Russian River Brewing Co. brewer Al Gorton fills kegs with Pliny the Younger at their Santa Rosa bottling facility on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012.
Posted on 02/03/2012 3:13:42 PM PST by SmithL
The kid is back in town.
That means long lines outside Russian River Brewing Co.'s downtown Santa Rosa brew pub on Friday and lots of voice mail messages on brewer Al Gorton's phone.
“I get a lot of friends this time of year,” Gorton said Thursday at the company's south Santa Rosa production facility.
Gorton was in the process of filling kegs with Pliny the Younger, a Triple IPA (India Pale Ale) that is so popular with beer aficionados that people come from all over just to sample it.
Last year, that included beer enthusiasts from Japan and Denmark, said Natalie Cilurzo, the company's co-owner.
Pliny the Younger, which routinely earns raves from critics, packs a wallop despite its relatively low alcohol content compared to, say, vodka.
Credit the hops, which Cilurzo said share genetic properties with the main chemical found in marijuana and magnify the beer's 10.7 percent alcohol content.
“It's Pliny the Elder on steroids,” Cilurzo said, referring to another Russian River India Pale Ale that is available year-round.
The Plinys were uncle-nephew Roman naturalists and historians of the first century A.D. The elder was credited with the first botanical classification of hops.
Russian River introduced Pliny the Younger eight years ago. But it wasn't until BeerAdvocate rated it the top beer in the world in 2009 that things got loopy.
To avoid selling out of Pliny the Younger, the company no longer sells the prized concoction to the general public in kegs or growlers. Instead, customers have to belly up to the Fourth Street bar or at a select few other establishments where the brew is sold, mostly in the Western United States.
Sales start today and in two weeks, the kegs will be dry.
Russian River made about 30 percent more Pliny the Younger this year using the production facility off Corgan Avenue, Cilurzo said.
On Thursday, Gorton was in the process of filling 307 kegs. “The younger makes me older very quick,” the brewer quipped.
The beer's popularity mirrors the explosive growth in the craft brew industry nationwide. Cilurzo said preliminary figures reveal that sales were up 14 percent in 2011.
She said Pliny the Younger is not a huge source of revenue for the company because it is expensive to make and results in lost production time for the company's other offerings.
But people are expected to line up long before the Fourth Street pub opens at 11 a.m. today, and at $4.50 for a 10-ounce glass, celebrate the kid's brief return.
Russian River Brewing Co. brewer Al Gorton fills kegs with Pliny the Younger at their Santa Rosa bottling facility on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012.
Lordy, I do love a good IPA. Served in a frost-encrusted mug. After mowing the front 1.5 acres on a warm summer’s day. I like to sit back under the overhang, north Idaho breeze blowing, with mug in hand and contemplate my work. Life is good.
Prior to Prohibition, there were thousands of brewers.
Few brewers survived the fourteen years of Prohibition.
From its repeal in 1933 to say, the mid 1980s, beer lovers had limited choices among weak brews.
We have recently witnessed a Renaissance of the brewer's art, which was delayed by only fourteen years of Prohibition.
Imagine the resurgence, the Renaissance of our country if the 16th and 17th Amendments were repealed tomorrow.
mmmm....IPA...
Later that day, I heard that Boulevard had just released their annual "Chocolate Ale."
I heard black market bottles were going for as much as $50! I never tried it, but I do love an occassional "Young's Double Chocolate Stout." It's wonderful to wash down Pepperidge Farms chocolate chunk cookies with it!
Mark
mmmmmmmm, Indeed!
One problem with leaving California is no longer being able to buy Pliny the Elder. I can get Stone’s Ruination if I drive across town to Frugal McDoogal’s.
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