Russian River Brewing Company is a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

and

brewpub Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

in downtown

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

, with a second location in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. The company is known for strong India pale ales and

sour beer Sour beer, also known as Sours, is beer which has an intentionally acidic, tart, or sour taste. Traditional sour beer styles include Belgian lambics, gueuze and Flanders red ale, and German gose and Berliner Weisse. Brewing Unlike modern bre ...

History

Russian River Brewing Company was created in 1997 when Korbel Champagne Cellars of Guerneville,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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 Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

. Brewer Vinnie Cilurzo was hired as

brewmaster A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of beer ...

Brettanomyces ''Brettanomyces'' is a non-spore forming genus of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is often colloquially referred to as "Brett". The genus name ''Dekkera'' is used interchangeably with ''Brettanomyces'', as it describes the teleomorp ...

, Cilurzo's favorite component of lambic beers, were first used with local

wine barrel Oak is used in winemaking to vary the color, flavor, tannin profile and texture of wine. It can be introduced in the form of a barrel during the fermentation or aging periods, or as free-floating chips or staves added to wine fermented in a ves ...

s 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 * S ...

, 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 Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a ...

. 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 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 Dogfish Head Brewery is a brewing company based in Milton, Delaware founded by Sam and Mariah Calagione and, as of 2019, owned by the Boston Beer Company. It opened in 1995 and produces 262,000 barrels of beer annually. Select brews (includi ...

. 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

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The company also distributes to 500 restaurants, bars, and other stores. A

coolship A coolship (Anglicized version of the Dutch/Flemish koelschip) is a type of brewing vessel traditionally used in the production of beer. It is a broad, open-top, flat vessel in which wort cools. The high surface-to-mass ratio allows for more effici ...

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 * Blind Pig IPA - India Pale Ale * Dead Leaf Green - English-Style Pale Ale * Gaffers - English-Style Pale Ale * Great Beer/Great Wine - Winemaker Session Ale * Happy Hops - India Pale Ale * Hop2It - Single Hop Ale (Rotating) * Hopfather IPA - India Pale Ale * HUGElarge Pils -

Pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (german: Pilsen), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewe ...

* O.V.L. Stout - Dry Irish Stout (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 Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

* 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 An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

chips * Defenestration - Hoppy Blonde Ale * Deification - Pale Ale * Erudition -

Saison Saison (French, "season," ) is a pale ale that is highly carbonated, fruity, spicy, and often bottle conditioned. It was historically brewed with low alcohol levels, but modern productions of the style have moderate to high levels of alcohol. ...

* Little White Lie -

Witbier Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German ''Weizenbier'' and Belgian ''witbier''; other types include Lambic (made with wild ye ...

* Mortification -

Quadrupel A Quadrupel (Flemish for 'quadruple') is a type of beer, with an alcohol by volume of 9.1% to 14.2%. There is little agreement on the status of Quadrupel as a beer style. Writer Tim Webb notes that similar beers are called '' Grand Cru'' in Be ...

* 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 beers contain

brettanomyces ''Brettanomyces'' is a non-spore forming genus of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is often colloquially referred to as "Brett". The genus name ''Dekkera'' is used interchangeably with ''Brettanomyces'', as it describes the teleomorp ...

, many contain

lactobacillus ''Lactobacillus'' is a genus of Gram-positive, aerotolerant anaerobes or microaerophilic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria. Until 2020, the genus ''Lactobacillus'' comprised over 260 phylogenetically, ecologically, and metabolically diver ...

and

pediococcus ''Pediococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive lactic acid bacteria, placed within the family of Lactobacillaceae. They usually occur in pairs or tetrads, and divide along two planes of symmetry, as do the other lactic acid cocci genera '' Aerococc ...

) * Beatification - Spontaneously fermented beer * Compunction - Aged with

pluot Pluots, apriums, apriplums, plumcots or pluclots are some of the hybrids between different ''Prunus'' species that are also called interspecific plums. Whereas plumcots and apriplums are first-generation hybrids between a plum parent ('' P. salic ...

s * 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 currant The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berry, berries. It is native species, native to temperate climate, temperate parts of central ...

s * 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 The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with ...

* Propitiation -

* Sanctification - Blonde aged in stainless steel tanks with 100% Brettanomyces * Supplication -

Brown Ale Brown ale is a style of beer with a dark amber or brown colour. The term was first used by London brewers in the late 17th century to describe their products, such as mild ale, though the term has a rather different meaning today. 18th century br ...

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 The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual beer festival hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado. Typically held in late September or early October, the event is currently held at Denver's Colorado Convention Center. ...

- "Small Brewing Company of the Year" * 1999

- "Small Brewing Company Brewmaster of the Year" * 2004

World Beer Cup The World Beer Cup is an international beer competition organized by the Brewers Association, a trade group representing America's small and independent craft brewers. It is the largest competition in the beer industry and has been described as " ...

- "Large Brewpub Champion Brewery" * 2004

- "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

- "Large Brewpub Champion Brewery" * 2006

- "Large Brewpub Champion Brewmaster" * 2008 Russell Schehrer Award - 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