From Russian River:
After several months of planning, scheduling, rescheduling and waiting, we are finally ready to release Pliny the Younger!
This year's Pliny the Younger will be released at both our Santa Rosa and Windsor brewpubs on draft AND in bottles March 25th-April 7th, 2022! If you are planning to join us, please read on!
What to Expect When Visiting our Pubs:
Both brewpubs will be open daily from 11AM-10PM, March 25th-April 7th, 2022 (last call for drinks at 9:30, kitchens 8:30/9). Guests usually start lining up outside in the early morning hours around 5-6AM. We are busiest on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, sometimes seeing twice as many people as we would on a weekday. Pro-tip: come Monday -Thursday to minimize your wait to get in! Evenings, especially in Windsor, tend to taper off. Be prepared to wait 6 hours or more on a busy day, especially on weekends. For special rates at local hotels, please check out our website HERE!
Line-cutting has been an issue in the past, and we are not fans. Our security team will be coming through periodically and stamping hands beginning early each morning. If someone in your party is not around to get their hand stamped, they will need to head to the back of the line. Anyone caught line-cutting will be sent to the end of the line or asked to leave!
Each of our guests are given custom, uniquely colored and dated wristbands upon entering the pub. These wristbands have 4 pull-tabs to be redeemed for the ability to purchase 3 (three)- 10 oz. pours and 2 (two)-- 510ml bottles of Pliny the Younger. There is a limit of 3 draft Youngers PER GUEST, and these are non-transferable! However, if you do not want to buy your 2 bottles, you can transfer your allocation to friends in your party.
Bottles will only be available in our brewpubs during the release March 25th- April 7th, 2022. Bottles will not be released online this year or available in our Gift Shops (just the pubs) and sold on a first come, first served basis. There is no requirement to eat or drink in our pubs to purchase bottles of Younger. But if you are going to wait, you might as well stay for a beer! As in year’s past, there is a 2-bottle limit per person. We allocate a certain amount of bottles each day at both pubs to ensure that they last for all 14 days. Please note there is a possibility that we could run out on particularly busy days. We always say there are 2 things we cannot control- the weather and how many people show up on any given day. At the moment, the weather looks like it is going to be pretty nice!
Each guest/party will have a maximum time limit of 2 1/2 hours. This is a new addition in 2022 to allow our team to thoroughly clean and sanitize each table between guests, and to help keep the line moving so you don't have to wait as long! In our experience, 2 1/2 hours is more than enough time to enjoy yourself!
Santa Rosa has outdoor dining available in our parklet, weather permitting. Our parklet and patio areas are equipped with heaters and are dog-friendly! Please know that that we are limited to the maximum occupancy for our building, including both indoor and outdoor dining, per the Santa Rosa Fire Department. You might see some empty tables inside when we are utilizing outdoor dining. We are not being jerks and making people wait. It just means that we are at our combined maximum occupancy!
Windsor also has a dog-friendly patio. Unfortunately, the Beer Garden will be CLOSED for construction during the 2 week release. We are replacing most of the water-hungry lawn with walking paths, adding mulch and drought tolerant landscaping, and also creating a dedicated Corn Hole area!
Draft Distribution:
Although we were disappointed by having to postpone our onsite release, we did have several batches of Younger already in the tanks. Since we knew our many draft accounts were counting on their Younger kegs this year, we stuck with our plans for distribution in February! All of that beer has been delivered and happily consumed! New, fresh batches of Younger were brewed late February for our upcoming in-person release. There will be no additional kegs sent out for distribution. In addition, bottles are not distributed.
Pliny the Younger, The Beer:
Pliny the Younger is a Triple IPA, meaning that it is higher in alcohol and has tons of hops! Though the ABV usually finishes at about 10.25%, it is remarkably dry for the amount of malt used in this recipe. Loaded with hop aroma and flavor, Younger is well-balanced with malt and a lingering dry and bitter finish. We brewed Younger for the first time in 2005 as a winter seasonal release, building upon the Pliny the Elder recipe while pushing the envelope with malt, hops, and alcohol just to see how far we could go. Fun fact: Younger has always been at least double dry-hopped (some years even quadruple dry-hopped!) long before DDH became a “thing”!
Since we sadly were unable to gather in person in 2021, we kept this year’s Pliny the Younger recipe exactly the same as last year! We even kept the new addition of Elixir, which we affectionately call the “Strawberry Hop”. Elixir exhibits characteristics of citrus, spice and berry, specifically strawberry. The rest of the hops used in Younger 2022 are: Amarillo, Chinook, Citra, CTZ, Mosaic, Nelson, Simcoe and Warrior. It always finishes fairly dry and well-balanced, even with a higher ABV. This is our 18th year brewing Pliny the Younger!
Pliny the Younger, The Man:
Pliny the Younger was the nephew and adopted son of Pliny the Elder. He was a lawyer and an author in Ancient Rome and witnessed the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D., which took the life of his uncle while trying to save others. Pliny the Younger lived from 61 AD to 112 AD. He wrote many letters which survive today and have great historical value. We thought it was only appropriate to also pay tribute to Pliny the Elder’s nephew by naming this special beer after him!
We look forward to saying hello to many of you over the next couple of weeks in Santa Rosa, Windsor, or both!
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