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Depending on how you look at it, the enormous new Russian River brewery that opened in Windsor today was four or 24 years in the making.
Russian River Brewing owners Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo got their start in 1994, when they opened the Blind Pig Brewing Co. in Temecula. That’s where Vinnie brewed the world’s first imperial or double IPA. Korbel Champagne Cellars hired Vinnie three years later, first as a consultant on their Russian River Brewery project and soon after as head brewer.
When Korbel decided to divest itself of all its non-wine properties in 2002, Vinnie was out of a job. Instead of taking a severance package, he negotiated to take the brewery brand, logo and recipes with him. With help from friends and family, he and Natalie opened the Russian River brewpub on Fourth Street in Santa Rosa in 2004.
Accolades and awards soon followed. Their double IPA, Pliny the Elder, was named the best beer in America by the American Homebrewers Association’s Zymurgy magazine eight years in a row, and their seasonal triple IPA, Pliny the Younger, was ranked the No. 2 beer in the world by Beer Advocate and Rate Beer in 2010.
Long lines began forming outside the brewery every February, as eager fans waited for the newest Pliny the Younger release. (That release became so popular, the County of Sonoma actually tracks it: In 2018, Pliny the Younger drew more than 12,000 visitors and added $3.4 million to the local economy.) And the long lines weren’t just restricted to the two weeks when Pliny the Younger flows. Russian River Brewing was packed all the time.
“It got too busy. We had a lot of demand for our beer, but it was more demand for seats, I think, that drove the decision to build another brewpub,” Natalie says. “Going around town, I’d run into old customers at the grocery store or REI. They were great customers, so we’d ask them ‘Hey, we haven’t seen you in awhile, where’ve you been?'” They told her that while they still loved their local brewpub, they didn’t want to wait in line, feeling like they couldn’t get in. “After hearing that over 100 times, we felt we needed to give our downtown pub back to the locals and the regulars.”
After buying out their remaining investors in 2014, the Cilurzos began pondering possibilities. They toured breweries in the U.S., Belgium and Germany, and asked questions about philosophy, practicality, design and equipment — and how to design a brewery that could include tours.
“We had a vision of what we wanted,” Natalie says. “We wanted to design a brewery with a focus on hospitality, the customer experience. We also were committed to getting the best quality equipment that we could. We’re always striving to make better beer.”
They hired architect Peter Stanley, of ArchiLOGIX, whose firm designed Napa’s Carneros Inn and Sebastopol’s revitalized Barlow. After searching for a year and a half, they bought the property in Windsor, eight miles from what Natalie calls “the heart of the company,” the downtown Santa Rosa pub.
The new Windsor complex measures 85,000 square feet, with enough space to house the new 75-bbls brewhouse, which arrived by ship in December, as well as a restaurant and pub with seating for roughly 190 guests. The main pub is divided into smaller, more intimate dining spaces, and includes a dining room and bar that open onto a beer garden for warm-weather dining. There’s a round fireplace area with comfy chairs, a 1,000-square-foot gift shop and a separate tasting room, plus three growler fill stations — in the main pub, the gift shop and the tasting room. And a tour lobby awaits the launch of guided and self-guided tours of the brewery.
The pub is open for lunch and dinner daily with a menu that differs from the Santa Rosa brewpub, which is known for its pizza. “We wanted to offer something completely different, so that people can come to both (locations),” Natalie says.
There’s no pizza at the Windsor pub, but the menu designed by consulting chef Adam Dulye, the executive chef of the Brewers Association, includes salads, small bites and larger dishes, such as a pork schnitzel sandwich, an open-faced pastrami and a delicious Russian River burger topped with malted bacon and cheddar fondue. Don’t miss Vinnie’s Ice Cream Sundae — Vinnie may be a brewmaster, but his hobby is ice cream making.
I visited the brewery two days before the official opening, during a soft opening for family and friends. It’s a massive, but beautiful space, the jewel in the Russian River Brewing crown, whether it’s taken four or 24 years to get here.
The first beer brewed here was Windsor Porter, a twist on the first beer Vinnie made for Korbel — and the first when he opened the Santa Rosa brewpub in 2004. You’ll find bottles labeled “Batch 1” in the gift shop. It’s on tap now in Windsor, along with the first batch of Pliny the Elder.
And come February, Pliny the Younger will be offered at both locations, Windsor and Santa Rosa, each with its own distinctive experience.
DETAILS: The new Russian River Windsor is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 700 Mitchell Lane, Windsor; https://russianriverbrewing.com/windsor-location/.
