrewing

Carneros Brewing Company, Sonoma: Armando, Jesus and Pedro Ceja
Brothers Armando, Pedro and Jesus Ceja grew up in Napa Valley working for their father in the vineyards and learning the wine trade. After paying homage to their father by building a successful winery, the brothers are now tapping into beer at their Sonoma Valley microbrewery Carneros Brewing Company, located near the Ceja Family Vineyards. Head-brewmaster Jesus Ceja graduated from the brewery science program at U.C Davis, and previously worked at Coors in Golden, Colorado, AB-inBev, and Red Star Yeast Company.

The brothers have planted their own hops on the brewery property so that they can obtain nothing but the best ingredients for their beers. Guests of the brewery can enjoy views of Carneros Valley, picnic in the beer garden by the pond and sip on handcrafted ice cold beers.

Carneros Brewing, 22985 Burndale Road, Sonoma, CA 95476, 707-938-1880, carnerosbrewing.com @CarnerosBrewing

Fogbelt Brewing Company, Santa Rosa: Paul Hawley and Remy Martin
Co-owners and co-brewers Remy Martin and Paul Hawley grew up working in the wine business – Martin worked grape harvests in California and abroad; Hawley worked at his family’s winery, Hawley Wines in Dry Creek Valley. The two began brewing together during a trip to New Zealand’s wine country, where they were working the harvest. Martin then studied brewing at U.C Davis while Hawley continued to work at his family’s winery.

Four years ago, just before opening Fogbelt Brewing, Hawley planted a quarter acre of hops on his family vineyard in Healdsburg. With farming in his blood, he knew this was the best way to both understand and control the quality and variety of hops for the brewery. Fogbelt Brewing now hosts the “Wet Hop Fest,” an event that features beers brewed with locally harvested hops.

Hawley continues to help out at the family winery. He is constantly reminded that the two industries, wine and beer, have different challenges, “With wine, the main production period is once a year during harvest. With beer, we are always in production-mode, allowing for more experimentation and perfecting of the process and beers, but a lot more scrubbing tanks. After a while, brewing twice a day, you wish you could just have a couple months of heavy production and make enough to last a year. Beer has a shelf life though and wine just gets better with age. I love making barrel-aged sour beers because it feels more like wine-making than brewing…”

Fogbelt Brewing, 1305 Cleveland Ave, Santa Rosa 95401, (707) 978-3400, fogbeltbrewing.com, @FogbeltBrewing

Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa: Vinnie Cilurzo
Russian River Brewing Company co-owner, brewmaster and Pliny creator Vinnie Cilurzo grew up in Temecula, CA, working in the barrel room at his family’s winery, Cilurzo Family Cellars. After realizing he had more passion for hops than grapes, Cilurzo made the leap to beer and, after acquiring investors, opened Blind Pig Brewing in Temecula, in 1994. It was at this time that he perfected the original recipe for what was to become the famous Blind Pig IPA.

Cilurzo then moved to Northern California where he became head brewer at Korbel Cellars’s Russian River Brewing Company. When Korbel bowed out of the brewing business, Cilurzo accepted rights to the Russian River Brewing Company (RRBC) name and all of the recipes in lieu of a severance package. In 2004, Vinnie and his wife Natalie opened the RRBC brewpub on 4th Street in downtown Santa Rosa. Natalie, who left a job in the wine industry after the pub’s opening, now oversees the business side of the brewery and brewpub while Vinnie oversees brewing and distribution. A new brewery in Windsor is slated to open in the fall of 2018.

Russian River Brewing Co., 725 4th St, Santa Rosa, CA 95404, (707) 545-2337, russianriverbrewing.com, @RussianRiverOfficial

Seismic Brewing Company, Santa Rosa: Christopher Jackson
Christopher Jackson, son of philanthropist Barbara Banke and the late Jess Jackson (founder of Kendall Jackson), has adopted his parents’s love for a grape-to-glass approach in wine and applied the concept to his grain-to-glass philosophy at Seismic Brewing.

In partnership with friends Patrick Delves and Andy Hooper, Jackson’s dream to build a sustainable brewery, operating on a clean and green scale to produce the highest quality beers, has come to fruition. Jackson’s custom-brew house is built with energy efficiency and a “clean to can” approach. The brewery emphasizes the three “P’s” of sustainability: “people” (by paying and treating employees fairly while providing a healthy work environment), “planet” (by maximizing energy and water efficiency), and “prosperity” (by adopting a policy to partner with the community and local businesses). While the brewery does not currently have a taproom, Seismic beers can be found on draft at Confluence Taproom in Santa Rosa, Brewsters Beer Garden in Petaluma, and other establishments throughout the Bay Area.

