While Natalie Cilurzo was working full-time at a winery, Vinnie Cilurzo bought a 7-barrel system from Electric Dave, a guy who was in jail in Bisbee, Arizona, for selling marijuana mail-order. Electric Dave sold Vinnie an old soup vessel for a brewing kettle, a DIY mash tun, and plastic fermenters before the Cilurzos opened Blind Pig in Temecula in 1994. Vinnie was already a homebrewer and had helped form the local Temecula Valley Homebrew Club. Russian River Brewing was founded in 1997 by Vinnie Cilurzo at Korbel Champagne Cellars, a Guerneville, California-based winery specializing in “California Champagne,” or sparkling wine made using the méthode champenoise. Korbel’s winemaker was also a passionate homebrewer, and he convinced his boss to open a brewery. Vinnie Cilurzo, who had worked at Korbel for several years, was hired to do it. Immediately prior, Vinnie had been churning out double IPAs at the Blind Pig. Those beers fell on deaf ears, but Pliny soon made its mark. In 2002, Korbel shut down the brewery and, after six years, Cilurzo lost his job. He negotiated the rights to the beer names, and the Cilurzos raised $1 million. They then reopened Russian River Brewing as a separate entity in Santa Rosa, California, in 2004 and quickly gained fame in the beer world. Today, Peaks & Pints presents a flight of Russian River beers — a flight called Peaks & Pints Russian River Brewing Flight.
Peaks & Pints Russian River Brewing Flight
Russian River Supplication
7.75% ABV
Eighteen years ago, Vinnie Cilurzo introduced Northern Californian palates to sour beers. He aged his sours in wine barrels procured from Sonoma County wineries. One of his early masterpieces, Supplication, remains at the top of its class. It’s a brown ale aged for a year in Pinot Noir barrels with cherries added. Inspired by Belgian practices used in crafting lambic beers, Supplication is fermented with 100-percent Brettanomyces, along with Lactobacillus and Pedicoccus bacteria. Expect a delicious, subtle maltiness with a bright, sour cherry flavor and just a hint of Brett.
Russian River Row 2, Hill 56
5.4% ABV
Row 2 Hill 56 is a pale ale brewed with Simcoe hops selected from the three original Simcoe-growing families in Yakima, Washington, referenced on the front of this label. Russian River has forged not only long-lasting partnerships but friendships with these families and cherishes their annual visits during the hop harvest each Fall. Row 2 Hill 56 boasts a classic Simcoe aroma, featuring notes of grapefruit and pine, with a lingering hoppy finish.
Russian River R&D series: IPA #68
6.5% ABV
R&D IPA #68 is brewed with two new experimental hop varieties bred through the Hop Quality Group breeding program, HQG #3 and HQG #4. Both hops exhibit loads of fruity, tropical, and stone fruit characteristics.
Russian River Docta-Ron
7% ABV
First brewed in May 2023, when renowned New Zealand hop breeder Dr. Ron Beatson visited Russian River Brewing to collaborate with founder Vinnie in the pilot brewery. Inspired by Vinnie’s passion for Nectaron, the unique hop developed by Dr. Ron, they created a Nectaron-focused beer, complemented by other New Zealand hops from Dr. Ron’s previous breeding work, for citrus, tropical, and stone fruit notes.
Russian River Pliny the Elder
8% ABV
Pliny the Elder first appeared in 1999, and year by year, it gained a following. The beer’s mighty name has almost certainly helped create the sensation. Pliny the Elder was named after the great Roman naturalist who first described, among many elements of the natural world, the wild European ancestor of hops, the plant so essential to beer making. Brewed with Amarillo, Centennial, CTZ, Cascade, Warrior, and Simcoe hops, the double IPA boasts balance and body where some other double IPAs burn. In the glass, it glows a godly gold, smells notably of pine sap and needles, and carries a reassuring and delicious backbone of caramel.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
