Russian River Brewing Company is a brewery and brewpub in downtown Santa Rosa, California, with a second location in Windsor. The company is known for strong India pale ales and sour beers.

History

Russian River Brewing Company was created in 1997 when

Korbel Champagne Cellars Korbel Champagne Cellars is a winery based in Guerneville, California. Since 1882, Korbel has primarily manufactured California champagne, using the ''méthode champenoise'' process. In this process, sparkling wine is fermented inside the same bo ...

Guerneville Guerneville ( , ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, California, United States. The town is historically known for the logging community, formed in the late 1800s. Guerneville ...

, California decided to try their hand at

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

beer. Brewer Vinnie Cilurzo was hired as brewmaster. Brettanomyces, Cilurzo's favorite component of

lambic Lambic () is a type of beer brewed in the Pajottenland region of Belgium southwest of Brussels and in Brussels itself since the 13th century. Types of lambic beers include gueuze, kriek lambic and framboise. Lambic differs from most other beers ...

beers, were first used with local wine barrels in 1999 for production of sour beers. Korbel quit the brewing business, and sold the brewery to Cilurzo and his wife Natalie in 2002. Russian River, remodeled and expanded in 2004, eventually moving to

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * Sa ...

, at their current 4th Street location. Cilurzo is regarded as one of the most innovative microbrewers in the country and credited with inventing the beer style Double India Pale Ale, known alternately as Imperial IPA, when he was the head brewer at Blind Pig Brewing Company in Temecula, California. Plans to open a second location in Windsor, just north of Santa Rosa, began before the 2017 Sonoma County fires. In 2016, the Cilurzos partnered with

Comerica Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Commercial Bank, The Retail Bank and Wealth Management. Comerica focuses on relationships, and helpin ...

to finance the project, and the Windsor Planning Commission approved the new brewery, pub, and restaurant the following year. By September 2018 the new brewery was completed and operational. The Windsor facility opened its doors to customers that October. The Windsor facility is differentiated from the Santa Rosa location by its larger size, free parking, expanded menu, and guided brewery tour. The Cilurzos hoped that the two locations would give tourists and local customers the opportunity "to come and spread out and enjoy the experience on their own terms," especially during the annual

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...

release, which sometimes resulted in lines around the block. Windsor officials hoped that the new location would be a financial boon and make the city more attractive for similar businesses, and the city's "Windsor Hopper" shuttle service, linking local hotels, wineries, and breweries, was unveiled coinciding with the 2019 Pliny release.

Production

In addition to the 20 barrel brewpub (capable of about 3000 barrels per year), Russian River also has a 50 barrel production brewery, originally from Dogfish Head Brewery. In late 2014, the production facility is being updated with a four vessel, 50 barrel brewhouse made by AAA Metal Fabrication in Beaverton, Ore. Russian River has distributors in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. The company also distributes to 500 restaurants, bars, and other stores. A coolship is used to cool the wort for some of the beers. Barrels of beer are stored in their barrel warehouse and begin tasting after 9 months, though can be aged up to two years before blending.

Beers

American style

* Aud Blonde - Blonde

Ale Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typicall ...

* Beer Esteam - California Common

Steam Beer Steam beer is a highly effervescent beer made by fermenting lager yeasts at warmer ale yeast fermentation temperatures. It has two distinct but related meanings: *Historic steam beer produced in California, and in the East at the James River St ...

* Blind Pig IPA - India Pale Ale * Dead Leaf Green - English-Style

Pale Ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Diff ...

* Gaffers - English-Style Pale Ale * Great Beer/Great Wine - Winemaker Session Ale * Happy Hops - India Pale Ale * Hop2It - Single

Hop A hop is a type of jump. Hop or hops may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hop'' (film), a 2011 film * Hop! Channel, an Israeli TV channel * ''House of Payne'', or ''HOP'', an American sitcom * Lindy Hop, a swing dance of the 1920s and ...

Ale (Rotating) * Hopfather IPA - India Pale Ale * HUGElarge Pils - Pilsner * O.V.L. Stout - Dry Irish

Stout Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...

(100% nitrogen) * Pliny the Elder - Double India Pale Ale * Pliny the Younger - Triple India Pale Ale * Pliny for President - Double Dry-Hopped India Pale Ale * Row 2 Hill 56 - American Pale Ale (Single Hop: Simcoe) * Russian River IPA - India Pale Ale * Russian River Porter - Porter * Segal Select - Pale Ale (Hops from Segal Ranch) * Shadow of a Doubt - Imperial Porter

Belgian style

* Benediction - Abbey-style Double * Damnation - Golden Ale * Damnation Batch 23 - Belgian gold aged with oak chips * Defenestration - Hoppy

Blonde Ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Diff ...

* Deification - Pale Ale * Erudition - Saison * Little White Lie - Witbier * Mortification - Quadrupel * Perdition - Bier de Sonoma * Publication - Saison * Redemption - Blonde Ale * Rejection - Black Ale * Salvation - Strong Dark Ale

Barrel aged

(All of Russian River's

barrel-aged beer A barrel-aged beer is a beer that has been aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel. Typically, these barrels once housed bourbon, whisky, wine, or, to a lesser extent, brandy, sherry, or port.brettanomyces, many contain lactobacillus and pediococcus) * Beatification - Spontaneously fermented beer * Compunction - Aged with pluots * Consecration - Strong dark ale aged in

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

barrels with black currants * Framboise For A Cure - Blonde ale aged in

chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

barrels with raspberries * Propitiation - Porter * Sanctification - Blonde aged in stainless steel tanks with 100% Brettanomyces * Supplication - Brown Ale aged in

pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

barrels * Temptation - Blonde Ale aged in chardonnay barrels * Toronado 20th Anniversary - A blend of 6 aged beers * Toronado 25th Anniversary - A blend of 6 aged beers

Collaboration

* Brux (with

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

) * Collaboration Not Litigation (with Avery, a result of a conflict between the two breweries, both of which made a beer called Salvation)

Awards

Russian River Brewing Company and Vinnie Cilurzo have won numerous awards for their beer. * 1999 Great American Beer Festival - "Small Brewing Company of the Year" * 1999 Great American Beer Festival - "Small Brewing Company Brewmaster of the Year" * 2004 World Beer Cup - "Large Brewpub Champion Brewery" * 2004 World Beer Cup - "Large Brewpub Champion Brewmaster" * 2005

Malt Advocate Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as "malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, whis ...

- "Brewery of the Year" * 2006 World Beer Cup - "Large Brewpub Champion Brewery" * 2006 World Beer Cup - "Large Brewpub Champion Brewmaster" * 2008

Russell Schehrer Award Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia * Russell, Australian Capital Territory * Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) ** ...

- Awarded to Vinnie Cilurzo for "Innovation in Craft Brewing"

Individual beer awards

References

Footnotes

Sources

*{{Citation , title = Vinnie Cilurzo Interviewed , url = http://beernews.org/2010/02/beer-advocate-extreme-beer-fest-2010-videos/ , accessdate = 2010-02-20

External links

Official website
Beer brewing companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Companies based in Santa Rosa, California 1997 establishments in California