Power failure sends Russian River Brewing Co. scrambling ahead of Pliny the Younger release

Pliny the Younger — Russian River Brewing Co.’s famed triple IPA — narrowly missed significant draft distribution delays when a power failure Sunday evening in Windsor sent brewers scrambling to save numerous batches of beer fermenting in tank.

The storm-caused power failure began 6:30 p.m. Sunday and is continuing to affect the brewery and pub, with no word from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on when the facility may regain power.

“We decided to take matters into our own hands with some generators, which just arrived,” Natalie Cilurzo, the brewery’s co-owner and president, said Monday. “Now we’re waiting for electricians and fuel. We hope to have power restored in a few hours to at least save the beer we have in the fermenters.”

Fortunately, the highly coveted Pliny the Younger beer was already kegged when the power outage occurred.

While local distribution to select bars and restaurants in the North Bay began Monday, broader distribution throughout California will see minor delays. This comes about seven weeks ahead of the beer’s in-person release March 22.

This is the third year in a row the brewery has released Pliny to bars and restaurants ahead of its annual release at its Santa Rosa and Windsor locations.

Historically, hundreds of Pliny fans have lined up for hours, sometimes in the rain, for past annual releases.

“We’re most concerned with a quadruple batch of Velvet Clow Helles, a lager we brewed on Friday that’s fermenting in the open-top tanks,” said Cilurzo. “We control the fermentation temperature with glycol and without that, the beer will warm up and either kill the yeast or develop off flavors. We came about a degree or two of having issues with that beer.”

On Monday, the Windsor pub remained closed, along with the administration offices. Once the generator is up and running, Cilurzo said her team plans to focus on production.

“Thank goodness we’re not on day four of the in-person release,” Cilurzo said. “Things could be worse, but this year’s Younger release is definitely off to a wild start!”

The in-person release at Russian River Brewing Co.’s Santa Rosa and Windsor locations is set for March 22 through April 4.

For more information, go to russianriverbrewing.com/pliny-the-younger-release.

You can reach Staff Writer Sarah Doyle at 707-521-5478 or sarah.doyle@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) and Instagram @whiskymuse.