Heading to Russian River Brewery tomorrow - any advice?

Yakima 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Crispyvelo

Crispyvelo

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 16, 2015
Messages
196
Reaction score
32
Hi All,

My wife is going to a baby shower in Santa Rosa on Saturday, so I'm going to tag along and have her drop me off at the brewery! :ban:

I've just recently gotten into sour/funky beers and started brewing a couple myself. I'm hoping to bring some good bottles back home too to last a while.

Has anyone been over to the brewery? I called and they said they don't offer tours :(

Any tips?

Screen Shot 2016-01-15 at 12.18.33 PM.jpg
 
I've been, and it's awesome. Get the flight of one of everything and share it with a friend. Well worth it. Also, the pizza is cheap and delicious. I was able to weasel my way into a private tour in back, and the guy hooked me up with some merch for cheap too. You can buy to go bottles at the brewery too, so I recommend you load up. Have fun!
 
Crispyvelo said:
Hi All,

My wife is going to a baby shower in Santa Rosa on Saturday, so I'm going to tag along and have her drop me off at the brewery! :ban:

I've just recently gotten into sour/funky beers and started brewing a couple myself. I'm hoping to bring some good bottles back home too to last a while.

Has anyone been over to the brewery? I called and they said they don't offer tours :(

Any tips?
Click to expand...

Ha. I love the 2 days for deep cleaning. Are they worried it might get infected? ;)
 
sudbuddy said:
I've been, and it's awesome. Get the flight of one of everything and share it with a friend. Well worth it. Also, the pizza is cheap and delicious. I was able to weasel my way into a private tour in back, and the guy hooked me up with some merch for cheap too. You can buy to go bottles at the brewery too, so I recommend you load up. Have fun!
Click to expand...

That sounds great! I won't be able to share them because I'll be there by myself. The good news is that my wife will be at the shower for at least 3 hours, so I'll have plenty of time to relax and enjoy :)
 
 
@sudbuddy Thanks for the pics. How many ounces were those "1 of everything" glasses. I'll probably do that, and plan to just pace myself and hydrate along the way!
 
Consecration is awesome, especially after some cellaring. But yeah, I would drink everything I can and bring home as many bottles as possible. Supplication and Consecration for sure, but really they are all very worth buying a couple of.
 
Crispyvelo said:
@sudbuddy Thanks for the pics. How many ounces were those "1 of everything" glasses. I'll probably do that, and plan to just pace myself and hydrate along the way!
Click to expand...

I think they were 3-4 oz. if memory serves. It ends up being a good amount of beer, but I still had plenty of room for a couple Plinys and Blind Pigs. Have fun! :mug::mug:
 
I work not far from there and have been several times lately. My only tip would be prepare to wait in line for 30 minutes to enter. Even on a Tuesday at 11:30 in my experience, there'll be like 30-50 people lined up.

In terms of their beers, Pliny (of course), Dribble Belt and Happy Hops are my favs.

As far as bottles to go, I'm not positive but I believe there's only Pliny and STS Pils (which recently won some metals - and also verified to me that I hate Pilsner malt...lol).

As far as food, the pizzas are priced right and delicious but my favorite is the meatball sando.

Not sure when you'll be there but Feb 1st is the release of Pliny the Younger so the line will be insane and frankly not worth it IMO, unless you got some buddy and you're going have a line party while waiting.

Cheers and CraftBeers!!!
 
My bro and I parked his extended pickup 2/cab in their parking lot, drank til close, then slept in the back of the truck til sunrise. That morning, while I was peeing behind the dumpster, Vinnie's wife Natalie (I think) showed up in a sweet restored cutlass. They were milling grain (there's a pilot brewing system there I guess). Good times. I know, I'm a class act - what can I say.

I once took my whole family there and saw a great band. Tight and noisy with live music, but we had a ball.
 
Thanks for all the tips, stories and pointers. I'll let you know how it goes!
 
Be prepared to spend a bit beer wise. We were down there in November, all 4 of their sours are not only awesome but sold in small single bottles. I think they are a pint and are all 12-15 bucks if I remember right. The flight is 22 bucks I believe. Food is good. Crap tons of people and quite packed. Definitely one to check off the list!
 
Pliny is $4.50 a bottle and I was there on $3.50 pint night. Walked out of there well wined and dined for $100
 
Well, i made it about half way through the sampler. I figured that wasn't bad since there are 21 beers on it! $250 later my wife's gunna kill me!!! Hopefully I saved a few bucks for flowers. Maybe she'll stop off while she's driving me home :)
 
Crispyvelo said:
Well, i made it about half way through the sampler. I figured that wasn't bad since there are 21 beers on it! $250 later my wife's gunna kill me!!! Hopefully I saved a few bucks for flowers. Maybe she'll stop off while she's driving me home :)
Click to expand...


If she says anything just blame her for going to the baby shower in the first place. If she stayed home you never would have spent that money! :)
 
I don't know if you've explored online beer trading yet, but you now have some great bargaining chips. Pliny and RR sours can net you some hard to get beers that aren't available in your market. I live in CA and was able to trade some plinys for Zombie Dust, Heady Topper, etc. of course, I have also traded Pliny for beers I ended up not liking, and them I'm pissed I didn't just drink the Pliny. Anyways, just a thought. Glad you had fun over there.
 
aghenender said:
I don't know if you've explored online beer trading yet, but you now have some great bargaining chips. Pliny and RR sours can net you some hard to get beers that aren't available in your market. I live in CA and was able to trade some plinys for Zombie Dust, Heady Topper, etc. of course, I have also traded Pliny for beers I ended up not liking, and them I'm pissed I didn't just drink the Pliny. Anyways, just a thought. Glad you had fun over there.
Click to expand...

I haven't really looked into the trading sites. Any recommendations?
 
Crispyvelo said:
I haven't really looked into the trading sites. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...

BeerAdvocate has the most users, but you can't post for the first 30 days of signup. Reddit and ratebeer.com have trading sections too.

There is a Trading section in the forums on this site that you could start with. Just go to Forums and click on "Sampling and Critiquing and Beer Swapping." Read up on the lingo and rules, a quick google search should provide you with directions. I just looked on beer advocate and two people posted this weekend that they are looking for Pliny and are willing to trade some yummy stuff.
 
Crispyvelo said:
I haven't really looked into the trading sites. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...

Quality of trading sites:

TalkBeer
RateBeer
BeerAdvocate

In that order - though the issue with TB is that it's a pretty high standard, so getting established is tougher.

That said I prefer the look and feel of BA the most
 

Similar threads

J2W2
Brewery suggestions for San Francisco / Santa Rosa
Replies
16
Views
2K
J2W2
J2W2
mongoose33
NorthEast Brewery Tour
Replies
12
Views
2K
mongoose33
mongoose33
Brooothru
Ranching/Freezing yeast: Has Anyone Tried This Technique?
Replies
8
Views
2K
IslandLizard
IslandLizard
orionol73
Fellowship of the Drink XXIX: Doug E. Fresh(beer) - Every Body Got 2 Get Some
3 4 5
Replies
163
Views
9K
Thorrak
T
Newbie23
Best advice to give a new brewer?
2
Replies
48
Views
3K
seatazzz
seatazzz
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top