Plight for Pliny

Good luck finding I Beat yoU where you can't find Pliny!

I lived around the corner from a bar in LA that had Pliny on tap all the time (Father's Office, Culver City). I've had the beer fresh, on tap more times than I could count. For me the beer was never a Holy Grail, just the best damn hop-forward beer I've ever had. I agree that the Elder is better than the Younger. The Younger IS a hype machine. A fantastic beer, worth savoring if you get the opportunity, but the Younger is not nearly as refined and balanced as the Elder. The Elder strikes such dynamic equilibriums when it is fresh. I've had quite a few old mishandled bottles of Pliny that are so-so at best. If you ever had a bottle of Pliny that was so-so, you had a bad bottle. This beer not only lives up to the hype, it exceeds it. Believe me.

Brewery fresh Firestone-Walker Double Jack gives Pliny a run for it's money. That is an amazingly UNDER-hyped beer...

Any ideas for a Pliny the Younger recipe?

As far as PTE, I think it is a great beer for some reasons glossed over here. Like a good Belgian beer, it hides its alcohol content, and like few other IIPAs, it is hop forward without being like sandpaper to your pallet. I'm sure in a blind test, most would vote other IIPAs as having a higher IBUs, because the hops are themselves balanced well; the hop bursting somehow compensating for the extreme bitterness. Somehow your think PTE is a drinkable beer. It IS a drinkable beer. Compare its drinkability to a 90 min IPA (which actually feels like a barleywine) to understand how brilliant PTE is.

And yes, for those of you who can't get it, brew your own. It might end up being better for its freshness.

bigbeergeek said:

Good luck finding I Beat yoU where you can't find Pliny!

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I'm actually able to fine I Beat yoU, as well as a handful of other Mikkeller beers, around here (louisiana). Have a simcoe single hop in the fridge right now, in fact.

cmoon said:

As far as PTE, I think it is a great beer for some reasons glossed over here. Like a good Belgian beer, it hides its alcohol content, and like few other IIPAs, it is hop forward without being like sandpaper to your pallet. I'm sure in a blind test, most would vote other IIPAs as having a higher IBUs, because the hops are themselves balanced well; the hop bursting somehow compensating for the extreme bitterness. Somehow your think PTE is a drinkable beer. It IS a drinkable beer. Compare its drinkability to a 90 min IPA (which actually feels like a barleywine) to understand how brilliant PTE is.

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yup. that's a pretty spot on summary if you ask me.

I usually pick up a few Plinys when we vacation in Colorado each year. They have tons of stuff there that we can't get here. A few stores do have a label with "one Pliny per customer". I thought it was kind of funny. The exclusivity is part of the fun, but once you've had it, you can enjoy it, say you had it and then move on to what's available. I do love the beer, but am content with the other outrageously hopped brews we have available, including my own brews. I agree I Beat yoU is really good. We get tons of Mikkeller beers including all the single hops...probably 10 or so total but no Pliny...or Stone...or Dogfish Head...or half the stuff folks talk about on this site...go figure

Of the Mikkeller, I really like 'I hardcore you'.

beowulf said:

I usually pick up a few Plinys when we vacation in Colorado each year. They have tons of stuff there that we can't get here. A few stores do have a label with "one Pliny per customer". I thought it was kind of funny. The exclusivity is part of the fun, but once you've had it, you can enjoy it, say you had it and then move on to what's available. I do love the beer, but am content with the other outrageously hopped brews we have available, including my own brews. I agree I Beat yoU is really good. We get tons of Mikkeller beers including all the single hops...probably 10 or so total but no Pliny...or Stone...or Dogfish Head...or half the stuff folks talk about on this site...go figure

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No Stone? Bummer. At least I can count on a good selection of Stone around here.

YAWN.

Elder is a good DIPA, but the actual experience of drinking one doesn't live up to the reputation that precedes it. Over-hyped.

At every grocery store around me

I drank my other (last) bottle of Pliny last night. It has no flaws as an IPA, it is flawless. The art of packing that much hop flavor and aroma into such a drinkable and stunning to look at beer just blows me away as a home brewer. Fanatastic.