SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KGO) -- Bay Area beer lovers, it's Pliny time! Pliny the Younger is making its 2018 debut today. Beer geeks are lining up at the Russian River Brewing Company.
The first people got in line at 2 p.m. on Thursday. The brewery sold raffle tickets this year, 14 winners get to jump the line. They raised $115,000 in ticket sales for fire relief. This is the 14th release of Pliny the Younger, and just like in years past it will only be available for two weeks.
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The Pliny Pilgrims are allowed in the tasting room for three hours. They can have three rounds and then they're out. This beer is not sold in cans or bottles -- it is only on draft, so you can only drink it at the brewery. Some of these devotees have done this before and they are back, others are fans of Pliny the Elder, so they wanted to come try Pliner the Younger. One man came here from St Petersburg, Florida to taste this beer.
The beer brings an estimated $5 million in business to the city of Santa Rosa. But this isn't that profitable for the brewer; this beer is expensive to make and time consuming, so that's why we only get it for two weeks.