Russian River Brewing, one of the nation’s most respected breweries, sent shockwave across the political landscape yesterday, with the announcement that their legendary Imperial IPA, Pliny the Elder, is entering the presidential race in 2024.
Here’s the deal….
In their first blog post of 2024, Russian River’s co-founders NNatalie and Vinnie Cilurzo dropped a bombshell, that their awarding-winning Imperial IPA, Pliny the Elder, was throwing its hat in the ring and running for president.
The unexpected announcement blindsided political insiders in both Democrat and Republican circles, as a beer of this stature has yet to win the highest seat in the land.
And to write off the potential impact of what the brewery is now calling Pliny for President 2024 in such a volatile political climate could be an enormous mistake…
This from Northern California’s Russian River Brewing…
2024 is an election year which can only mean one thing. Pliny the Elder is running for President!
Pliny has been running for President every election year since we opened our Santa Rosa pub in 2004.
Our first version of Pliny for President, the beer, was Double Dry-Hopped Pliny the Elder. This beer turned into DDH Pliny post-election.
Vinnie spent all of 2023 developing a new recipe for Pliny for President 2024. This year’s brew is a 7% ABV Triple Dry-Hopped IPA (Citra, Zumo, and Nectaron) with strong stone fruit, tropical, citrus, pine and resinous characteristics
This beer is a toned-down version of the original Pliny the Elder recipe with a little less alcohol so we can enjoy more than just one! Pliny for President will be released quarterly on tap and in cans in our pubs and online as well as in kegs and bottles for wholesale distribution. 2024 campaign yard signs, pennants, buttons, hats, socks and more coming very soon!
Cheers,
Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo
Tom Bobak, Editor-in-Chief of Washington, DC-based American Craft Beer, sees Russian River’s announcement as consequential…
“These are polarizing political times and people are going to need a drink. So the entrance of a beer, even a toned down version of Pliny the Elder, is significant.
“I know the Cilurzo’s well, and although they haven’t contacted me directly regarding this year’s run, I’ve no doubt that they would have taken such bold step if they didn’t think that their IPA had a very real chance of winning, and winning big.”
American Craft Beer reached out to both the Trump and Biden campaigns and as of publishing neither camp had offered comment.
“I think their silence speaks volumes,” Bobak added. “This is going to be an historic election.”