Finally, Pliny the Elder

Well, finally I got to enjoy the well talked and read about Pliny the Elder. I work on a fishing boat in Alaska and the Captain of the boat whom got me into homebrewing and I just returned after 3 months at sea. We've heard about and read about etc...how wonderful this Pliny was, but never had the opportunity to try it. So night before last I started googleing tap houses around Seattle and happened onto the Seattle Taphouse. WOW!! a beer mecca with 160 beers on tap! We were interested in only one, PtE. The gal behind the bar said it is their most requested beer and does not last long, so we were lucky. Maybe it was the fact that neither of us had had a beer for a few months, but I swear we both felt this was the best beer we had ever tasted....well at 8%abv it only took 2 each to feel the effects! Last night I went back alone and enjoyed 3 glasses of this awesome beer. I live in Michigan and am heading home next week so I will be going back a few more times for the PtE since it is unavailable where I live. If you get the chance and like the hoppy higher alcohol IIPA's you owe it to yourself to try the Pliny!
Highly recommended!

So what are you waiting for? Brew yer own! The Pliny recipe is well know and several shops will sell you a kit. I've never had the commercial version but I've made the homebrewed version and it was fantastic! Get to work!

Now that you have been lucky enough to find Pliny the Elder. Be on the look out for the very rare Pliny the Younger (triple IPA). It usually is released once a year to great fanfare. So is usually gone day one.

I had the chance to have a few pints of Pliny the Elder on tap a few weeks ago at a HopFest event outside of Philadelphia. First time having it from Russian River themselves and it was outstanding. I'm leery if the clones can even come close to how amazing this one was.

I've heard from lots of people that Elder is better than the Younger. I've never tried the Younger, though. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for next years release.

younger is a very very very limited release and only around the bay and santa rosa area. Usually sells out in a few hours. I have heard good and bad about it but would always love to try it.

Shane_PB said:

I'm leery if the clones can even come close to how amazing this one was.

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Any decent homebrewer can make a pliny clone. It's not any harder to make then any other beer. It just requires an ass load of hops.

Falling Rock Tap House in Denver got a, as in one, keg of Pliny the Younger this year. I believe Father's Office in LA had it too. So it does go a bit wider than the bay area, but not much. The Younger is not as drinkable as the Elder more of a barleywine.

To find it may be the only use for twitter.

Pliny on tap is amazing. If you're in Seattle, you should head over to Brouwers as well. Less # of taps than Taphouse, but their selection is way, way better.

my friend came back from cali a few months ago with a case of elder. $5 a bottle which i thought was super cheap for what the beer is. i snagged 6 of em and drank them all in two days. it was awesome.

jvlpdillon said:

Falling Rock Tap House in Denver got a, as in one, keg of Pliny the Younger this year. I believe Father's Office in LA had it too. So it does go a bit wider than the bay area, but not much. The Younger is not as drinkable as the Elder more of a barleywine.

To find it may be the only use for twitter.

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I believe they had two kegs, and were tapped something like two weeks apart. I missed both tappings due to work, unfortunately.

I just finished the last of my Pliny clone in my keg. To be honest I could not taste a difference between the original. Not to blow my own horn... but... toot toot. Not hard to make, and easily the best beer I brewed. It is so hard to find in PA . Capones in norristown has the younger usually once a year just like out west. Elder is better, but if you ever get the chance, side by side is awesome.

oojuxeoo said:

I just finished the last of my Pliny clone in my keg. To be honest I could not taste a difference between the original. Not to blow my own horn... but... toot toot. Not hard to make, and easily the best beer I brewed. It is so hard to find in PA . Capones in norristown has the younger usually once a year just like out west. Elder is better, but if you ever get the chance, side by side is awesome.

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That's what I've heard, too -- Elder > Younger. The Drafting Room in Exton had the Elder a fews weeks ago. I'm going to try to be at Capones when they have Younger.

oojuxeoo said:

It is so hard to find in PA

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My friend just went to Brady's in Trevose (Crowne Plaza) and the bar manager swears that he is going to update their facebook page when Pliny gets there. I live like an hour away in NJ but its worth the drive..lol

ColonelForbin said:

my friend came back from cali a few months ago with a case of elder. $5 a bottle which i thought was super cheap for what the beer is. i snagged 6 of em and drank them all in two days. it was awesome.

