Pliny the Elder Clone- Recipe comparison

I'm going to brew a Pliny clone in the next week or two, and was just wondering if anyone had brewed more than one of the different clones out there. Dude's recipe looks to be close to the one put out by RR, with the biggest difference being the mash hops in Dude's. There's the IIPA recipe from Brewing Classic Styles that Jamil says is more or less Pliny with changes resulting from scaling the recipe down. And finally, BierMuncher also has a heralded recipe that isn't a clone, really, but has been well-received.

I can always fall back on the Vinny-distributed recipe, but I was hoping someone out there had brewed a couple of these various recipes and had some feedback. I'm especially interested in comparing the RR recipe with the BCS recipe.

You would probably be happy with any of those, and yet none of them IMO are exactly clones. It is hard to clone a beer that constantly changes. I've done the RR one and as I recall Vinnie mentioned in an interview that Amarillo found its way into the mix at some point. I like Jamil's recipes usually so I might consider that one, but some of the hops in all of these recipes are hard to find at the moment, so unless you have them you might wind up mixing recipes to get you Pliny.

I'm lucky to have on hand all of the hops necessary for any of the various recipes, and I can get Amarillo if I can dig up an updated RR recipe. Normally I'd lean towards the BCS recipe, because I've found those are such a great starting point for exploring previously-unexplored beers. But when I can get the recipe direct from the brewer, and then there's another couple recipes that have been brewed by tons of other homebrewers and found to be great, it makes the choice harder.

I don't get the chance to brew often, so I don't think it'd be fair to brew two different recipes a year or two apart and compare. I'm hoping maybe someone out there can do better than I. On the other hand, the only hops I'm having trouble with are the Simcoe, so maybe, just maybe, I can do two batches in a short time frame...

samc said:

some of the hops in all of these recipes are hard to find at the moment, so unless you have them you might wind up mixing recipes to get you Pliny.

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Hey guys, I brewed a clone last week but, as pointed out, couldn't track down all the right hops. Instead of using Simcoe, I had to use Citra. Any opinions on how this is gonna affect the flavor?

Citra is a lot fruitier (more tropical fruit) IMO than Simcoe (more citrus/pine), and less resinous. HOWEVER, I love Citra hops and am sure what you brewed will be excellent if all you did was a 1:1 replacement.

I did the AHS clone and I thought it tasted completely different from the actual Pliny. The AHS clone was very good, but it was not Pliny.

Side note, I thought Pliny was a very good beer but nothing special.

heywatchthis said:

Citra is a lot fruitier (more tropical fruit) IMO than Simcoe (more citrus/pine), and less resinous. HOWEVER, I love Citra hops and am sure what you brewed will be excellent if all you did was a 1:1 replacement.

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Ahhh, that's great news and horrible news all in one. Sounds like it will taste great, but I was really hoping to get an idea what real Pliny tastes like since I've never had one.

Well, guess I'll just have to drink it and try again

Oh, anyone know who's carrying bottles of Pliny in the Portland area?

Oh, anyone know who's carrying bottles of Pliny in the Portland area?[/QUOTE]

Check Johns market in Multnoma Village.

shutupjojo said:

Oh, anyone know who's carrying bottles of Pliny in the Portland area?

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Check Johns market in Multnoma Village.[/QUOTE]

Nice, I'll give that a shot.

Sooo, one more potentially stupid question. I hear a lot about losing a lot of the precious product because of all the dry hop additions. I put my dry hop additions in a paint strainer bag and will be bottling next week. Any opinions on me just dipping my hands in sanitizer for a bit and squeezing as much as I can out of the hop bag?

krstfrb said:

Check Johns market in Multnoma Village.

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Nice, I'll give that a shot.

Sooo, one more potentially stupid question. I hear a lot about losing a lot of the precious product because of all the dry hop additions. I put my dry hop additions in a paint strainer bag and will be bottling next week. Any opinions on me just dipping my hands in sanitizer for a bit and squeezing as much as I can out of the hop bag?[/QUOTE]

I usually dont use a bag and just throw whole hops in and rack with a screen on the end of the racking cane. I think you will get some off flavors if you squeeze and risk oxidation. I would just rack around the bag.

shutupjojo said:

I usually dont use a bag and just throw whole hops in and rack with a screen on the end of the racking cane. I think you will get some off flavors if you squeeze and risk oxidation. I would just rack around the bag.

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ahhhh! Just bottled it this morning and never got a response, so I squeezed the bag!! Oh well, I'm gonna try again anyway with the right hops. Found a local brew store that had some Simcoe, so I got enough for two batches since I can't seem to find it anywhere else :rockin:

So, I initially thought I ruined it because of the bag-squeezing thing. I tasted the FG sample and it tasted like grapefruit and alcohol, but after reading some reviews, it sounds like I might be on the right track.

Nothing wrong with squeezing the hop bag, never had any issues.

samc said:

Nothing wrong with squeezing the hop bag, never had any issues.

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There probably isn't any problem with it like you say I just remember
somebody saying they get a big metallic taste from doing it.

shutupjojo said:

There probably isn't any problem with it like you say I just remember
somebody saying they get a big metallic taste from doing it.

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Squeezing hops = good.
Squeezing grains = no bueno

Ymmv

krstfrb said:

Ahhh, that's great news and horrible news all in one. Sounds like it will taste great, but I was really hoping to get an idea what real Pliny tastes like since I've never had one.

Well, guess I'll just have to drink it and try again

Oh, anyone know who's carrying bottles of Pliny in the Portland area?

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Hey dude the Fred Meyer on Burnside has Pliny at times. They probably sell out pretty fast.

dirty_martini said:

Squeezing hops = good.
Squeezing grains = no bueno

Ymmv

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Squeezing grain is okay. Tons of BIAB guys do it and have found that to be a myth. The only off flavor from grain at this point would be tannin from the husks, which is a result of high temperature, not pressure.