Russian River Brewing Company Pliny the Younger 2016 - PtY

I was at RR last Tuesday at 11:30 and they had a line, no big releases or anything. Younger is going to be a complete shit show. I'll steer clear of 4th street during its release. More power to ya if your willing to wait, but it's not worth it IMO. Definitely don't go the first week. For Beatification they had a huge line, I went a few days later walked straight inside grabbed a few and out in 15 mins LOL.

 

I wouldn't compare Beat release to PtY at all. Beat release wasn't operated adequately. They literally stopped selling Beat the first day because they got tired of it and they wanted locals to get their fix. If they continued to closing time to sell bottles you could have very well got shut out of bottles of Beat. Or the fact that there was a wait on Tuesday, it's the holidays and close to the new year, a lot of people aren't working during these times....

PtY has legitimate reasons for long waits. Packed house, non stop food orders from the bar and table, and everyone wanting to get their limit of a once a year draft only release of a superb beer.

More and more people in the beer scene are forgetting what these releases are about. The experience of the event, NOT just going for the beer. Sure the beer is the main reason you want to go, but instead of crying about the wait, meet new beer enthusiasts, make new friends, and have a good time with the people around you while you wait.

Last year was the first time I went, I Drove 5.5 hrs one way, had an estimated wait time of 3.5 hrs to get in, made friends with the surrounding beer geeks, one group was getting a table with 4 seats, they were about 10 people ahead of me but we had a big group conversation, and they told the security guard to let me fill in their last seat so he let me join in with them and cut my wait time by an hour. Stayed my 3 hrs then explored downtown for a few hrs to sober up and drive back home 5.5 hrs, got home at like 4 am. Totally worth the experience, met a bunch of awesome people, had PtY which was really damn good and had some really good pizza to pair with it!

I'm now making it a tradition to go every year for the release, regardless of the wait times. Staying in a hotel from now on though!

Listen to the OP, plan accordingly and you can easily avoid the 12 plus hr wait times, if you want to be a part of the madness more power to you! Make the most of your trip and wait, if you can say you honestly did that and it's still not for you then you get to at least say you got to have PtY and you met awesome people!

 

I might make the trip on Super Bowl Sunday. Anyone know what that day has looked like in the past?

 

It's the weekend still so it will more then likely be a very long wait, if you have the option I'd get there super early or go really late. Going late leaves no promise you'll get to try PtY either, they only set aside a certain amount for each day. I don't think they have had too many days where they have run out so I'd say going late is still a pretty good option.

 

It is for that killer instagram shot!

 

beer always tastes better if it involves a 10 hour drive and 3-4 hours of waiting in line.

 

Make sure you use the shittiest filter imaginable, and 5x more hashtags than you need.

 

Fortunately I live a 10 min drive from RR so I'm able to get that experience without the insanity of Younger. Once you're in, it really is an awesome place. Really good service given the busyness, and the food is great as is the beer obviously. I certainly wouldn't detour anyone from making the trip, just know what you're getting into.

 

Ironically one of my first Instagram posts was of a half empty younger somebody left behind 3-4 years ago...

 

How early would recommend getting there? I don't mind getting there early/waiting, I'd like to try to make the first wave into the brewpub. Cheers!

 

The year after the growler fill fiasco I went back with a friend the next year. Flew into SFO, rented a car and drove out to RRBC. Got there and had breakfast and lineup 20 minutes before the doors opened. We were the first 2 in line. An hour later the place was full. But no lines yet. That was on a Monday after the first weekend of PtY release. Like above said everyday there is a line waiting to get in these days. Was there back in April and yes…lines on both days we went. Every year it gets busier. Good luck. Been there. Had it. Done with it.

 

Last year I went on the second Tuesday, arrived ~8:30am, and was the last person that got in. I was actually 5-6 people from the front but they had one seat left and I was the first single, so they let me in. I would recommend no later than 8am, just to be safe.

 

If you're going on the weekend you might have to camp out or show up at a ridiculous hr like 3 am, even then don't plan on getting in until way later in the day. If you're going on a weekday and want to get in when they open I'd say around 7 am and you should get in with the first wave.

Don't hold me to this though, every release they have the lines get worse and worse. Think the manager said the average wait time on the weekends never dropped below an 8 hr wait. So expect at least an 8 hr wait, good possibility on it being longer this year.

 

This exactly, when I was there they had to unfortunately kick a bunch of people out. So they will definitely force the 3 hr limit if they have to.

 

Looking forward to some Younger as always.

