Russian River Brewing
Russian River/Sierra Nevada Brux Bottles Surface [Video]
Russian River & Sierra Nevada are currently debuting a new collaboration – Brux . Brux (aka Brettanomyces bruxellensis) is so named for the yeast you’ll find in these bottles. The collab is brewed at Sierra Nevada (who doesn’t use much wild yeast at their facility.) Because the yeast will essentially “infect” the bottling line, and potentially the brewhouse, a special procedure was introduced to make this happen. Right before the beer was sealed, a small bit of brett was shot into the bottle. That way, the risk of having this unique yeast getting into other Sierra Nevada beers is reduced.
Brux is shipping through Sierra Nevada’s distribution network. Bottles have already started surfacing. Below, Brian Grossman and Russian River’s Vinnie Ciluruzo introduce this collaboration during Asheville Beer Week.
Style: American Wild Ale
Availability: 750ml bottles, corked & caged.
Arrival: July, 2012
8.3% ABV
Russian River Row 2/Hill 56
Russian River Brewing’s Row 2/Hill 56 is a pub only offering. Just released in February. It kicks off a new series for RR – the “Hop Grower’s Series.” First, the beer is named for the location the hops were growing in the hopyard in Yakima, Washington.
Row 2 is brewed with 100% Simcoe hops. The brewery goes on to say that 3 families in Yakima grow Simcoe hops – Carpenter, Perrault, and Smith.
Style: Pale Ale
Availability: Draft only. Rotating seasonal.
5.8% ABV
Russian River Celebrates Toronado’s 25th Anniversary
Correction: The name of the beer was reported incorrectly. The actually name of the beer is Toronado 25th Anniversary.
Toronado in San Francisco, California has teamed up with Russian River Brewing create beer worthy of a celebration. 2012 marks one of the United State’s most revered beer bars 25th Anniversary, and thus, this wild funky collaborative offering. Toronado 25th Anniversary will be a wild ale that is blend of 6 different batches of beer. Each uses brettanomyces, or other live funky yeasts. Toronado is ranked among the top beer bars in the United States, and will be celebrating their anniversary later this year. Note: As with any labels/beers, nothing is 100% certain until you see the beer roll off the line.
Tor-on-a-do, 11 1. a two-door coupe produced by Oldsmobile.
2. an awesome beer bar located in San Francisco, CA.
Toronado, was a two door coupe manufactured by General Motors (GMC) from 1966 to 1992. The Oldsmobile division of GMC conceived the Toronado as a full-size personal luxury car to compete with the Ford Thunderbird and Buick Rivera. Historically, the Toronado is significant because it was the first front-wheel drive automobile produced in the United States since the demise of the Cord in 1937. In 1966, not only did the magazine “Motor Trend” name the Toronado their car of the year, they devoted an entire issue to the car.
Toronado, the bar, has been serving great beer in San Francisco since it opened in August 1987, For twenty five years, proprietor David Keene and his crew have offered an amazing selection of distinctive ales, lagers, and specialty beers. By serving unique and hard to find beers the Toronado has become known the world over as one of the great beer bars in the United States.
Toronado 25th Anniversary Ale started out as six individual brews, each with their own personality, and all incorporating Brettanomyces and or micro-organisms. Once the barrel aging was complete, Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo and Toronado’s David Keene got together to create the final blend. To create its fine carbonation, we re fermented the Toronado 25th Anniversary Ale in this bottle. Spent yeast cells from a thin layer of sediment in the bottom of the bottle. Pour slowly, allowing the natural yeast sediment to remain in the bottle.
Style: American Wild Ale
Availability: 750ml bottles
Arrival: TBA
9.25% ABV
Pliny The Younger Releases February 3rd
One of the worlds top 10 most highly rated beers makes it’s seasonal return on 2/3/12. Straight from Russian River Brewing:
Pliny the Younger is still scheduled for release at our brewpub on Friday, February 3rd! Here is the scoop: the pub opens at 11am at which time we will be seating everyone in an orderly and civilized fashion. We are reserving the dining room and board room for folks who are eating, but there is plenty of space at the bar for those interested in just imbibing. Younger will be served in a 10 ounce glass for the same price as last year and the year before- still a good deal! As you probably already know, there will be no growlers or bottles, as usual. We want you to enjoy Younger from the source at its absolute best! Like all fresh food products, this beer has a very short “shelf” life and is meant to be consumed only when in season (February, early March)! There will be a certain number of kegs allotted each day for 14 days, wrapping up 2 weeks of Younger on February 16th. We will begin distribution to our local (Bay Area) accounts on February 6th. Our distributors (all 7 of them) will begin picking up their allocation that week and the following week. If you live in one of the few markets where we distribute, they should be getting their Younger within that time frame. One note- we do not dictate where our distributors choose to send Pliny the Younger. That is completely up to them and we trust their decisions!
