Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I have been happily homebrewing for just about two years now. Before I jumped into brewing my own beers, the only craft beer I really drank was Sam Adams and Wachusett (local MA micro). Like many others on this forum, once I started brewing, I fell in love with craft and micro beers. More importantly, I fell in love with TRYING new beers. I’ve tried 300+ different beers in just over two years now (something I am extremely proud of). I quickly fell in love with all kinds of beers, even styles I used to hate. I became most interested and obsessed with IPAs, particularly DIPAs. The hoppier the beer, the more intrigued I usually am.
Anyway, obviously if you poke around HBT (and BeerAdvocate) for long enough, you will eventually come across one of the “holy grails” of the IPA/DIPA world; PLINY THE ELDER. For just about two years now, I’ve read about Pliny and all of its glory and brilliance. For the vast majority of the time, I realized that I could only dream about having one. I just recently graduated from college (read: broke) and have been working at a medical device company close to home as an engineer, which required little to no travel. In addition, I live in the Boston, MA area and had absolutely zero immediate plans to travel to the West Coast. As much as it pained me to do so, I accepted that I would probably not try Pliny for many years down the road.
That all changed recently, however. In December 2011, I was asked if I would like to travel to Colorado for an orthopedic conference in early March. I jumped at the opportunity to travel for two reasons; first, I have never been west of Chicago, and second, I would be able to get my hands on some Odell brews (specifically their Myrcenary DIPA). About a month before my trip, my boss asked me if I would be interested in traveling to San Diego, CA to meet with some clients PRIOR to the CO trip. I was elated! Forget the weather, the women, and the fish tacos! I was excited because San Diego meant PLINY!
Once I landed in SD, I immediately wanted to seek out Pliny. I checked the locations posted on Russian River’s website for SoCal stores that carried their product. The first night I was there, I didn’t get out of meetings until ~10pm. I drove around to the presumed locations of Pliny. First, Market Bar & Grill in Del Mar. Strike one: they were closing when I pulled up. Next, Del Mar Wine Co. Strike two; they too were closed for the night. With two strikes, an empty stomach, and jet-lag, I decided to call it a night and try and find Pliny tomorrow. The anticipation was killer.
Day 2 in SD and wouldn’t you know it? Meetings all day AGAIN! I was dying. All I could think about was Pliny. The time seemed to trickle bye. 10:00AM. 12:00PM. 3:00PM. 3:30PM. Finally, it was quitting time and I raced to my rental car and was back on the hunt for heaven. This time I drove straight to Del Mar Wine Co for bottles. Would they have any in stock? How many bottles can I buy at once? What if they don’t even carry it anymore? My nerves were getting the best of me. Finally, I burst through their door and my eyes flooded the room to find the single bottle section. A quick scan of the rack from ~30 feet away and I couldn’t make our any labels. As I got closer I could finally see a big red circle on green paper. There it was! PLINY THE ELDER! And PLENTY of bottles too. I bought every single bottle on the shelf (9 in total) and rushed home to my hotel room. They were already chilled, so I cracked one open and immediately poured it into one of the miserable hotel glasses. But I didn’t care. I was so overwhelmed, I forgot to take note of the hop aroma!
My notes from the night read as follows (I'll be the first to admit I am not a good reviewer): pours a golden yellow with 2-3 finger think white foam, which smells intensely of pine and citrus. Tastes slightly sweet, although not necessarily malty, up front, with a gradual zing of citrus, pineapple, and a piney finish. No heat from alcohol and overall an extremely well balanced DIPA. Reminds me of DFH 90, except slightly hoppier, less malt, and with a drier (v creamier) finish. Beer nirvana!
Was it worth the wait? Did it live up to the hype? ABSOLUTELY! Best beer I’ve ever had.
I even managed to pack three in my checked bag and they made it home safe and sound...only to be consumed within hours.
I have been happily homebrewing for just about two years now. Before I jumped into brewing my own beers, the only craft beer I really drank was Sam Adams and Wachusett (local MA micro). Like many others on this forum, once I started brewing, I fell in love with craft and micro beers. More importantly, I fell in love with TRYING new beers. I’ve tried 300+ different beers in just over two years now (something I am extremely proud of). I quickly fell in love with all kinds of beers, even styles I used to hate. I became most interested and obsessed with IPAs, particularly DIPAs. The hoppier the beer, the more intrigued I usually am.
Anyway, obviously if you poke around HBT (and BeerAdvocate) for long enough, you will eventually come across one of the “holy grails” of the IPA/DIPA world; PLINY THE ELDER. For just about two years now, I’ve read about Pliny and all of its glory and brilliance. For the vast majority of the time, I realized that I could only dream about having one. I just recently graduated from college (read: broke) and have been working at a medical device company close to home as an engineer, which required little to no travel. In addition, I live in the Boston, MA area and had absolutely zero immediate plans to travel to the West Coast. As much as it pained me to do so, I accepted that I would probably not try Pliny for many years down the road.
That all changed recently, however. In December 2011, I was asked if I would like to travel to Colorado for an orthopedic conference in early March. I jumped at the opportunity to travel for two reasons; first, I have never been west of Chicago, and second, I would be able to get my hands on some Odell brews (specifically their Myrcenary DIPA). About a month before my trip, my boss asked me if I would be interested in traveling to San Diego, CA to meet with some clients PRIOR to the CO trip. I was elated! Forget the weather, the women, and the fish tacos! I was excited because San Diego meant PLINY!
Once I landed in SD, I immediately wanted to seek out Pliny. I checked the locations posted on Russian River’s website for SoCal stores that carried their product. The first night I was there, I didn’t get out of meetings until ~10pm. I drove around to the presumed locations of Pliny. First, Market Bar & Grill in Del Mar. Strike one: they were closing when I pulled up. Next, Del Mar Wine Co. Strike two; they too were closed for the night. With two strikes, an empty stomach, and jet-lag, I decided to call it a night and try and find Pliny tomorrow. The anticipation was killer.
Day 2 in SD and wouldn’t you know it? Meetings all day AGAIN! I was dying. All I could think about was Pliny. The time seemed to trickle bye. 10:00AM. 12:00PM. 3:00PM. 3:30PM. Finally, it was quitting time and I raced to my rental car and was back on the hunt for heaven. This time I drove straight to Del Mar Wine Co for bottles. Would they have any in stock? How many bottles can I buy at once? What if they don’t even carry it anymore? My nerves were getting the best of me. Finally, I burst through their door and my eyes flooded the room to find the single bottle section. A quick scan of the rack from ~30 feet away and I couldn’t make our any labels. As I got closer I could finally see a big red circle on green paper. There it was! PLINY THE ELDER! And PLENTY of bottles too. I bought every single bottle on the shelf (9 in total) and rushed home to my hotel room. They were already chilled, so I cracked one open and immediately poured it into one of the miserable hotel glasses. But I didn’t care. I was so overwhelmed, I forgot to take note of the hop aroma!
My notes from the night read as follows (I'll be the first to admit I am not a good reviewer): pours a golden yellow with 2-3 finger think white foam, which smells intensely of pine and citrus. Tastes slightly sweet, although not necessarily malty, up front, with a gradual zing of citrus, pineapple, and a piney finish. No heat from alcohol and overall an extremely well balanced DIPA. Reminds me of DFH 90, except slightly hoppier, less malt, and with a drier (v creamier) finish. Beer nirvana!
Was it worth the wait? Did it live up to the hype? ABSOLUTELY! Best beer I’ve ever had.
I even managed to pack three in my checked bag and they made it home safe and sound...only to be consumed within hours.