Pliny the Hoser

Russian River Brewery has grown famous not just for their many wonderful Belgium and American Ales but also because of the very hoppy American Ales. Specifically Blind Pig, Row 2 Hill 56, Pliny the Elder and the ever so special, Pliny the Younger. This beer is made in the same style and like its brothers, it is high in ABV, has a lot of hops especially toward the end of the boil and has been dry hopped.

About the recipe. This brew started off with a lot of base malt and very little Cara-foam and Crystal 40 malts for mouth feel. The mash temperature is about as low as I've ever gone, 148F. This beer is about making the hops the star of the show. The flavour and aroma hops are equal amounts of Simcoe, Centennial and Amarillo.

My Recipe Original Recipe

NA Target OG: 1.088

NA Target FG: 1.012

Estimate 8% Target ABV 10.5%

I did not take any measurements. :-(

Malts Malts

15lbs 2-Row 20 lbs 2-Row

1lb Carafoam 1 lb Carapils

12 oz Crystal 40 12 oz Crystal 40

Note:  Use the first 6 gallons for this wort is collected for this recipe. I ran out of 2-Row so this is going to result in a lower ABV.  

Mash  148F Mash 148F

Boil Boil

70 Magnum hops  2oz 60 Magnum hops  2oz

20 Columbus hops 2oz, whilflox, coil 20 Columbus hops 2oz, whilflox, coil

FO Simcoe, Centenial, Amarillo 2 oz each FO Simcoe, Centenial, Amarillo 2 oz each

Note:  The only difference here is that I should get a slightly more bitter beer with the 70 minutes.

Clone Recipe (close to it)

Dry Hop (65F+)

Dry Hop 1: 1oz ea: Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial

Dry Hop 2: 1oz ea: Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial 2 days later

Dry Hop 3: 1oz ea: Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial, Columbus then 2 days later

Dry Hop 4: 1oz ea: Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial, Columbus then 3 days later, 7 days later  keg

My Dry Hop Schedule

Dry Hop (65F+)

Dry Hop 2: 1oz ea: Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial

This simplified dry hop schedule is based on what I consider the biggest bang for the buck. Not having a conical fermenter and also believing that loose hops  (not in a bag) yield better results has me making this a one shot dry hop process.

Yeast: US-05

Fermented in primary for 14 days then transferred to dry hop for 1 week. Then transferred to keg.

My technique at FO dramatically influences the beer. I have been of the believe, which I am questioning, that once the boil is over you should cool the wort to 80F ASAP. Using a large 50 ft copper coil I can routinely get the wort from boiling to 90F in 7 minutes. Then lower the temp down to 80F with a transfer into the fermentation vessel. In the future when aroma is important I will consider bringing the temp down to 120F then leaving it for 15 mins and then continue the cooling process. This process should develop much more aroma.  I'm not concerned about contamination.

The Results. The aroma is a solid yet not overwhelming lemon honey. It's enough to put a smile on your face but not enough for you to exclaim the abundance of hops. The flavour is immense with hops. The bitterness is tame but still present balancing the beer. Slight aftertaste telling you  this is high in ABV but the aftertaste is hops hops hops. The mouth feel is light with the hops dominating the malt flavours. This beer tastes more like the Row 2 Hill 56 with the smooth balance of hops. I would consider this a peer that could stand toe to toe with Russian River's hoppy Ales.

What would I do differently next time? I think I could get a lot more aroma if I let the hops at FO sit in the beer for 45 minutes at 100 F. Stay tuned for more on this later.

Overall, I'm really happy with this beer and I'll do this again.