Russian River Pliny the Elder | Beer Geek Nation Beer Reviews Episode 252

[Aureas86]

Heck, westvleteren is easier to get than this.

[Aureas86]

I just cant get hold of one of these. Damnit, i live right next to belgium, have the greatest beers at my disposal, but still lusting for this.

[BeerGeekNation]

@Aureas86 This beer is impossible to get even in the US, if that makes you feel any better

[sebitaseba90]

@Aureas86 do whatever you can to get it, it truly redefines ones understanding of a hop

good luck!

[sixt9coug]

Nice! Rumor mill says a local place might have Pliny the Younger this week. I look forward to maybe taking a bottle of Elder and a bottle of Hopslam and Two Hearted with me for a side-by-side-by-side-by-side. 

[BeerGeekNation]

@sixt9coug Nice! That sounds like an epic side by side! Cheers



[ssab4200]

Anyone know if I can get this beer in Chicago? Online?

[BeerGeekNation]

@ssab4200 Nope unfortunately its Cali of Philadelphia only.

[sector69102]

I love living in Cali sometimes ;)

[BeerGeekNation]

@sector69102 haha yeah I can only imagine!

[Sivek1]

Man, I went to the special local liquor store and beer house bar and I was told there is no chance to get one here in Florida.... Com'on man!

[BeerGeekNation]

@Sivek1 Sorry man! Yeah its California only and a few places in Philly

[farfanugenmaster]

@BeerGeekNation i have cabin on the russian river i need to stop by and snag one of these soon!

[rshankla]

Where do you get your stemware?  Is that a tulip or a snifter?

[BeerGeekNation]

@rshankla That was a tulip I actually got on Amazon

[tiltomatic1]

Fuckers at my local store always buy them out. The price tag sits there ($4.99 Russian River Pliny the Elder) but there is never any in stock. Assholes.

[BeerGeekNation]

@tiltomatic1 haha yeah ive heard of that happening! RR just cant keep up with the demand on this one

[Rustocaps]

Great video. I'd love to see a listing of your favorite beers by style. Being on the east coast means I probably won't get to this beer any time soon with out trading, but I think it may just be the legacy of it being first to the "big flavorful IPA game" that makes it as highly touted as it is. I'm glad there are IPAs that top this that are available to me. Just tried a Heady Topper a bit ago.... reviewed it too, and it was just amazing.

[SouthernOregonOrgani]

"only ten days old", unfortunately thats an old pliney in my opinion. I live in SF and have had one day old Pliney and its like a totally different beer than say a 3 day old pliney. I know theres no way you could get a Pliney that fresh, but iv noticed even a day or two makes a huge difference with this beer.

[FSVR54]

@SouthernOregonOrgani man, there seriously needs to be some kind of hop freshness preservation technologies/techniques invented

[bvisser1]

Might be a stupid question, but what do you mean when you say 'alcohol feet' ?

[BeerGeekNation]

@bvisser1 Its a clear film on the glass that the alcohol leaves when the beers touches the glass

[AgileHProductions]

Love this beer. Wish I could have it more often. Twice wasn't enough. I give it a 10.

[BeerGeekNation]

@AgileHProductions Yeah its amazing stuff. Not the best in the world but when its fresh its hard to beat

[ZomBeneath]

I live in California and can get Pliny pretty much anywhere I want (I was actually at Russian River on Saturday), but it doesn't even compare to Hopslam. I'm extremely fortunate to have gotten 3 bottles of it through trade though. It's definitely top 5 though. My go to IIPAs are Hop Stoopid, Pliny, Double Jack, Maharaja (when it's in seaon, although batch 14 was horrible), and Pure Hoppiness. I haven't had Citra, Knuckle Sandwich or Exponential Hoppiness however.

[jamesjoejimmyjohnjas]

@ZomBeneath

Three Floyds is a hop heads dream.

[ZomBeneath]

@jamesjoejimmyjohnjas So I've heard. Doesn't matter though. We don't get 3F in Cali.

[BeerGeekNation]

@ZomBeneath Yeah for my it doesnt get much better then Double Jack and your right I wasnt crazy about this last batch of Maharaja.

[mattyslicks]

Nice review!! What are some ipa's that you find better than this?

[BeerGeekNation]

@mattyslicks Double Jack from Firestone Walker and Green Flash's West Coast IPA

[jamesjoejimmyjohnjas]

Pliny is good stuff. Still doesn't come close to what Three Floyds is brewing though. Three Floyds does magic with hops.

[BeerGeekNation]

@jamesjoejimmyjohnjas yeah they sure do!

[jaymeez]

Pliny is the shit, but a little expensive.... I'm happy to be in Nor Cal where I can get Pliny when I want it......

