Big front page story in sfgate.com
about Pliny the Younger release,
line up, etc.
Enjoy!
http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Overflow-crowd-of-beer-lovers-awaits-Pliny-the-5214552.php
You don't call this stuff brewski.
The hundreds of people who lined up in the rain in downtown Santa Rosa on Friday morning - some arriving the night before with umbrellas, North Face parkas and a good bit of facial hair - came to pay tribute to craft beer.
Specifically, they sought this year's batch of Pliny the Younger, a super-hoppy, high-alcohol "triple IPA" that has silenced the whiniest of beer snobs and put the small Russian River Brewing Co. on the map. Some call it the best beer on Earth.
With a limited supply available, the annual release on the first Friday of February has become an affair akin to the revealing of an Apple gadget or a cult sneaker, a testament to a craft-beer explosion in which imperial stouts and sour ales have nudged into a marketplace once dominated by the likes of Miller and Bud.
Sales of Russian River ales and other U.S. specialty brews have pushed craft-beer sales to 10.2 percent of the domestic beer market, in dollar terms, according to the Brewers Association, an industry group.
"Believe the hype," said 28-year-old Darin Yamashita, who flew in from Hawaii on Thursday with his brother just for a taste of the prized juice. "I love it. Bitter, but very, very smooth."
The doors of the taproom opened shortly before 11 a.m. to those who waited the longest - hardy souls who closed the bar the previous night, then headed outside with lawn chairs. As the day wore on, the line didn't let up, with enthusiasts reporting wait times of up to six hours.
"It's all about the experience," said Jon Houland, who came from Minnesota's Twin Cities for the storied release. "Where else besides church and comic book conventions are you going to find people interested in the same thing you are? Everyone is speaking beer."
The hubbub over Pliny the Younger, now in its 10th year, went beyond the swillers. Opportunistic merchants hawked herbal tea and pizza to out-of-towners. Two hotels offered special "Younger packages." Though one elderly woman who walked by the line was perplexed - "What's everyone waiting for, free coffee?" she asked - the local paper pronounced, "Let the Pliny Madness Begin."
Brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo, who owns the pub with his wife, Natalie, has come to expect crowds for Pliny the Younger. But he said he's still humbled by the turnout.
Widely credited for introducing the double IPA (India pale ale) style, Cilurzo described his triple IPA as chock-full of hoppy bitterness and aromatics. Pliny the Younger pushes the upper limits on flavor for beer, but still achieves a flawless balance, or so say the critics.
"If there's anything that makes it a little different this year, and better, it's that we've become better as brewers at selecting the hops," Cilurzo said.
