Pliny the Middle Child

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Yeah, gotta love Vinnie, arguably the best DIPA on earth, and he has an open-source recipe for it.

Interesting about the cold and hot dry hops. But that still doesn't explain how he avoids grassiness.

One thing I do believe, is there are 5 or 10 bad IPAs out there for every good one. And only Longhammer :)() is in grocery stores ATM. So I see IPAs as a real growth area for breweries. If/when the mass market starts getting a taste for hops, we should see a lot more varieties hit the shelves.

For now, since I can't afford to wantonly chug Pliny at $5/17oz, I need to BYO!

Vinnie is always willing to talk to us homebrewers and answer questions. One time we sat down and he talked the whole process of Pliny from start to finish. From what I remember he uses 2 row and Carapils with very light crystal 15L and quite a bit of sugar. He prefers to mash low as he likes it to dry out. CZT hops are a must. He also dry hops warm and cold because they contribute different flavors at different temps.:)
 
I happen to like some grassiness in my beer of course too much can be unpleasant. Hop choice is important. From my experience grassiness will mellow with time...
 
Just remember that this beer is Pliny inspired and not Pliny copied. The idea is that Pliny is awesome and I wanted to make a beer that emulated that idea of super aromatic and balanced beer. This beer comes out quite malty in comparison and as mentioned before, has a higher FG. Really good for those who are trying to make an IPA that has a lot of malt flavor and yet still is very hop driven.
 
Well that's definitely more Stone or Sierra Nevada than Pliny. I was thinking of doing a Bigfoot Ale clone at some point.

Just remember that this beer is Pliny inspired and not Pliny copied. The idea is that Pliny is awesome and I wanted to make a beer that emulated that idea of super aromatic and balanced beer. This beer comes out quite malty in comparison and as mentioned before, has a higher FG. Really good for those who are trying to make an IPA that has a lot of malt flavor and yet still is very hop driven.
 
Right. My point exactly. I think this is going to be my next brew so that I can have it ready for a party in a month.
 
Vinnie said that he uses hop extract for bitterness which lowers the vegetal and grassiness.

What really lowers the veggie/grassiness is crashing the temps, which Vinnie does for at least a week, maybe two. 24 hours in the fridge, and grassiness will go away. Most of it is gone in 6 hours at 35F.
 
I wanted to point something out. After trying several hop-pellet-in-beer experiments (I will spare no efforts for research), I am now quite convinced that Pliny's flavor and aroma is most dominated by...Columbus. I think this is the world's most underrated hop. And if you look at the generally accepted Pliny recipes out there, Columbus is the largest component of the hop bill.

For those who don't believe me, try this experiment. Put 3-5 Columbus pellets in a tea ball and drop it in a beer (I use Stone IPA, YMMV), and let it sit for a few minutes. Then remove it and sir it up gently (Leave it too long, once the pellets start to come part, and it will become vegetal).

And tell me that doesn't taste and smell like Pliny.
 
Though I can understand what you mean, I think it might also be the freshness of the hop. I am not saying Stone isn't fresh in your area, but I am saying that the extreme amount of aroma in Pliny (from the extract) is something that is very much its calling card. Have you on the flipside ever had an older Pliny? It is foul and malty with zero hop aroma. I had one that was a year old and I dumped it because it tasted like anus.

Again though, this recipe isn't for Pliny. It is a Pliny inspired beer that I came up with to enjoy and find out if something with the hop aroma could be made at home.

It can...
 
Matt, my understanding from various sources is that Vinnie of RR actaully "wet" hops his beer. Supposedly he gets a fresh crop and vacuum freezes it so he can wet hop all year.

This thread seems to make that point and more.

One thing for sure, dry (or wet) hopping is where aroma comes from.

Though I can understand what you mean, I think it might also be the freshness of the hop. I am not saying Stone isn't fresh in your area, but I am saying that the extreme amount of aroma in Pliny (from the extract) is something that is very much its calling card. Have you on the flipside ever had an older Pliny? It is foul and malty with zero hop aroma. I had one that was a year old and I dumped it because it tasted like anus.

Again though, this recipe isn't for Pliny. It is a Pliny inspired beer that I came up with to enjoy and find out if something with the hop aroma could be made at home.

It can...
 
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