 

Yeah the beat release is nothing compared to PtY.

 

Get in Line before 6am and there's a good chance your the first group.

 

Planning on hitting them up on a Tuesday morning

 

You'll definitely get in Tuesday if you get there around 7 am, I would like to think that that's early enough to get in with the first wave. If you don't have all day to be there I would get there even earlier so you can guarantee you will make it with the first wave.

 

No doubt, my point in bringing that up was don't worry about being "first". Go the second week during a weekday and minimize the riff raff.

 

Yeah once the they started to get a line for PtY I started going later in the week, but this year my brother in law is coming down for it on the first Saturday. So I told him then we need to be there before 6am lol

 

guys pty isn't even that good

 

It's good, but honestly there is going to be better stuff a week prior throughout the Bay Area for SF Beer Week. Ratebeer's Best event is gonna be amazing.

If your coming from out of town, make it worth it and stay a few days to check out what else is in the area. A lot of taprooms in the area are going to be having some special stuff.

 

Do they have a "to go" line for only picking up bottles or growlers on these days?

 

They had them last year so I would say yes, but I still remember them being about 30 people back so I'd still expect a wait on to go stuff as well

 

Beer isn't about drinking beer, you guys. It's about camping outside in the rain and trying to ignore that the 10 guys in front of you magically turned into 50 guys while you slept on the street.

These types of events don't attract chill cool beer drinkers who are looking to hang out and discuss craft beer. They attract walezbro tickers who are just there to say they did it who have shitty attitudes and do douchey shit like sidewalk "bottleshares" and letting all their bros cut in line an hour before the event opens.

 

El Niño is gonna make this even more worth "the experience" this year

 

I was planning on hitting up RR before I even knew PtY was going to be there when we're there. This may be a dumb question, but how does it work between waiting in a line, putting your name in for a table, and then sitting around waiting for a table to open? Is the line just to get your name down for seat? Once you get your name in and are told the wait time, do you need to hang around or what?

 

From my recollection for Younger they will let you in once a few spots at the bar open up or once a table opens up, no waiting then waiting again for a table.

 

For the bar you will most likely just be standing around for awhile once they let you in.

 

I don't know how to answer your question for PtY, but for a normal drop-in at RR...

1. Wait hour in line
2. Get to front of line, and they let you into restaurant/bar.
- If there's an open seat at the bar, you can just skip to step 5.
3. If there aren't seats, and/or you need a table, you need to go to the host and tell them how large your party is.
4. Then you wait some more (30-45 mins?) until you get your table. I forget if you get a buzzer or something.
5. Drink happily.

 

For those looking to drink younger at a local bar that normally receives Russian River kegs I would suggest an Instagram search for the hashtag #plinytheyounger (or any beer you are seeking). I've had pretty good success with this-it worked well during the bourbon county release.

Some bars advertise an event centered around younger and some places keep it totally hush hush and cater to their regular patrons. Anyone with a RRBC account should likely be getting at least one keg. Nothing like drinking it at the source which I've been there done that.

 

I'm guessing this means no Younger during SF Craft beer week at any of the events or tapings in the Bay Area.

 

Yeah I would figure that is the case. I have never had PTY and the fact that people wait just for pours of this makes me not want to go at all. I will be in San Francisco the week of the 13th and I will check and see what it is like but I don't want to wait 4 hours to drink lol

 

Just keep your eyes open for events in S.F. during the beer week. Shit, even if you don't get PTY, SF holds so many great spots that you'll get plenty of equally great beers at other locations without the hype.

 

Not sure when the last time you've been there was or exactly when they made the change, John, but they now have a to-go area for bottles, growlers, and merch in the front, sort of to the left of and behind the bar where there used to be a small seating section. A line forms to the right of the front door for to-go stuff now and people are let in in waves. Can't comment on how long those lines will be during Younger but I waited 15 minutes on a "normal" weekend day in that once.

Are you going to be in town again this year? If so, we should try to meet up.

 

They no longer do buzzers. Now they take your phone number and text you when your table is ready. Its a good system because you an just leave the pub and wander around and when they text you just show it to the door guy and head right in without getting back in line.

I've said this before in many of the different PTY threads but the new system is a massive improvement. Limiting folks to 3 pours really keeps things moving. Last year I went three times at around 8-9 pm and never waited more than 15-20 minutes. I wouldn't suggest anyone queue up early unless that's the only way you can make it work with your schedule.

That's all I got. Everyone is now free to resume patting themselves on the back for not waiting in line, declaring it's "not worth it", etc