Russian River Brewing Company

Downtown Santa Rosa brewpub where Pliny the Elder and legendary wild sours are served alongside classic pizza bites.

Russian River Brewing Company on Fourth Street in downtown Santa Rosa is a landmark of the American craft beer movement. Founded originally in 1997 by Korbel Champagne Cellars in Guerneville, the brewery was acquired by head brewer Vinnie Cilurzo and his wife Natalie in 2002. They relocated the operation to this bustling Santa Rosa brewpub in April 2004, creating a space that quickly became a global destination for beer enthusiasts. Vinnie Cilurzo, widely credited with inventing the Double IPA style during his earlier tenure at Blind Pig Brewing in Temecula, used this location to refine and popularize some of the most influential beers in modern brewing history. The atmosphere inside the brick-walled pub is loud, energetic, and unapologetically casual, filled with the hum of locals and traveling beer pilgrims sharing communal tables.

The draft list is anchored by Pliny the Elder, a benchmark Double IPA that helped define the West Coast style. Unlike modern hazy IPAs, Pliny the Elder pours exceptionally clear with a brilliant golden hue, releasing a sharp aromatic profile of pine, citrus resin, and Simcoe hops, balanced by a clean, dry finish. Alongside it, the original Blind Pig IPA offers a classic, aggressively hopped profile, while Belgian-inspired sours like Supplication, a brown ale aged in local Pinot Noir barrels with sour cherries, showcase the brewery's mastery of wild yeasts like Brettanomyces. Each February, the pub becomes the epicenter of the beer world during the limited release of Pliny the Younger, a massive Triple IPA that draws thousands of visitors who line up for blocks to secure a pour of the intensely hopped, remarkably smooth seasonal release.

Complementing the tap list is a classic pub menu that focuses on hearty, beer-friendly fare. The kitchen is famous for its "bites," which are rolled pizza dough appetizers stuffed with cheese and toppings, most notably the Pliny Bites featuring white cheddar and jalapenos, and the Drew Bites with pepperoni and pepperoncinis. A wide selection of thin-crust specialty pizzas, such as the Mikey with pepperoni, sausage, and caramelized onions, or the Pazzo with BBQ chicken and pepperoncinis, are cooked in the pub's pizza ovens and designed to pair perfectly with the bitter, resinous IPAs or tart sours. Despite the opening of a massive second production brewery and tasting room in nearby Windsor, the original Fourth Street brewpub remains the soulful heart of Russian River, maintaining its intimate, lively neighborhood feel where every pint is served with a deep sense of brewing history.

Coffee & Craft — Roadside fuel stops curated by Basecamp West. The best coffee shops, craft breweries, diners, and eateries worth the detour on your next Western road trip.