Pliny The Younger Postponed: Russian River Brewing Pushes Back 2022 Release Due To COVID-19 Omicron Surge

SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) – Citing record numbers of COVID-19 cases in Sonoma County and a recently-enacted health order, the Russian River Brewing Company announced Wednesday that its annual release of Pliny the Younger beer has been postponed into spring.

The brewery said the release, which has become an annual pilgrimage for beer connoisseurs to their pubs in Santa Rosa and Windsor, has been rescheduled from March 25 through April 7.

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Pliny the Younger is usually released in early February.

“Given our own internal staffing struggles along with the latest health order from our County, Vinnie and I made the difficult decision to postpone this year’s Pliny the Younger release. For the safety of not only our employees but our community at large, this was the only responsible and logical choice to make given all of these contributing factors,” owner Natalie Cilurzo said in a statement.

Russian River Brewing said the brewery itself has encountered a surge of COVID-19 cases on its own, with at least 20 employees testing positive or under quarantine since before Christmas.

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“We, as a company, have never had this many employees out at one time for any reason, including wildfire evacuations,” Cilurzo said. “This is unprecedented.”

Last week, the brewery had to close both locations due to staffing issues as a result.

“We’re standing here at our Windsor brewpub and I had to make the executive decision this morning about 9 a.m. to close for today and tomorrow because we are so short staffed,” Cilurzo told KPIX 5 last Wednesday.

The brewery also cited Sonoma County’s recently-enacted order banning large gatherings, along with calls for residents to stay at home except for essential reasons.

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The order is expected to continue through at least February 11.