Pliny the Younger 2026

 The annual Pliny the Younger release from Russian River Brewing Company had come up quick this year. You can read more about the release and my trip from last year here. This year, my co-worker, Scott and I would be going and spending a night in hopes of bringing more Younger bottles back. We had an ambitious plan.

Like last year, we'd fly into Sacramento because the timing works out better. However, the return flight wasn't looking so good as the trip neared - we were both flying stand-by. So, I called an audible and switched us to a route through LAX as both flights we'd be on looked good with around 18 open seats the day before our departure.

Our beer plan was this: We'd arrive in Santa Rosa and immediately get in line for the downtown location. Once done there, we'd check into our hotel up the road then make our way to the Windsor location for dinner and 3 more bottles as you can only purchase 3 per person each visit. Then the following morning we would need to be back in line early enough to get into the downtown location during the first wave. Get our allotment, then get on the road back to Sacramento. The goal: 9 bottles of Younger each.

Blue waters of Lake Tahoe.

Flat farmland on the approach to Sacramento.

We arrived right at noon and once again found a parking spot near the front door.

Our place in line, somewhere around the 1h 45m to 2h placement was our guesstimate.

Finding some shade as it was a bit warm at times.

Yes it is...and soon!!

Scott and I after the fact, but I figured I'd lead with this photo.

We asked to be seated inside, which wasn't an extra wait, since it was Scott's first time here. We were seated just beyond the bar area.

Our waiter was very apologetic, making us wait a few minutes for our first Pliny the Younger. Haha!!

Draft list!!

All the to-go options. This is part of the reason we each brought two suitcases.

Santa Rosa wristband. Numbered 1-3 for the 10oz drafts you can get and 'B' for the three bottles you may purchase. It really is a well oiled machine here.

We put our food order in as soon as we sat down.

There's plenty more than just Pliny here. L->R: STS Pilsner, Consecration, Mortification & Tempo Change - a hazy IPA special release for the Younger event.

The big board. Beautiful.

Some odds & ends by the bar, including a sign (upper right) from Scranton, PA.

Onto the gift shop area on our way out. We bought most of our beer haul here as we had a refrigerator in our hotel room.

We took full advantage of our allotted time which is limited to two and a half hours. It's relaxing and allows for good pacing.

The Windsor location is only 6-7 miles up the road, but first we needed to check into our room which was located about 2 miles away, but on route. We took our time there too, no need to rush as it's open late, all we needed to do was get in.

The Windsor location is much larger.

We got in line at 5p. It was about as long as the Santa Rosa location this morning. Since it was now later in the day, we figured it would move a little quicker since tables were turning over more regularly.

Different color and the WN stamped to indicate the Windsor location.

That's a high quality hand stamp. It ended up taking us about 1 1/2 hours to get in.

I wasn't overly hungry, but we saw the wings downtown. I had to try them and they came with Pliny sauce. Oh boy, these were really good.

Next to the dining area.

Overall, it's more spread out here a bit more relaxed atmosphere, not that downtown is crazy, it's just more compact.

The Windsor big board.

A couple of long family style tables here. We noted that there were quite a few empty seats at these tables. Probably could squeeze more folks in if they really wanted to.

More tasters. L->R: Robert Saison, Perdition, Supplication & Small batch Intiction.

Our beer fridge at the hotel!! Plus 9 more Elders on ice in the sink!! Ha!

We had asked the guy in charge of the downtown line what time he thought we needed to be in line the next morning to ensure we'd be in the initial seating. He suggested 6-7a, but also said there was no real rhyme or reason, as some days you could arrive at 9a and make the first seating. Scott and I discussed how early we were willing to arrive, we weren't going to get there at 6a or 7a. We settled on 8a. They key bit of info the guy did tell us was if the line reached the Mexican restaurant, that's about where it became iffy for the first seating. At least that was a metric we could easily see. That restaurant was farther back than where we were at noon.

The next morning we packed everything up, layering our suitcases: sweatshirt, one bottle per sock across a layer, another sweatshirt layer, more bottles and finally a sweatshirt on top. None of the bottles would be against the sides of the suitcases either. Keep everything internal. The only stuff we would still need to pack were the three bottles we hoped to score this morning before heading back to Sac town.

We were a little slow leaving the hotel, but neither one of us cared too much. We would either get in or we wouldn't. We had a good Plan B, if needed, Lagunitas Brewing Company down the road in Petaluma. We arrived to the downtown location at 8:30a and did a drive-by to see where the line was. It still hadn't stretched to the Mexican restaurant!! We looped around the block and grabbed another parking spot right in front of the brewery. This was becoming expected!! Haha. The line wasn't too compressed either, since a bunch of folks had camping chairs.

As we walked towards the back of the line I was counting the people: 74. Not sure what the occupancy limit is, but I'm sure it's over 100.

Our place in line on Thursday morning. The day before we were about where the guy seated is.

