AHS Pliny vs. the real thing

Austin Homebrew Supplies Pliny the Elder versus a bottle of the real deal from Russian River.

Initial impression is AHS is damn close with this recipe. Color is just a touch darker, but in full disclosure, I padded the AHS 5 gallon recipe to 6 with some extra light DME (so I could brew two 3 gallon batches) so the extra color could be from that. Head retention and carbonation are identical. Hop aroma, flavor, and bitterness are on the money, in my opinion. This is rather surprising to me as we know RR uses hop extracts.

The malt flavor is where the two differ. The "real thing" has a distinct caramel note and sweetness, on the tongue and nose, that's missing from the clone. This first clone batch finished really dry at 1.008. I mashed the 2nd batch at 156 - significantly higher than the 150 the AHS recipe calls for. Hopefully that will bring back some of this caramel note and increase the FG a few points for round #2, which is now finishing in the fermenter.

Both batches were done as per AHS instructions (except for the mash temp adjustment on batch #2), and fermented with S-05 at 68 deg. Water was adjusted to: Ca: 104, Mg: 10, Na: 10, Cl: 64, SO: 125, RA: 9

If you're a Pliny addict like I am, the AHS kit is definitely a cure - especially with Forrest's frequent crazy sales. Highly recommended!

I just bottled my AHS pliny clone yesterday. It was less than 4 weeks old and still had a little bit of alchohol burn to it unless that was hops, it did go from 1.075 to 1.010 but the smell and other tastes are spot on. I split this batch with a friend who is a serious hop head, so he is really excited about this one.

My water is pretty similar except for the SO4/CL ration is 7 to 1 350:50

Cool humann_brewing. Post a pic and tasting notes here if you think about it. I know a lot of us took Forrest up on that killer deal so hopefully we can all compare...

I have never had PTE as it's not available here in CT. However, we are right now in the midst of a neighborhood party. One of the guests has had Pliny and is a huge fan. He said the one I brewed from AHS was spot on. I'll take his word for it seeing as he keeps heading back to the tap.

It's damn good.

Just transferred mine to a the secondary onto the first addition of dry hops. Smells great. SG is at 1.016 as I mashed at about 155F. A little higher than the 1.012 that the recipe calls for but I don't mind as the sample I have tastes great. No harsh flavors and nice hop bitterness and a very smooth malt flavor in the background. Hop flavor/aroma is lacking but the dry hoping has just begun. Can't wait to bust into these!

Thanks for this post and the link. What yeast and hops did you use, or did this recipe kit provide?

Mayo5 said:

Thanks for this post and the link. What yeast and hops did you use, or did this recipe kit provide?

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It's in the kit.

wildwest450 said:

It's in the kit.

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Yeah, I didn't see it labeled anywhere. I was just curious to see which ones were included in the kit. Thinking about getting this kit, and try it out; as it would be impossible to get these beers in Alabama.

It includes all the hops needed to replicate the beer as well as carapils, crystal malt and dextrose. 17oz of hops total which includes Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial, Warrior and Chinook if I remember them all correctly. All the hops are in pellet form and individually vacuum sealed. I think it follows this recipe which was released by Russian River Brewing.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/pliny-bastid-21229/

Scut_Monkey said:

It includes all the hops needed to replicate the beer as well as carapils, crystal malt and dextrose. 17oz of hops total which includes Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial, Warrior and Chinook if I remember them all correctly. All the hops are in pellet form and individually vacuum sealed. I think it follows this recipe which was released by Russian River Brewing.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/pliny-bastid-21229/

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Sweet! Thanks for the information and that link! It helps alot.

Bottled my 2nd batch of AHS Pliny last night. Finished at 1.012, so upping the mash temp may have done the trick...

I'll be adding my second dry hop addition tonight. The airlock smells awesome so I imagine the beer within smells even better.

Thanks to this thread I ordered the all grain kit on Tuesday and got it for about $50.

Thanks for the heads up! Can't wait to brew this bad MF'r.

Scut_Monkey said:

I'll be adding my second dry hop addition tonight. The airlock smells awesome so I imagine the beer within smells even better.

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My friend with whom I split my Pliny batch just sniffed the air lock for like 5 minutes :rockin:

An benefactor who shall remain nameless just sent me a bottle of Pliny. Time for a side-by-side comparison.

shecky said:

An benefactor who shall remain nameless just sent me a bottle of Pliny. Time for a side-by-side comparison.

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You'll poop when you taste the real thing.

I brewed this, too. I just kegged (secondary) and dry hopped it, and the house still smells a bit hoppy. Nice. Never had the real thing, not available in TX, but a freind in San Fran claimed he is sending me one. I've never put so much hops in the keg before, nor have I used pellets for dry hopping. woo hoo!

wildwest450 said:

You'll poop when you taste the real thing.

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Apparently something happened to the poor guy, he never made it back...

dantodd said:

Apparently something happened to the poor guy, he never made it back...

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No, I'm fine, but thanks for your concern.

The real thing was outstanding. Mine was at least in the neighborhood, but a bit more bitter on the back end.

shecky said:

No, I'm fine, but thanks for your concern.

The real thing was outstanding. Mine was at least in the neighborhood, but a bit more bitter on the back end.

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Glad to hear you're ok and the beer is what you expected (more or less.) Be careful though. Last time I bitter on the back end she slapped me.

I'm brewing mine tomorrow, should be a good day :rockin:

I goofed on my simcoe 30 min. addition and boiled it for 45 minutes. I moved the later additions later to compensate a bit. The hydro samples were great but after the dry hop my sample was very very bitter. I like IIPA's but this actually gave me bitter beer face. I'm hoping it was just hop trub that settled and was by the dip tube, I had the dry pellets in 2 super fine mesh hop bags. Man they smelled good when I pulled them out. It was a shame to toss them.
I just killed a keg of Haus Pale last night so there's a slot in the kegerator for this one. Hopefully cold crash and another week or 2 of conditioning will mellow out the bite.

it may mellow out a little but Pliny's supposed to be EXTREMELY bitter and hoppy. I doubt it will ever get down below the "bitter beer face" level for you. This is probably one of the most bitter beers on the face of the planet.

