A rite of passage for many beer drinkers is the first time they enjoy a Pliny the Younger, the triple IPA from Russian River Brewing Co. The beer is released annually on the first weekend of February and many beer fans have built vacations around the release, traveling to the northern California town of Santa Rosa that the brewery calls home.
The line for a taste starts early and it goes long. The beer is available for just two weeks. In the wake of the on-going Tubbs Fire that has decimated neighborhoods in the Napa Valley, Russian River is working to help those who have lost everything.
“Vinnie and I are raffling off 14 chances for line cutting privileges for our 2018 release of Pliny the Younger,” brewery co-owner Natalie Cilurzo wrote in a brewery Facebook post. “Each winner will be randomly assigned to attend on a specific day and allowed to bring one guest.”
To hit home just how important and unprecedented this is, Cilurzo wrote this “is not something that we have ever been willing to do.” More details will be announced shortly, but each chance at the raffle costs $25 and donations can be made at www.sonomapride.com.
The brewery is working with the local King Ridge Foundation, a local non-profit that will make sure all money raised goes to local residents and causes for people in need. Russian River also announced that is brewing a beer called “Sonoma Pride” and that 100% of sales will go to fire victims.
This will be the third time Russian River has brewed a beer under the Sonoma Pride banner. The first time was in 2015 as a celebration of the local community. The first two beers were Amasa and Dauenhauer, both wild ales. The Russian River version of “Sonoma Pride” will be released on October 31.
To help raise additional money, the brewery is asking others to brew their own version of “Sonoma Pride” and donate to similar causes. Bear Republic Brewing has already committed to the project. In addition, Bear Republic has been offering free meals at its brewpubs to first responders and, according to a statement “will be donating 0.50 cents on every case of beer sold, for the next 30 days, to raise funds to help those affected by the devastating Sonoma County fires.”
The city of Santa Rosa, along with the general area, remains under a state of emergency.