💰 Russian River’s Pliny the Younger's Record Impact

Brewbound Insiders are diving into all the details on the economic impact of Russian River’s 20th annual Pliny the Younger Release, including what Russian River co-founder Natalie Cilurzo is hearing from local businesses. 

Insiders are also:

• Learning about how BrewDog co-founder James Watt is staying involved with the company after stepping down as CEO;
• Reading about a tentative agreement between City Brewing and union members (newsletter exclusive);
• Finding out how Anheuser-Busch InBev is turning its Bud Light declines into positives for the rest of its portfolio (newsletter exclusive);
• And checking out Founders’ next plans for hop water Hoppy Mood (newsletter exclusive).

Insiders also have access to the Brewbound Newsletter Archive, including previous newsletter-exclusive Insider content.

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Or, be in the know on all food and beverage news from Brewbound, BevNET and NOSH with Insider All Access.

Russian River Brewing’s 20th annual Pliny the Younger release contributed $8.6 million in economic impact to the local economy in Sonoma County, according to the California-based brewery and the Sonoma County Economic Development Board (EDB).

The total impact is a +36.5% increase versus the 2023 release, and double the impact of 2019, the last release before the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian River co-founder Natalie Cilurzo told Brewbound via email. 

Previous economic impacts from the release in recent years were $6.3 million in 2023, $6.1 million in 2022, $5.1 million in 2020, $4.2 million in 2019 and $3.4 million in 2018. 

Consumers traveling to get their hands on the 10.25% triple IPA limited release – available on tap and in bottle at Russian River’s Santa Rosa and Windsor pubs March 22 through April 4 – directly contributed more than $5.4 million in economic impact, they reported.

Insiders can read the full story here, including a break down of visitor spending, and additional comments from Cilurzo.

Brewers Association (BA) chief economist and VP of strategy Bart Watson provides insights into the state of the craft brewing industry, while senior director of federal affairs Katie Marisic gives an overview of the trade group’s government affairs work on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast.

The conversations were recorded on the BrewExpo floor of the Craft Brewers Conference in Las Vegas. 

But first, Justin and Zoe discuss craft’s bumpy April and rough overall shipment numbers in March. 

And Justin plays Another Round or Tabbing Out with the Voodoo Ranger and Tombstone collaboration IPizzaA IPA. 

Listen here or on your podcast platform of choice.

BrewDog co-founder James Watt has stepped down as CEO of the Scottish craft brewery and will assume the new role of “captain” and co-founder, while also serving as a non-executive director on the company’s board of directors, according to multiple news reports. 

Watt is also retaining his 21% stake in the business that he founded with Martin Dickie 17 years ago. 

Chief operating officer James Arrow will assume the role of CEO moving forward.

Brewbound Insiders can read more about Watt’s future plans, BrewDog’s scan data and how its U.S. operations fared in 2023.

The Brewbound Live business conference returns December 11 and 12 in Marina del Rey, California.

Brewbound Live will feature beverage-alcohol industry leaders taking part in business-focused conversations, data presentations, networking and much more across two days at the Marina del Rey Marriott.

Brewbound announced the first speakers for this year’s conference. They include:

• Russian River co-owner Natalie Cilurzo;
• Deschutes Brewery CEO Peter Skrbek;
• National Beer Wholesalers Association chief economist and VP of analytics Lester Jones;
• Draftline Technologies founder and president Jennifer Hauke.

Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Register for Brewbound Live 2024.

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