AHS Pliny vs. the real thing

[GregR]

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.

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!

 

[bendavanza]

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.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

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!

 

[khiddy]

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"!

 

[Lynux]

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!

 

[humann_brewing]

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.

 

[humann_brewing]

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.

 

[bendavanza]

Humann:
Which was which in the pics?

 

[humann_brewing]

Humann:
Which was which in the pics?

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.

 

[WVBeerBaron]

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.

 

[shecky]

Drink it as soon as it's ready. I'm about to kick my keg and the aroma is definitely lessening quite a bit. The bite remains, however.

 

[Apollofrost]

Oh wow, I never knew russian river brewing company distributed their product so widely.

I always thought they were just a local watering hole with awesome pizza.

 

[jkarp]

I always thought they were just a local watering hole with awesome pizza.

Just a local watering hole that makes 8 of the top 100 beers in the world.

 

[chefmike]

Just a local watering hole that makes 8 of the top 100 beers in the world.

By the list all those top 100 beers average 8 or 9%...

but I guess that is a whole other thread!

 

[jkarp]

Took me a while to get to it, but I tapped my 2nd batch of AHS Pliny tonight. I mashed this one a good bit hotter and man, what a difference. Not too dry like the last one, this one's perfect. Even with a couple months aging, it's still a massive hop bomb too. Superb recipe.

 

[Newbeerguy]

Took me a while to get to it, but I tapped my 2nd batch of AHS Pliny tonight. I mashed this one a good bit hotter and man, what a difference. Not too dry like the last one, this one's perfect. Even with a couple months aging, it's still a massive hop bomb too. Superb recipe.

You mashed this one at 156 right? My kit is comming Monday . I was going to mash at 152, but you say 156 is the magic number? What was your FG? Also which yeast did you use?

 

[jkarp]

FG was 1.012, mashed at 156. S-05 yeast. Actually I poured the 2nd batch right on top of the 1st batches yeast cake.

 

[Newbeerguy]

FG was 1.012, mashed at 156. S-05 yeast. Actually I poured the 2nd batch right on top of the 1st batches yeast cake.

Ah Ok. I ended up getting the WLP001 Yeast. I guess I will find out how far it will go with higher mash temps. I know I've gotten the WLP001 down low when I mash at 149-150. I think I gotten a blonde ale from 1.036 to 1.004. So mashing a little higher will be good for this one I think. I cannot get ahold of the real PTE, so I am flying blind on this one.

 

[jkarp]

S-05 is the dry version of 001 so you should get similar attenuation, assuming a good pitch rate.

 

[Newbeerguy]

S-05 is the dry version of 001 so you should get similar attenuation, assuming a good pitch rate.

Perfect! Yeah I am going to get a 2000ml starter going. I think that should be plenty. Now if there was only a way to sample the real thing to see how close I got.

 

[jkarp]

Perfect! Yeah I am going to get a 2000ml starter going. I think that should be plenty. Now if there was only a way to sample the real thing to see how close I got.

PM me when it's ready. I've always got at least a dozen Pliny in the beer fridge. Maybe we could work a swap. I'd love me some HopSlam

 

[Newbeerguy]

PM me when it's ready. I've always got at least a dozen Pliny in the beer fridge. Maybe we could work a swap. I'd love me some HopSlam

I think I will have to take you up on that. I will PM you when that time comes.

 

[rdarr40]

If I am reading the AHS recipe correctly, some of the hops are used in the mash.
Correct?

Also, how long have others dry hopped?
Do you recommend putting the hops directly in the beer or using a hop bag?

 

[Lynux]

If you keg I would recommend saving some of the dry hops for the keg. This helps keep the aroma around much longer.

1.5oz of Chinook go in the mash. I dryhopped in the primary with four ounces, no hop bag for 14 days. Then I took 3oz and put them in a sanitized mesh bag and into the keg prior to racking.

If you bottle I would recommend dry hopping in stages as opposed to all at once.

 

[HarkinBanks]

I just bottled this bad boy last night and man it was sweet right out of the fermenter. Color was spot on, huge and grapefruity. I did single-stage fermentation in my 6 gal carboy for the first time and was very pleased. I fermented for 14 days at 65-68 and dry hopped the entire amount right in the carboy loose for 14 days. I can't wait for this to carb up and sample one.

 

[redbenn]

We brewed ours last night, first batch with this high of OG. Put it in my 6.5g BB, should've used a blowoff tube...

(not sure if the pics will post, since I dont have enough posts)

It was bubbling pretty good after dinner, went to the gym to find the cap/airlock blown off, foam all over the floor, carboy, wall, etc. Rushed to sanitize the cap/airlock, tried putting it back on, but cracked the airlock in my hand, just read tonight about using a bubbler airlock and a siphon hose as a blowoff tube, so I sanitized those, and recapped and hooked up my contraption, w/ the hose in a bucket of sanitized water.

Is it ruined? I dont think anything got back in, as it was foaming out through the hole/airlock when I put it on.

Here is a gallery of the results, not too many pics of the mess as I was scrambling to get things sanitized.

 

[HarkinBanks]

Lesson learned, probably ok if everything was sanitized before using it. Get some fermcap-S, it will save you a lot of blowoff problems. I always use this stuff now and don't worry about blowoffs anymore. I just brewed a 1.098 and there was nothing to worry about with the fermcap.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Better yet, you need a larger fermenter than a 6 gallon water bottle for such a big beer.

Forrest

 

[trip2hard]

So whats the recipe anyone post it or do they not tell ya the grain bill.?

 

[jkarp]

So whats the recipe anyone post it or do they not tell ya the grain bill.?

It's all over the net - did you try a search?

Here's the version handed out by Vinny himself.