What can you expect if you come to our brewpub? Last year we had a line out front everyday for 2 solid weeks, rain or shine! On the weekends (particularly the first weekend) the wait was up to 3 hours. And sometimes you could walk right in. We will be queing up at the 4th Street entrance so we can count bodies as they enter. This city is rather strict about occupancy and I’m sure they will be visiting us a few times during those 2 weeks. There are 2 notable differences this year: 1. SF Beer Week launches on the 10th, one week after we release Younger (it was the same day we released Younger last year). 2. We were able to make a little more for the pub, meaning we hope to run out later each day. Last year there were a couple of days we did not run out at all! You can also expect to have about 17 other beers on tap, most of which are available by the bottle or in growlers to go. And it’s quite the line-up of some of the old standards and new and exciting brews!
We are looking forward to your visit to our newly and beautifully remodeled pub! If you can’t make it to the pub, we do hope you can at least enjoy our new website.
Cheers!
Natalie, Vinnie, and the Crew
Russian River/Sierra Nevada Collab: Brux
It was hinted a while back that Russian River & Sierra Nevada were working on a collaboration. The idea will culminate soon. Brew day is fast approaching for Brux (aks Brettanomyces bruxellensis) the yeast you’ll find in these bottles. The collab is brewed at Sierra Nevada (who doesn’t use much wild yeast at their facility.)
Sierra Nevada will package and ship Brux through their distribution network. For many markets, this might be the 2nd time you will see a Russian River beer on the shelf. Those in Avery Brewing’s distribution network will recall Collaboration, Not Litigation, a blend of each of the breweries Salvation ales.
What began as mutual admiration between Sierra Nevada’s Grossman family and Russian River’s Cilurzos has grown and progressed into genuine friendship. Brux began as an idea and has grown into something altogether different:
The liquid manifestation of change over time.
Refermented in the bottle with Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Brux will change and develop over time. Copper-colored, dry and complex, with slightly tart notes of green grass, pear, spice and lemon – this ale will progress in the bottle for many years.
Style: American Wild Ale
Availability: 750ml bottles, corked & caged.
Arrival: July, 2012
8.3% ABV
Russian River’s Beatification Gone In 30
Russian River’s Beatification sold out this morning in about 30 minutes. The 375ml bottles sold for $15 a piece, with a 2 per person limit. Beatification is an American Wild Ale. Batch#5 will release in Spring, 2012.
We just ran out of Batch 4 Beatification at 11:20am! There were about 100 people in line when we opened the doors and there was not much to go around. If you are still planning to come to the pub, you won’t be disappointed. We do have about 18 beers on tap, including Mortification, and lots of other great beers in the bottle! Batch 5 Beatification will be out in the Spring and there will be much more available!
[RussianRiver]
Russian River Limited Beatification Release
Russian River’s Vinnie announced that Batch 4 Beatification will be released on Monday, December 19th at the brewpub. Batch 4 was a tiny batch and all of it was bottled so there will be no draft offering this time around. There will be a 2 bottle limit per person at $15 each for the 375 ml bottles. Batch 5 will be a much larger batch and will be bottled next month for release in the spring.
Also, Russian River is installing a new Coolship once the Batch 5 Beatification barrels are emptied.
Beatification is a 100% spontaneously fermented beer using the oldest barrels that no longer have any wine flavor or oak flavor left in them. However, a cocktail of “bugs and critters” (Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus & other wild yeast & bacteria.) remains in the barrel. This isn’t the only place where the beer picks up its ability to ferment, before the unfermented beer heads into the oak barrels, the beer has already sat “horny” and picked up many other wild yeasts to start its life towards a true, spontaneously fermented beer.
