Russian River (2020)

I hate to be a downer but is any beer really worth a 5-6 hour wait in a line. I wouldn’t even think of waiting 30 minutes for a beer. There’s so many amazing beers out there any single one just can’t stand out that impressively above the rest. Never had PtY but I don’t have any FOMO about it. Have fun to those willing to wait that long and enjoy though.

 

Well, I could go to Twist. It would be a much shorter drive for me, walk right in no line, drink my fill. But this time I'm willing to take my chances it won't be that bad by Tuesday or Wednesday. Besides, bottles... Leaving Seattle in about an hour.

 

I just kept thinking “welp, there’s hundreds of stupid fucking idiots here, just like me!”

 

I guess I don't understand why people are surprised that in prior years without PtY bottles the wait would be 4-8 hours, that this year with PtY bottles the wait would increase.

That's kinda the point, and RRBC is smart enough to keep themselves on the hype train.

 

Don't they have a line just to buy bottles? Why does it take 5-6 hours to run through a line of people just to buy some beer?

 

You have to go through the whole experience of sitting down and having the beer/food in order to purchase bottles.

 

I’m sure there there was a good reason to make the line setup the way they did, but.... it’s gotta be really frustrating for all the beer fans that just want to buy some beer.

 

Because it's not fun for people to have to wait hours in one line, only to jump into a different line for another couple hours.

You have to also realize this is not just a beer sale, but these two weeks are an economy boost to the entire city of Santa Rosa (and I guess Windsor). The impact is way beyond just RRBC.

 

I’m fascinated by the decision Russian River makes over how to distribute this beer and only make it once per year. I don’t know the ingredient bill but I would have to imagine that is not the limiting factor and if they wanted to they could make PtY every week. So if the decision to force anyone in the line to order from the bar, stay a certain amount of time, take a tour, etc. before getting bottles is to drive people to stay locally and boost tourism to the city, should they consider doing a second release each year? Seems like could still maintain the hype and scarcity but drive more tourism business to their local community. There’s pros and cons but interesting how RRBC makes that decision.

Another one would be why release other popular beers like Beautification the same time as PtY. Seems like it would be wiser to space that out at a different time unless you felt like you had to pull out all the stops to get as much traffic during these two weeks as possible. But with 5-10 hour waits it appears they’ve gotten more than enough traffic. Maybe everyone underestimated how much demand there would be with the ability to get bottles this year.

 

With all the adjuncts, multiple rounds of hopping and/or barrel aging so many beers undergo these days, I no longer find this position to be as tenable as I once might have.

 

So I went to the Younger Release on Saturday, and I have a few thoughts/observations. Please note that some of these are just opinions/speculations.

First off, the beer itself was fantastic. Hoppy, boozy, and a hint of sweetness. Still one of my favorite beers of all time.

The Staff were excellent as well. It didn't seem like anyone was rude, impatient, or aloof. From our bartender, barback, and server, it was a pleasant experience.

The tour was awesome... and yes, there was a pour of Younger on it. Ironically, Amanda, our tour guide, was my tour guide last year when I came up for Younger. Definitely worth the $15.

However, the unpleasant part of it all is that there was absolutely no reason the wait at Windsor should be that long. I get Santa Rosa because the space is limited, but Windsor is a huge facility with a lot of space for drinking... it makes absolutely no sense to me why the beer garden was shut down, the side tasting room wasn't utilized (it was closed after 7pm), and even the restaurant itself wasn't overly full (they didn't let you in until they had a table for you... which absolutely slowed down the line). I understand the desire to enforce the 3-hour limit, but the whole purpose of the limit is supposed to help the line go faster... the measures that Windsor took to enforce the limit, if anything, slowed the line down even further. This is clearly an opinion, but it honestly felt like the set-up was specifically designed to cause a long, slow moving line. That was the only bad feeling I got out of it overall.

Still got my Pliny... still got my bottles... but I felt so bad subjecting my wife to a 12 hour wait when I thought it would be, at worst, 4-5 hours.

 

May be a generational difference in brewers too. For Vinnie, all that extra hopping and malt cost might seem extravagant. While for a newer brewer that might all seem like par for the course.
Also, I am under the impression that part of the purpose for the Windsor expansion was to make their beer generally more available so I would expect that Pty will become more easily available. I think the first ever bottling run was the big driver this year

 

Anyone going during this week? It would be interesting to hear whether the experience changes much from this past weekend. I'm thinking of going next Monday (2/17).

 

They made 25000 bottles minimum since they dedicated 150 barrels for bottling. I'm thinking there will be some leftover next week.

 

I honestly can't believe you guys are spending 9-12 hours waiting around for a couple bottles of beer.

 

Vinnie loves a spectacle, that's for sure.

Bruh... it's about the experience

...my journey in the area this weekend was way more fun and convoluted. I am not broadcasting it here haha.

 

It's all about rarity. I'll stand in line for a stout that uses expensive ingredients and i know they only made 500 bottles but to stand in line for an IPA with a bottle count of 25000. F that