Posts Tagged ‘russian river pliny the elder’

Russian River Pliny the Elder (365 Day 39)

Sunday, January 9th, 2011

Russian River Pliny the Elder

American craft beer at its’ finest: Pliny the Elder (PtE) by Russian River Brewing Company. Before my first PtE, I had heard great things about, especially how wonderful this beer was wile it could quite possibly be the best DIPA in the United States.

Once you start getting into American craft beers, these type accusations peak your interest. I was fortunate to land this beer handful of times in 2010, never securing more than two at a time. Once obtaining, tasting, and reviewing, I quickly became a believer that PtE is, if it isn’t the best, in the team photo for best DIPA.

Occasionally I have received some PtE from my cousin whom lives in southern California but it was sporadic at best. A week ago he informs me that he has a basketball tournament in Norther California and wants to stop at that brewery I am always telling him about. Yeah, must be the life.

The next thing I know I am getting a phone call stating that he has secured an entire case of PtE!!! Holy crap Batman. One of his fellow coaches wanted six of the eighteen beers, which was fine with me. I had 18 PtE en route. Yum!

If you have the capacity to get this beer, do yourself a favor and obtain it. You may not agree that it is the best DIPA in the land, but there is no denying that it is in the top five and, for a DIPA, is one damn easy drinking IPA. Enjoy!

Aroma: 10, Taste: 9, Look: 9, Drinkability: 10, Overall: 9.6

Useless Fact: Reindeer milk has more fat than cow milk.

A couple of pictures of the complete Pliny the Elder haul:

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Dragonmead Final Absolution Trippel (365 Day 5)

Monday, December 6th, 2010

The first Sunday of the undertaking (365 American craft beers in 365 days). I found my way to brew a batch of beer while watching the Bears barely defeat the Lions with the aid of my friend Chuck. I shared a couple of beers my cousin contributed to the cause: Russian River Pliny the Elder and Kern River Just Outstanding in between we had a couple of Chuck’s home brews. Chuck’s brews were solid.

After that lineup I thought it was time to change the game and go for something a little different but still solid so that the grouping of beers wasn’t ruined, so I pulled out Final Absolution Trippel by Dragonmead.

This was my second time in about a week having the beer as I had it while in Michigan for Thanksgiving on tap at the brewery. Damn yummy. The aroma and taste are both equally well balanced giving the beer such a well rounded ability to please the drinker. This beer is definitely on my list to pick up going forward whenever I have the chance. Probably the best American Trippel I have had. Enjoy!

Aroma: 9, Taste: 9, Look: 10, Drinkability: 9, Overall: 9.2

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Russian River Halloween

Sunday, October 31st, 2010

Russian River is easily one of my favorite breweries: from their outstanding IPAs to their American Wild Ales, they seem to hit a home run with each beer. Living in Illinois it isn’t always simple to obtain some of the liquid goodness from Northern California.

The only saving grace I have is my cousin Russ who lives in Southern California and his willingness to help me at every turn when it comes to getting Russian River American craft beers. Recently I received quite the haul from him: Pliny the Elder (4), Blind Pig, and Supplication.

The Pliny was bottled on September 23rd and the Blind Pig on September 07th; both have to be enjoyed rather quickly as the freshness will drop out of the hops soon. No better day than today, Halloween, to partake in a few of the stellar beers afforded the American craft industry by Russian River.

Yep, I am one of the Dad’s that loves taking the kids out for Trick-or-Treating as long as the wagon will continue to produce the treats of great American craft beer. This year the wagon will runnith over with Russian River, which I am already coating the stomach with. All Hallows Eve is looking really tasty this year. Enjoy!

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Sunday Beer Relaxing

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

It isn’t all that often that I have a day to get stuff done and actually relax besides. Luckily today is one of those days.

What exactly do I mean? Well, that is easy. I have done work around the house: picked weeds, hoed the garden, sprayed weeds, and hung up my hop plant (Centennial and more to come this week). I have also gone shopping to about three or four stores with the wife and kids to get our weekly groceries among other things. Vacuuming is still on the docket.

That’s the work, now the play. I am currently on my fourth beer and the temperature outside (about 70 with low humidity) is perfect for just about any beer. So I started the day with a New Glarus Unplugged Cranbic, which is so damn refreshing it took me about five sips to put it away. My palate still desired a refreshing beer. So I opened a bottle of Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA.

