Beer fans flock to Sonoma County taprooms despite delay of Pliny the Younger

No Pliny, no problem.

Sonoma County brewers are reporting large crowds showing up at their taprooms this month despite the Pliny the Younger beer release being pushed back from Feb. 4 to March 25 because of the omicron spike.

Every February, Pliny the Younger is a magnet for visitors during the slow period for tourism in Sonoma County. Up to 25,000 people visit the Russian River Brewing Co. during its two-week release at either the Santa Rosa and Windsor locations.

In 2020, those beer lovers also brought in a record $5.1 million of economic activity into the local economy.

The beer fans are still showing up this month, but they are visiting the more than two dozen brewpubs all across the county besides Russian River, which still has a lot of foot traffic even without serving Pliny the Younger, a triple India pale ale (IPA) widely considered one of the best beers in the world.

Parliament Brewing Co. in Rohnert Park had its busiest week at the beginning on the month since it opened in mid-2019, said Adam Bosch, co-owner of the family-operated brewery.

The customers have been drawn to visit in particular with the special release of its own triple IPA named Jazz Trio and such activities as a trivia night that it held on Wednesday. As many as 150 customers per day have visited the small brewpub tucked in an industrial park on the west side of town, he added.

“People want to get out. They want to experience things. They live in California to be outside and drink good beer and eat good food,” Bosch said.

The crowds have already gotten his family thinking about the future for the taproom, which has seating outside for almost 50 customers and another [patio for 85 people. “We’re always pushing that mark,” he said. “We’re going to need to build a second patio.”

There are a few reasons given for the visitor spike. Other local breweries went ahead with releasing their own special beers that they have done in the past to piggyback on the excitement created by Pliny. For example, HenHouse Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa made its largest batch of its Big Chicken triple IPA, which it expects to sell out of it by the end of the week.

“We did more kegs for wholesale than we have ever done. It’s the same amount of cans that we have done in the past, but we sold them all through the tasting room,” said Collin McDonnell, co-owner and chief executive officer of HenHouse, which just celebrated 10 years in business with a plethora of special beers that it collaborated with other breweries for the anniversary.

“People were excited about it. I think our beer gets better every year,” McDonnell said.

There was also increased activity as the nearby San Francisco Beer Week went ahead as well, including a kickoff party for the North Bay held last week at Pond Farm Brewing Co. in San Rafael.

Many of those attending those beer events outside Sonoma County made sure to stop locally. Herlinda Heras, an international beer judge from Sonoma County and host at KSRO radio station, had a friend from Austria come stay with her this month to visit Bay Area breweries even though Pliny the Younger release was delayed.

That allowed him to visit many other area breweries such as Anderson Valley Brewing Co. in Mendocino County, she said.

“It’s our proximity to other great beer areas, as well,” Heras said of the visitor traffic.

Visit Santa Rosa, the tourism marketing arm of the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber, has maintained its Beer Passport program from the previous five years to encourage customers to visit other local taprooms during Pliny the Younger. Customers take their passport to each of the participating breweries and receive a stamp with a prize at the end if they obtain at least 11 stamps.

“We’re in regular daily contact with the brewers and they are reporting that even though the release of Pliny was postponed, visitors are still coming anyway,” Chris Vomvolakis, director of marketing for Visit Santa Rosa, said in an email.

There also has been pent-up travel demand over the last two years as a result of COVID-19 that has triggered the visitor influx, Vomvolakis added.

The winter crowds ― spurred on by springlike weather ―also are good news for the overall local industry that has grappled with changes brought by the pandemic, most notably the shelter-in-place orders that limited on-site consumption. The only notable closure has been Marin Brewing Co. in Larkspur, which shut down last month.

At 3 Disciples Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa, the team shifted to canning its beer at the onset of the pandemic and also bought the brewing equipment from the old 2 Tread Brewing Co. in the Santa Rosa Plaza so it could increase its production, said co-owner James Claus.

“We’re just getting our beer out there a little further than we’ve been able to do before,” Claus said.

The brewery was to celebrate its third anniversary Saturday with its triple IPA release called Brewmorphious. Claus said he is optimistic on the new year, especially as 3 Disciples has had visitors from such areas as Oregon, Washington State and Chicago that have come in for a beer this month.

“It was something we didn’t think would happen this year with so many out-of-town visitors,” Claus said.

He noted his brewery should see a continued uptick next month when Pliny is officially released in five weeks.

“It will be almost a bonus as there still will be the Younger release,” he said.