LEGENDS: Cult brewers Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo, Russian River Brewing

There are few businesses I’d travel multiple hours to visit, but Russian River Brewing is one of them—and I am most certainly not alone. Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo are the minds behind Pliny the Younger, one of the culty-est brews in the world, and one that is only available for a short time each spring. The brewery only makes a certain amount of this perfectly-balanced triple IPA, and only sells it for two weeks in March. People from around the globe line up outside their two locations to wait for the doors to open, and the economic impact on Sonoma County stands at $6.1 million, just for Pliny the Younger week. We talked about Vinnie growing up in a pioneering Temecula winery, how they met when Natalie bought booze for an underaged Vinnie, and the terror they felt that first time Pliny caught the world’s attention. I drove to their second location in Windsor for the day to hang out and chat, and the nine hours I spent driving were absolutely worth it.

Website: russianriverbrewing.com

Instagram: @russianriverbrewingofficial