While appreciating the Union Jack, the wheels started to turn and as another front went through, with the temperature dropping into the 60s, I thought it was time for something with a little bit of size to it. Founders KBS you say, perfect! That didn’t last long but damn that is mighty tasty. What beer can out do a KBS?

Not many, but along came Pliny the Elder by Russian River. Oh, I think I am about a sliver away from heaven.

I see that Rich is doing some reviewing of his own, so after PLE, it is time for some serious reviews and a great finish to Sunday. Enjoy!

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Pliny The Elder Continues To Impress

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

russian river brewing company logo

Back on February 22nd, 2010 here on the sips blog I mentioned that I had had the fortune of having my first Pliny the Elder. I rambled on for quite some time about the build up to the first sip and, finally, the actual tasting and review. Both Rich and I thought it was outstanding but I was the only one to review.

Since then I have had the fortune of sampling the beer at least three more times. I know you are happy for me. Each time I have one it is an “occasion” for me. My feelings towards the beer hasn’t changed yet and I will be having a few more over the next week or so. I am impressed with how well balanced and how little bitterness there is in the finish or after taste for such a big IPA.

I have had other Russian River beers, having been impressed by each, but none comes close to comparing to sweet, sweet nectar known as Pliny the Elder. Enjoy!

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Pliny The Elder Bests Blind Pig

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Russian River is sort of that mythical brewery for me. Everything I have heard about them is top notch. I have listened to a couple of pod casts with Vinnie Cilurzo, the owner and brewer, and he seems like a nice enough guy that just loves beer. free run 6 femmes Each and every beer they brew gets rave reviews on the internet and from the American craft beer industry in general. So I made it a personal goal to try their beer.

I currently have had the chance to try only three (Blind Pig IPA, Consecration, Pliny The Elder), all recently, of their offerings but each is appreciative of your senses and titilates them perfectly.

But I didn’t try Blind Pig until last night when a friend of mine, during the day, stated that he thought Blind Pig was better than Pliny The Elder. I didn’t want to hear of it. Pliny seemed the pinnacle of all Imperail IPAs and, quite possibly, the best beer I have ever had!!! How could he speak blasphemy in the name of Pliny? He did. I had to figure out what would make him say something like that, especially after he gave Pliny such a great review on the site.

I am not going to regurgitate my reviews of the two beers here but I will say that Blind Pig is definitely in the league of Pliny, just not better or as good. Now, that is holding it up to what I determine to really be a perfect beer. I thought the difference was in the fact that even though Blind Pig is an IPA, it wasn’t as balanced as Pliny. Still damn tasty. Enjoy!

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Russian River’s Pliny The Elder

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

As we all know, not all American craft beers are created equal. Since all of our senses work differently, it is easy to see why each beer can rated and reviewed with such a wide array of values/comments. A few beers stick out from the crowd, seemingly being close to an euphoric drink as possible, as the range is tight and their isn’t much disagreeing in between.

Pliny The Elder by Russian River is one of those beers. I have long wanted to taste and review this beer. Fortunately I received one this past week with a date of February, 01, 2010 – nice and fresh. It comes in a 500mL bottle for $5.49. Now, I could have easily partaked by myself but that isn’t the way to enjoy any beer. Of course I had to call over Rich for a 4:00pm tasting yesterday. Needless to say he didn’t hesitate to say yes.

I pulled the beer out of the fridge around 3:20 or so to ensure that it would be at optimal temperature. roshe run I also grabbed my snifter as I wanted to waft in the aromatics as much as possible.

Finally, Rich rang the doorbell. Time to press on.

I opened the bottle and inhaled deeply, not once but twice, from the bottle top. Wow! In the bottle it is awesome. I poured the bottle equally between the two glasses as best I could. Big white foam, frothy and clingy while the pour was slightly cloudy.

The aroma is fantastic. An exquisite blend of pine and citrus hops that are balanced so well with an almost hidden sweet malt backbone. Oh the taste, a symphony to the buds. Once again a sweet malt gently flows to balance while the rest of the beer is pure hops. Now this is where the greatness of the beer seems to shine for me; pine and grapefruit like citrus hops that are not overly bitter nor long lasting. It is a IIPA that seems to have the ability to be sessioned as it doesn’t ruin the palate. The mouth isn’t that big but the carbonation is. I could have this over and over again. I might move to California so I can have it all the time. 10/10

I don’t know how to quite explain it: the beer is big, yet has the presence of a smaller beer, while still letting you know it isn’t. Enjoy!

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