Pliny the Younger

After hearing all the hoopla over the last few years we made the pilgrimage to Santa Rosa for Pliny the Younger. I've been looking forward to this over the last few months. I'm a big fan of hops and appreciated Pliny the Elder, Moylands Hopsicle, Sierra Nevada hoppier beers and  many others. Although some bars do serve the Younger, it's generally an opportunity you line up for and the bar typically runs out after rationing in 10 oz glasses within an hour. Considering all the demand for this beer and my appreciation for Pliny the Elder I had high hopes.

Arrived around 3:00pm on Friday we were greeted with rain in Santa Rosa.  We headed directly to RRB. The line up was pretty impressive. It was about 2 blocks long and were told it was a 4 hour wait. Most of the people in line were from out of town. Earlier in the day the line up wrapped around the block for a 5 + hour wait. Several people camped out the night before. We were told that the people near the front of the line at 3:00pm had been there since 7:00 AM. Line ups were said to go 'more smoothly' due to the 3 hour time limit once in the bar (this was self policed and soon forgotten by everyone inside). We skipped the line and headed inside to purchase some RRB beer at their bar store. Sadly no Younger is available to purchase.  We loaded up on Blind Pig and Pliny the Elder then headed back to the hotel.

After a great dinner at Jackson's, which we enjoyed  immensely, we headed back to try our luck in line. We found a 2 hour line that was relatively short to what we experienced earlier in the day so we stuck it out. The wait was not too bad in the rain since RRB placed awning to shelter us.  Prior to getting in you get a pink bracelet with three Pliny the Younger tickets.

So we ordered our Pliny the Younger and prepared to be amazed. Served in a 10 oz glass. 10.5 ABV, low to no aroma, clear lite and very dry. Heavy hop flavors with no dominant citrus or piney. What I was drinking was a very dry very hoppy flavored beer. No malt flavors. I was really disappointed in the lack of flavor and complexity. This beer to me was about delivering a well rounded hop flavor in a high ABV low malt profile. Compared to the Elder this beer lacks flavour and seems unbalanced. With other triple IPAs I taste a better balance of malts and hops. Is this a bad beer? No it's just a style that to me was not worthy of a second glass. I gave my two remaining tickets to our line mates and proceeded to begin to taste some of the other beers RRB serves.

Is this beer really up to the hype? I don't think so. Is there anything else on the market similar? I don't think so. Would I get in line for this beer again. No.

I really enjoy RRB. Their selection of beers, their pizzas and the atmosphere make this a great bar. However I would recommend coming when Younger is not served. This will let you get in without a long line up.

As a brewer myself I'm glad to see the awareness build with craft beers however I believe this beer is over hyped because of three things. 1) It's scarcity, 2)  peoples expectation that it's better the Pliny the Elder and 3) 10.5 ABV.

Well done RRB but I'll stick to your other beers which I feel deserve more attention than Pliny the Younger.

Want to try Triple IPAs that I think are better. Check out Stone, Moyland and Knee Deep.

Kolsch

Jan 15, 2015 

18.5 lbs German Pilsner 
0.5. lbs German Munich Malt.

Kolsch yeast Wyeast

9.5 gallons

Mash 150.5

1 ounce of Magnum 60 minutes

2 oz Crystal 20 mins

No Whirflox 

18   pounds of grain including 1 pound of Munich

Sparged 12 gals

Kolsch WY used

Made 9.3 gallons

OG 14 Brix. 1.057

SG. 9.8 Brix. 1.027, Jan 21, 2015

SG. 8.  Brix. 1.016, Jan 25

  Still has yeast head (white) in fermenter

Gag 6.5 Brix 1.007

ABV 6.6%

Scottish Wee Heavy

Double IPA 10 Gallon

Jan 11, 2015

2-row          16. Act 33 lbs

40L.             1

Coffee.          5 oz

Special B.     1

Honey.          10 oz

Was unable to stuff 5 lbs of malt in mash tun so it's 33 lbs. 

Hop boil 

60 mins 2 oz German Magnum

30 mins HBC 342 1 oz 

30 mins Borthern Brewer 1 oz

20 mins simcoe 3 oz

10 mins  3/8 oz licorice root, 2.5 oz simcoe

Mash 153F

Sparge to produce 12 gallons

21 Brix. 1.087 OG

30 secs of O2

Wort 9.5 gallons

FG 1.025

8% ABV 

Jan 16 - large bucket 8 oz citra

Jan 16 - small bucket. No hops

Jan 24 - legged large bucket

Triple Red IPA

Dec 26, 2014

1 lb 6 oz. Carared

30 lb 2-row

1 lb carafoam

5 oz Biscuit

Made 16 gallons

3.5 hr boil plus 1 hr boil with hops reduced wort to 10 gallons. 

OG 1.091, 21.8 Brix

FG  1.012 est. 

ABV 10% est. 

60 min 3 1/4 oz pellet magnum, loose

40 min 1 oz pellet Simcoe

30 min 3 oz

20 min 4 oz

10 min 2 oz

Removed bag at with 5 mins left. 

Added 2 Whitlock tablets with 5 mins. 

Cool to 100F

Poured into vessel with spray spout

Add red ale yeast

Fermenting in house at 70F

Oxygen for 30 seconds on day 2 of fermentation. 

Dry hop schedule. 

Jan 11 - Simcoe 1 oz added to each 4 gal batch 

Jan 16 - large bucket 8 oz of citra and 8 oz of simcoe. 

Jan 16 In small bucket 8 oz citra only 

Jan 21- moved beer to 5 and 3.5 gallon kegs. Note that due to the large amount of hops this made a total 6.5 gallons(4 &2 .5 respectively)

- beer retained flavour and feel however after Feb aroma starts to fade. 