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It's $4 at the store by my house, but that store (Total Wine) has awesome prices. Makes me think that if they can afford to sell Pliny for $4/bottle, why the hell am I paying $8 for Maharaja or Sculpin?

Younger is my Great White Buffalo...I was hunting it this year and missed every place it was at. A few places had it on in Southern Cali, but they were popping their kegs after like an hour. Ridiculous. Comes out in February, so I'll be waiting!

The single bottle I received a few years ago as part of Secret Santa was my inspiration for coming up wit my "Tits Up" IIPA recipe.

I didn't believe the hype.

Then I took a trip to Russian River. I'm a believer now.

I discovered sour and brett beers there too. It was a good trip.

munche said:

A few places had it on in Southern Cali, but they were popping their kegs after like an hour. Ridiculous. Comes out in February, so I'll be waiting!

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I had it this year at live wire in San Diego. they put on their website when it would be tapped. easily 50+ people waiting outside at 11am for the bar to open. it tapped somewhere within 30 minutes.

GregR said:

I had it this year at live wire in San Diego. they put on their website when it would be tapped. easily 50+ people waiting outside at 11am for the bar to open. it tapped somewhere within 30 minutes.

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Live Wire is such a cool bar. A perfect example of how the SD scene is light years ahead of LA/OC

munche said:

Live Wire is such a cool bar. A perfect example of how the SD scene is light years ahead of LA/OC

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yeah, we do have some pretty bad ass bars here.

Next time you're in Seattle check out www.washingtonbeer.com, you won't be disappointed, we have some great beers here. Oregon is pretty fantastic too, I did the Bend ale trail with the wife this summer, spent a day walking all over Bend sampling from 6 breweries, and got a couple of silicone pint glasses as a prize from the visitors center, they'll be awesome for camping next year!

$4 a bottle is pretty damn good - I paid $5 and change for the bottle I bought last night

Just one thing to consider on the pricing - Pliny comes in a pint (16 oz) bottle & Sculpin and most other "singles" are 22 oz. - 27% more beer but Pliney is still less per ounce than Sculpin

GregR said:

I had it this year at live wire in San Diego. they put on their website when it would be tapped. easily 50+ people waiting outside at 11am for the bar to open. it tapped somewhere within 30 minutes.

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Head up to Stone! They have it year-round on tap at the bar inside.

I'm in Kodiak..just out of curosity, where do you fish?

scrambledegg81 said:

Head up to Stone! They have it year-round on tap at the bar inside.

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no one has Pliny the Younger on tap year-round.

GregR said:

no one has Pliny the Younger on tap year-round.

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Bah...mis-read. Thought you were talking about Elder.

It is pretty much always on tap at a couple of places here in the LA South Bay.

NBABUCKS1 said:

I'm in Kodiak..just out of curosity, where do you fish?

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Bering Sea...Pollock factory trawler

I my self felt lucky when I was able to try Pliney a couple of weeks ago. I sent a bottle of homebrew to a friend out in cali and in return he sent me 4 bottles of pliney!!

scrambledegg81 said:

Bah...mis-read. Thought you were talking about Elder.

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yeah, I figured that's what you meant. PtE is pretty much a staple at the good south park bars down here. if I'm at a Hammies or Toronado and they don't have Pliny on tap it's the exception rather than the rule. god I love that beer.

PtE is my favorite favorite favorite beer. I am picking up 1-3 bottles every 2-3days on the way home. Unfortunately, my supplier is almost out. PtY is scheduled to hit my local ale house in Feb. I will make it a priority to buy a case of PtE when I hit Santa Rosa in a couple weeks. Im down to two in the fridge.

Can't get PtE locally, but was able to try it recently on a trip to Aspen. Didn't live up to the hype. Problem is I brewed a batch up before I had tried it. Hopefully, I will like my version more.

I've had the elder, but not the younger. Has anyone had the younger? If so, did you like it better? I still gotta brew up the elder ASAP!