Pliny the Younger beer delayed by Russian River Brewing

Russian River Brewing announced Wednesday that the annual release of its Pliny the Younger beer will be postponed.

The popular triple IPA beer usually attracts crowds to Russian River Brewing's pubs, but Sonoma County has recently imposed a ban on large public gatherings due to the surge in COVID cases. 

The beer batch had been slated to be available on draft and in bottles starting on February 4, but that has been pushed to March 25, the brewers announced.

"Unfortunately, Vinnie and I have had to make the very tough difficult decision to postpone our in-person Pliny the Younger release," said Natalie Cilurzo, who owns Russian River Brewing with her husband Vinnie.

The beer will be available through April 7 at the Santa Rosa and Windsor pubs that the company operates.

The Press Democrat reports that Russian River Brewing had 20 employees test positive for the coronavirus over the holidays.