We were in line for a few minutes and I saw the employee talking to a group of four guys standing off to the side of a larger group. Apparently, they had tried to blend in, but he noticed and sent them to the back of the line. I'm telling you, the crew at Russian River is on it. They only lost about 10 places in line, but you can't encourage that type of stuff as it'll get out of hand quickly.

Scott had been walking around the block checking things out. He told me about a bagel shop down the street, so that's where I went to grab some breakfast and a coffee. It was a narrow place, kind of tucked into the main drag, but inside was an internal alley way of sorts. A side door was open with a table you could sit at. The business next door was closed, but overflowed into this area. Holy moly, it was so cool. Tons of vintage signs, collectibles to gawk at. The place seemed to specialize in Belgian chocolate. Maybe next time I'll try to come by when it's open.

Along the internal alley.

The actual store is behind this wall.

So. Much. Stuff.

This is Vinnie, the brew master/owner of Russian River.

Vinnie and his wife, Natalie, were going down the line thanking everyone for coming out. They weren't just walking by giving high-fives either, they took the time to spend a few minutes and chat if you wanted to. Natalie stopped with us for a solid 10 minutes, talking all about the business and answering our questions. It was great. Natalie then sprung some good news to everyone: The brewery would be opening 30 minutes early today!! Hooray!! They truly appreciate everyone for spending time there.

Folks started to get seated shortly after 10:30. It still took some time for us to move up, but it was now steady. We reached the front of the line before 11a. Score.

We were seated across from the bar, near the middle of the room. A little better view of the place than the day before.

I think we had our first Younger in hand right at 11a. We definitely weren't expecting that. The early opening meant we could relax a bit more before our 12:30p departure.

We tried to see how many empty seats were still around when we were seated. I think we counted about 30. So maybe just over 100 people got inside during the first wave.

We almost forgot to get a Pliny the Elder taster. Had to do the side-by-side comparison. Both are incredible.

Third band of the trip.

I had to get a 1/2 goblet of Consecration. This may actually be my favorite.

I like the atmosphere here.

On our way out, the line stretches long.

Downtown Santa Rosa, it's quite walkable to kill time while in line.

Marshy overlook on the drive back. We'd be driving by the far northern reaches of the Bay.

Our final tally of beers going home with us was: 28 for me and 27 for Scott. Equally spread out over two suitcases each. Scott was a bit concerned about his weight. I thought it was good, but the airport scale is what counts.

I put my red bag on the scale first: 40 lbs. Then my gray bag: 39.5. Perfect. Scott grabbed his heavier one: 48 lbs!! Whew, just made it. The other one: 42 lbs. Bags good, off they go.

We were sitting by the windows as the ground crew was about to load the plane. A few minutes later a bag falls out of the baggage cart. Hey Scott, I think that was your bag!! He was mortified for a brief second, but I knew it was packed well and would be fine. Kinda funny though.

Flying over Dodger stadium and it happened to be opening night. Dodgers vs Diamondbacks.

Soon enough we arrived at LAX. After a ton of taxiing, we deplaned at the express terminal, which meant a bus ride on the tarmac - with 20 stop signs - back to the main terminal. We did have about an hour layover, but that was going by quickly. Another long walk to our gate and we noticed there were a bunch of people congregated around the gate. I could see the stand-by list on the screen and three seats were already assigned to upgrades. I pulled the flight up on my employee app...uh oh, those were the last three seats!! I checked the later flight...oversold. What the... So much for the 18 available seats a day ago. I told Scott we may not be getting out of LAX, possibly renting a car to get home.

A good rule of thumb when traveling stand-by is to never leave the gate until the plane physically leaves. There were 6 of us trying to get on this flight. The good news? I was next on the stand-by list. The bad news? Scott was in 6th position since he's not an employee, just using my guest pass.

The gate crew made an announcement for a few folks to approach the counter as boarding was going to close in 10 minutes. Nada. Another announcement followed, this time I paid more attention. They paged a person, then another, then a party of three and one more. Hmmm, that's six. Three minutes until the flight closed and they would begin releasing seats for us. One of the gate agents was looking down the hall as were a couple of us. There were a few people coming our way, but no one was in a rush. The gate agent hollered: Are you traveling to Phoenix?? No reply. Three minutes were up, close the flight. Then I heard my name called. I asked at the counter if Scott was going to get on the flight and they confirmed. While they were getting Scott's seat assigned, a young girl came running up to the counter. I could hear the agent tell her that they would do everything they could to get her on the next flight. See ya!!

A little adventure to end a couple days of fun. We made it outta there and happy to report no beer casualties for either of us.

Solid beer fridge at the moment.

There's a good chance we'll do this again next year. If you're a beer enthusiast, especially enjoy a good IPA, you owe yourself a visit to Russian River Brewing.

Some stickers and the three visits this go-round. Yep, only had one Younger on Thursday.