Have you ever had the original Pliny the Elder?

My 1st keg of AHS Pliny is almost empty. DAMN has it been a good brew...

There was a surprising jump in bitterness (like night and day) after the dry hop. Dry hopping should not add bitterness, right? So it must be the sample just had hop debris in it. It was also cloudy. I'll try it again after it has settled out more. I have not had the original but I've had plenty of hop bombs and uber iipa's. this tasted more like when you put a fresh hop in your mouth, and it tastes good at first , then starts to bite your tongue.

I have my Pliny Clone from Morebeer in the secondary now with the dry hop addition. My OG reached 1.080 and when I checked the gravity at time of transfer it was at 1.018. Had it in primary for 16 days at 68-70 degrees. By claculations it should be right at 8% abv. like the real deal. I tasted the sweet goodness and was shocked that it already tastes like the real thing before the dry hop additions. Looking forward to it.

Drinking one of my Pliny clones right now for the first time. It's been 3.5 weeks in the bottle at ~62F so it probably still has some room to grow but WOW is it awesome. The biggest IPA I have had prior to this is the Stone Ruinition and it bows down to the hop flavor, aroma and bitterness in this beer.

It is slightly hazy but I was only able to do a quick chill in the freezer. I know, I know, but my tiny fridge is full of other beers I'm serving tonight for guests for the Penguins game. Also, the head is a little lacking but again with a quick chill what can I expect. Regardless the flavor is superb and it forces me to take tiny sips to make it last. It obviously has a very strong hop presence but it has a nice malty backbone with just a touch of sweetness at the end and a nice full mouthfeel. Only wish I had prior knowledge of what the real Pliny tastes like to compare. Thanks Austin Homebrew.

Mine is improving with cold, co2 and time. Another week and 1/2 on the gas and I'll have hop heaven over here.

When comparing the two be sure to notice the bottled date for the Pliny. It will make a big difference when you taste them side by side. try to get them as close as possible.

It's good to see all of this feedback. I picked up two all-grain kits from AHS to do a 10gal batch and can't wait to brew it up! I have to admit that I thought drinking PTE was like sucking on a pine tree ... but it sure grew on me fast.

I hope some of you find your way to the Bay Area at the right time time of year to get some Pliny the Younger.

pkpdogg said:

It's good to see all of this feedback. I picked up two all-grain kits from AHS to do a 10gal batch and can't wait to brew it up! I have to admit that I thought drinking PTE was like sucking on a pine tree ... but it sure grew on me fast.

I hope some of you find your way to the Bay Area at the right time time of year to get some Pliny the Younger.

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there is like one or two bars in San Diego that get the Younger each year, but I'm making a trip up there this February to taste it from the source!

Another taste as it's getting carbed up. The bitterness has taken a backseat to a floral bouquet of hops right in the face. Like nothing I've ever tasted. And the hops stick around, lingering on the palette, like they're not done with me yet.
Hmm. I'll have to try the real thing one day.

This past weekend I chilled some of the Pliny down after 3.5 weeks in the bottle and it was awesome. I was EXTREMELY shocked when my friends even said they really liked it and we blew through a case of brown ale and the Pliny I had chilled. This is strange because typically they don't drink anything but watery Macro. It's strange because it's like a light went off and now my friends are all telling me they like craft brews and ask me for suggestions when just 6 months ago they were hesitant to even drink Dos Equis. I'm psyched that I have people to talk to now about beer!

Wow, I've been living in Beervana for the last 9 years, and I've still never had Pliny The Elder.

You've all unwittingly issued a challenge. Tomorrow, I shall visit John's Market and pick up two bottles of PTE, which will occupy my Thanksgiving weekend.

Bitterness, thy name is "Thanksgiving"!

Kegged mine up last night and put her on the gas. I decided to dry hop with 4 ounces in the primary (2 columbus, 1 simcoe, .75 centennial, .25 warrior) after fermentation was done and I put 3 ounces (1 simcoe, 1 columbus, 1 centennial) in the keg.

Initial tasting was HOPS...

This is going to be one sick beer!

Fake pliny vs. really pliny tonight. I had to pick out a night where I could drink 1000ml of pliny and I guess tonight is the night.

I did my comparison last night. I noticed a lot more aroma with the homebrew version and a lot more taste actually for the first few drinks. Once I got past the first few I started enjoying the commercial version more. Either way, they were both good.

Humann:
Which was which in the pics?

bendavanza said:

Humann:
Which was which in the pics?

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Oh sorry, I tried to get it so you could see the caps. Mine is on the left, a lot more cloudy as I did not use any kind of fining and there was a lot of hops in there to say the least.

I remembered the real thing being cloudy so I did this on purpose but I guess I should have thrown in a whirfloc tablet or something. Oh well, it is darn tasty.

I have a PTE clone from AHS sitting in the 2ndary right now about to be bottled this weekend. I could not believe the amount of dryhops, it's like a softball of hops floating around! This one smells fantastic. I have never tried the real thing, it's hard to find decent beer in the sticks on the east coast let alone PTE. But I made this because I love hops and everyone raves about it

After primary, I racked into the secondary and had so much yeast/trube I made an easy amber extract beer and dumped that into PTE's primary vessal. It began fermenting with an hour. When the amber was done primary I had a 5 inch deep layer on the bottom of the bucket!

How long do you let it age? Probably drinking it younger due to all the hop flavors.