Maybe, maybe one day, the brews of Russian River Brewing, based in Santa Rosa, California, will match the distribution of other well known craft beer purveyors like Chico, California-based Sierra Nevada, or even Bend, Oregon's Deschutes Brewing (who made their Ohio debut early in 2014.) Maybe, maybe one day, co-owners/husband and wife team Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo would make beer drinkers like my spouse and I extremely happy (or is that hoppy?) by having bottles of their Pliny the Elder Double IPA next to Columbus' Brewing Bodhi (the latter a soon to be reality, from the rumors I hear) and whatever other favorite IPA you can think of in the cooler next to each other, at the ready for a impromptu beer taste comparison.
But for a brewery that is already operating at full capacity with limited distribution and no immediate expansion plans, with an added dose of cult status (related mainly to the hype generated by their Pliny the Younger Triple IPA) mixed in, Russian River Brewing, like the waters of its namesake river (which for the most part remains unchecked by flood control measures) has found its own unique and highly sought level in the craft beer world.
No one, not even the Cilurzos themselves, would have predicted this back in 2002, when Vinnie was laid off from the original Russian River Brewery, a venture by a champagne maker (Korbel) to forge into the craft beer world. Rather than take a financial severance, Cilurzo asked only for (and received) the rights to the brewery name, logo, and the name rights to its line of production beers.
After money was raised for all the necessary brewing equipment, the brewery was reborn in downtown Santa Rosa in 2004 with a commitment to doing things in their own unassuming way. Things progressed steadily from there, until proclamations by beer review sites like BeerAdvocate and Ratebeer put the brewery's Pliny the Younger as one of, if not the best, beers in the whole wide world. Achieving cult status certainly was not the Cilurzos' intent when Younger was first brewed in 2005 as a winter seasonal beer (they are still reportedly uncomfortable with the whole notion) but this brew now has it in spades, promoting much discussion among aficionados about whether this brew could possibly live up to the hype it has generated and pushing the brewery itself to unforeseen heights.