AES: Hot AF Ripsey Loop

 Up next on the Arizona Endurance Series, AES, calendar was Ripsey. The impending forecast wasn't looking favorable as temps were going to be hovering around 100º. We decided it would be wise to cancel the 60 mile option and move the 33 miler up to the 7:30a time slot. I was planning all along to be there since I'm the official Passage Steward for Ripsey with the ATA and I haven't been out there in a while.

My car was reading a pleasant 52º when I arrived at the Kelvin trailhead. Nice. I saw Ian's car, but he had mentioned he planned to roll out sometime around 5a to beat the heat. Matt was there getting things ready to go. He was one of the few riders at the recent West Siiide Series and it appeared it would be just the two of us heading out today. Matt was ready to go at 7:15a, so I told him to take the extra 15 minutes of cool temps and get after it. I followed about 5 minutes later.

This route is a bit of a conundrum for me, I love it, but not stoked on the Florence-Kelvin Hwy climb...which I had just ridden a couple weeks ago during the Queen's Ransom bikepack. It's tough following that event knowing there isn't a glorious SAG stop waiting for you at the top of the 4 1/4 mile climb!! Haha. I swapped out cogs on the singlespeed converting the 30x22 back to 30x20. I was curious to see how I'd fare on the climb as I walked a bunch during the QR. I'm sure the heat played a part, the loaded bike and legs that were on day 4 of the ride. We'll see.

A short climb to get things going. Such a beautiful day to be outside.

There it is, snaking its way up the incline.

I settled into a nice mix of standing to mash the pedals and seated riding. I never really felt like I was struggling on the climb. I passed by my mental checkpoints along the way: wooden powerlines, red tank, high voltage power lines and finally mile marker 24. Less than a mile to the top now!!

So stoked to clean the entire thing. I really wasn't sure I could do it.

Isolation and huge views from here. I wanted to snap a photo earlier of the Apache Kid road sign, but it was missing.

My buddy, Maxwell, recently sent me a link about the Apache Kid Kelvin Grade.Massacre. Interesting history. Such a wild time in the pioneer days.

I was now on a long sustained downhill along the Flo-Kel Hwy, free, easy miles!! I saw someone riding towards me and thought it may be Matt, but it was Ian. His dropper post was beginning to fail and he didn't want to spend a bunch of time on a low seat. I mentioned he could ziptie a stick to the seatpost to keep it up and besides, he was almost to the AZT, hardly any seated pedaling there!! He opted to continue back on the roads. Now it was just Matt and I and I had barely caught a glimpse of him near the top of the Flo-Kel Hwy climb.

Lack of rain meant more sand along Tecolote Ranch Rd. almost all rideable...almost. Following Matt & Ian's tracks for a while.

The remoteness is real out here.

This bit of sand isn't usually rideable. Ripsey Ranch junction and the growth of a new Cottonwood to provide some shade. Great spot for a snack.

I soon linked up with the Arizona Trail, AZT, then made my way up Cougar Hill, walked a couple short bits. This view from the top is worth it.

I love the trail through this section. Long distance views of the Gila River Canyons.

End of the singletrack for a couple of miles. There has to be a singletrack project in the works here. Hmmm.

Looks like a running race is coming next weekend.

Short 2-track climb leads to the Ripsey Wash decent.

At the end of last spring, a professional trail crew was out working the tread in this section. I could tell immediately, better riding surface and the often encroaching vegetation was well off the trail.

These improvements extended all the way down through the multitude of wash crossings. Well done!!

I had planned to top off water here, but there were about 1000 bees all around the barrel. Not worth it.

The Big Hill getting closer as the temps begin to ramp up.

Hedgehog blooms are probably my favorite cactus flower, so vibrant.

I really enjoy the next bit of singletrack that leads into the main Ripsey Wash. There are a few tight switchbacks that I always have fun trying to clean. Today was a good day as I was able to ride the extremely tight righthander on the final descent. Of course I followed that up with a dab on the next left one, which wasn't nearly as tight but I think I went a tad too far on the trail's edge and slid out.

Say whaa?? A public water cache in no man's land. Thank you!! I grabbed a splash so I wouldn't have to ration what I had.

One final easy singletrack section before a moderate sand trap that leads to the climb up the Big Hill.

The grade is a bit too steep for my singlespeed legs, so there was a lot of walking...and a few shade breaks as it was now hovering in the mid-90's.

It wasn't pretty getting here, but it's an all-time classic view. Ripsey Ridgeline in all its glory. Only 5.5 'mostly' downhill miles remaining.

Another cactus favorite, the Fishhook Pincushion.

Ray Mine off in the distance as I near the finish.

Usually those few uphills on the way down don't bother me, but they were rough today in the heat. I was quite glad when I got over the final one and could relax for the home stretch.

I rolled in just before 1:30p and was surprised to see Matt still there. He finished about 50 minutes ahead.

I'm glad I came out and did the ride. Things got hot right about where I expected. It was 100º when I reached the Kelvin trailhead. Time to pack up and head for refreshments in Florence.

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