Seismic Brewing, 2870 Duke Court, Santa Rosa, California, CA 95407, 707-230-5014, seismicbrewingco.com, @SeismicBrewingCo

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As the long hot Sonoma summer begins, have a cold one in the shade. Click through the gallery for nine of the best brewery patios around.

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For as long as people have been drinking beer and wine, beer has been regarded the inferior beverage. Wine is “classy,” it takes time to craft and age, a refined palate to appreciate, and is often paired with fine food. Beer is less expensive, often comes in a can, and you can find it anywhere. But, with craft beer now taking the center stage – even in Wine Country – many connoisseurs are heading out to explore hoppy drinks. However, there are still a few wine lovers who aren’t quite ready to make the leap to beer – it’s not fruity or oaky enough, it’s too bitter. If you happen to be one of those people, we’re here to change your mind. Click through the gallery above for five Sonoma breweries that will leave wine lovers begging for more. 

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Father’s Day can be a tough gift-buying holiday. What do you get for the dad who has everything – from all the power tools he’ll ever need to the perfect “man’s” grill? A fine leather wallet or gift card might suffice, but nothing says “I love you Dad” like a day spent with family – beer in hand. Click through the gallery above for Sonoma beer venues to take your Dad for some barbecue, live music and – of course – great beer this Sunday.

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Beerfest: The Good One has been serving up Bay Area brews and festivities to beer lovers for 25 years. This Saturday, June 10, it is time for this year’s Santa Rosa event. Click through the gallery above for highlights from previous years’ events. 

As the beer flows freely and and the bubbles rise, Beerfest guests will be treated to live music entertainment and tasty bites. And all of it for a very good cause: the event benefits Face to Face, a non-profit that works to end HIV in Sonoma County while supporting locals living with HIV/AIDS.

The Beerfest event organizers have gone to great lengths to ensure that attendees will have the opportunity to sample some of the best beers in Northern California, all in one place. The large and diverse array of craft breweries and cideries represented at the festival will be pouring a variety of beer styles: sours, wilds, IPAs, Sessionables, Pale Ales, Barrel-Aged beers… the list goes on. Here’s what you need to know:

THE BREWERIES

Participating Sonoma County breweries will include: Russian River Brewing Company, Seismic Brewing, St. Florian’s Brewery, Fogbelt, 3 Disciples, HenHouse Brewing, Barrel Brothers, Third Street Aleworks, Moonlight Brewing, Bear Republic, Cooperage, 101 North, Stumptown, Crooked Goat, and Lagunitas.

Beer enthusiasts will also be able to sample the wares of a host of North Coast and Bay Area breweries including: Anderson Valley, Lost Coast, North Coast, Mendocino Brewing, Redwood Curtain, Napa Smith, Drakes, Pacific Brewing, Hermitage, Dust Bowl, Oak Park Brewing.

Out of state breweries making the trek to the event will include: Georgetown Brewing (of Manny’s Pale Ale fame) from Seattle and Deschutes from Bend.

THE ENTERTAINMENT

Three Bay Area bands will take the stage: San Francisco psychedelic soul rock band Down Dirty Shake, a “time traveling band from the lost universe of soul”, Loco Tranquilo – a psychedelic band that floats latin on a “hypnotic sea” of percussion, spacey and jazzy in its transcendence, and The New Moldy Figs – named for a fermented fig derived jazz pejorative which they’ve turned on its head into a badge of honor and some terrific music – featuring Bobby Black.

THE FOOD

Local food vendors will showcase their specialties with complimentary treats (while supplies last): Andy’s Market will bring fresh local produce, homemade dips, and veggie pizza, Molsberry’s Market will serve grilled tri-tip sandwiches, BREW will serve their nitro tea and nitro cold brew and Trader Joe’s will provide a variety of snacks.

Additionally, food for purchase will be available from: The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen, Pilón Kitchen, Fat Boys Hot Dog Co, Roundtable Pizza, and Tibbs Beef Jerky.

WHEN: Saturday, June 10, 1-5pm

WHERE: Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Rd, Santa Rosa 95403

TICKETS: Purchase VIP tickets for $60 to enjoy early access to the event, or purchase general admission tickets for $50 for a l:00 pm entry. Commemorative beer glass and unlimited samples included. To purchase tickets, visit the website here.

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