- This DIPA is similar to the darker one on the market I reviewed how ever mine is smother  and less heavy. Aroma was anazing for about 40 days. 

Nitro: Smoky Red Velvet (AKA stinky cheese)

10 lbs  2 row
2 lbs    Flaked Barley
2 lbs    Carared
1 lb     Peated Malt

Mash

60 mins   Carared and Peet Malt 155F
60 mins   2 Row 151F (leave above malts in mash for a total of 120 mins)

Hops

60 mins  Magnum 1 oz
20 mins  E. Kent Golding 2 oz

Irish Wyeast  Yeast

Serve on nitro

OG 1,056. 6 gallons

FG  1.010  5 gals 2 pints

6% ABV

Nov. 8 - Mar 28 - very successful and interesting nitro beer. I replaced the black roasted barley with carared and peat malt. Aroma and flavour changed from stinky french cheese to smoky peat. Mouth feel and body was perfect. Very creamy. Peat took a bit of time to mature and come through. 

Next time I would replace the black roasted barley with a mixture of black and biscuit malts and aim for a complex flavour. 

Beer tasting - Double IPA only

Propeller IIPA- From Halifax, a heavier and darker IIPA than all the rest I've tasted. It's loaded with malts. Small sips are very nice however the mouthfeel and the hop flavour place this in the category of a good try but further refinement of the malt selection and late addition hops is required for my taste. Even drinking a single pint seemed a bit of a challenge. A good IIPA but I expect more.

From the left: Propeller and Boxing Rock 

Flavour      - 2

Aroma        - 3

Mouthfeel    - 3

Drinkability - 2

Total        10/25

Mission Brewery's Shipwrecked Double IPA - Coming in a can from San Diego this was my favorite of all the beers I tried at the Mission Brewery. Crisp, hoppy and smooth. This is a bit lighter than I expected which made this very drinkable with a pleasant mouth feel. It competes toe to toe with Pliny the Elder. I also found this beer at Costco for $6. Amazing.

Flavour      - 4

Aroma        - 4

Mouthfeel    - 5

Drinkability - 4

Total        22/25

Russian River Brewery's Pliny the Elder IIPA - This beer is very distinct. A low mash temperature (148F I'm guessing) and a very low flavour malt bill (less than 5% I'm guessing) along with the abundance of Simcoe hops making this piney aroma and flavour like no other. Very light in colour. It is always a pleasure to drink but does not deserve the attention it has gotten over recent years. There are other better IIPAs on the market that are not talked about.

Flavour      - 5

Aroma        - 4

Mouthfeel    - 5

Drinkability - 4

Total        23/25

Wormtown Be Hoppy IPA - A wonder of citrus hops and red malts. Smooth and refreshing. This beer is all about the hops. The bitterness is well balanced.

Flavour      - 4

Aroma        - 5

Mouthfeel    - 4

Drinkability - 4

Total        22/25

Moylan's Hopsickle IIPA - Wow. The hops are so over the top. I would place it in the category of an IIPA that should be enjoyed on rare occasions. I'm surprised my lips did not have lupulin residue from drinking this. Interestingly the hops are not abundant with citrusy or piney falvours. A must try  beer. All other IIPAs have less hops in them. 

A Must try Beer!!!

Flavour      - 5

Aroma        - 5

Mouthfeel    - 4

Drinkability - 4

Total        23/25

Ready Topper from The Alchemist - This beer seems to be revered on the east coast much the way Pliny is on the West coast. This beer has a lot of things going for it. The hops selection is distinctively different from Pliny. Pliny is all about Simcoe's piney hops aroma and taste. This beer is about striking the right chord of hops to deliver a well balanced IIPA.

no picture

Flavour      - 5

Aroma        - 5

Mouthfeel    - 4

Drinkability - 4

Total        23/25

Boxing Rock's The Vicar's Cross from Shelburne, Nova Scotia.  I would have to say this is my favorite IIPA. The complexity of this beer seemed more refined and enjoyable than most IIPAs. The malt notes were there but not over the top and the hops balanced out the beer leaving you with a nice mouth feel. Well done. From looking at their web site they look small. They only produce two beers.

A Must try Beer!!!

Flavour      - 5

Aroma        - 5

Mouthfeel    - 5

Drinkability - 4

Total        24/25

Trinidad Scorpion & Ghost Pepper Dry Hopping

Having grown the hottest peppers in the world I was looking forward to adding some flavour and heat to my beer.  The small pepper is the Trinidad Scorpion (1.5M scovilles)  and the other is the Ghost pepper (Bhut Jolokia, 1M scovilles). To put this in perspective a Habonero is about 0.3M scovilles and a Jalapeño only has 8k scovilles.

Not wanting to ruin 5 gallons of beer  I waded into the heat with first pouring the beer over a whole pepper and then swirled the pepper in the beer. This brought out a distinct pepper flavour more on the back of my mouth.  No heat detected. We wanting to get some heat so we cut them open and repeated the swirl test for about 10 seconds and then finally with 20 seconds. Each time the heat started to come through. The 10 second swirl gave us what we described as a warm fuzzy heat. The beer flavour was all there but they the heat of the pepper cam though through. Very pleasant. The 20 second swirl brought he heat of the beer to what I would describe as a very hot curry. Still not rushing for yogurt but this was more like a prickly heat. 

I did this experiment with a hoppy IPA and a Maple Oak Stout. I would recommend doing this with a beer with a lot of malt flavour.  The heat and the malts go together well. 

Next time I plan to push the envelop and dry hop a few liters with these peppers. There are a lot of complex flavours happening which are going to be a challenge to extract without setting the beer on fire.