[BeerGeekNation]

@jaymeez Yeah I would love to be able to get this fresh!

[uno99]

Wow I see a bottle of Blabber there. When are you going to drink that one??

[BeerGeekNation]

@uno99 Ill probably do it for a special review or something.

[kukulkan666]

What is better than pliney?

[vandercocky]

I really liked Pliny the Elder, but my favorite is that little blue bottle you have peeking out. Can't wait to get some more RR Supplication in my hands.

[BeerGeekNation]

@vandercocky Supplication is probably my favorite RR beer. I horder that stuff haha

[mattyslicks]

nice review chris! did you get this in a trade or can you get it in PA?? Im in Nj so if its available in PA i would take the trip to get it... thanks man!

[BeerGeekNation]

@mattyslicks I got this from Cali but you can get it in the philly market. It goes quick but it is available there

[gopher401]

It is very good, although I actually may like Hopslam better.

[BeerGeekNation]

@gopher401 Yeah I do like Hopslam and Double Jack better as well

[HighlandBerserkr]

It seems a lot of people compare this to Hop Stoopid, so considering for me Double Jack DESTROYS Hop Stoopid then i guess Double Jack also will destroy Pliny when or if i ever get to try it :P

[BeerGeekNation]

@HighlandBerserkr Yeah Double Jack just mauls this beer. That beer is hard to beat fresh

[ThePaisteTrout477]

@BeerGeekNation Double Jack is everywhere around me, but Pliny isn't. I'm gonna have to try DJ again listening to all your guy's rants. For me ST Unearthly is the closest beer to Pliny. Hop Stoopid falls a little too short on the taste and smell. Never had Hopslam, but I will say, thanks to you, Im gonna have to set up a Exponential Hoppiness vs. PtE side-by-side tasting, to fully make up my mind on which is better. But right now its Pliny, you can get 3 PtEs for the price of 1 EH. Cheers -Nick

[PbNAphasia]

IS this beer really that good? I bet it don't have shit on Zombie Dust.

[RgTrace]

@PbNAphasia You sir, are an idiot

[PbNAphasia]

@RgTrace Ha, you obviously never had Zombie Dust, so you sir are an ignorant moron. 

[podunkparte]

@PbNAphasia Wow, it takes a special kind of stupid to compare 2 beers that aren't even the same style, especially when you admittedly haven't even tried one of the 2. Stick to PBR dude.

[PbNAphasia]

@podunkparte I don't give a shit if it's the same style or not, I still doubt it's as good as Zombie Dust. Pliny is an IPA and Zombie is a Pale Ale, and I bet ZD still has more character is my point. Yeah, because I drink PBR right, you sound smart! It takes a special type of person to sound that idiotic, but you managed. Congrats.... 

[ace125koo]

Great review. You made some very good points. I, personally, prefer Hop Stoopid myself. I get equal enjoyment out of the 2, but on top of that, Hop Stoopid comes in bombers and is $1.50 cheaper. Both are excellent though.

[BeerGeekNation]

@ace125koo Yeah Hop Stoopid gets compared a lot to Pliny, both great beers but for the price and availability its hard to beat Hop Stoopid

[4q2pab]

I hope they really didn't use Russian River Water!!!

[BeerGeekNation]

@4q2pab haha im sure its filtered

[bigpapykane]

This is a great beer indeed! I just wish the Hop-Father would decide and bottle Pliny the Younger at least once!

[BeerGeekNation]

@bigpapykane maybe someday. But I think for now he just doesnt have enough brewing capacity

[tlazaroff]

How in the WORLD did you get a 10 day old Pliny in PA? I applaud your methods!

[BeerGeekNation]

@tlazaroff haha I have my ways!

[BeerGeekNation]

@JDSproducitons I reviewed this on Episode 2 so I wanted to look at it again. CHeers

[ChadzBeerReviews]

Damn, seems like everyone is reviewing this lately. I'm getting a bottle of this in the mail today and will do a re-review ASAP too. I'll be interested to see if I have the same reaction to it as I did 18 months ago.

Who sent you this one, Winton?

[matedog2]

I have yet to develop a strong taste for DIPAs, so of course I have easy access to this beer year round. One thing I can appreciate about this beer and I'm curious as to whether or not you noticed this as well, but the bitterness hits strongly, but also dissipates quickly. Lesser IPAs and DIPAs have a bitterness that lingers on in your mouth forever which is a negative characteristic for me.

[BeerGeekNation]

@matedog2 Yeah this beer is supremely balance between bitter and citrus juice. A perfect example of why this beer is so sought after.

[gsp1175]

@matedog2 You can get this easily? Want to trade?

[truthisrare777]

nice review chris. When you make it to SD I'm sure Stone should have this on tap as it normally does and you should enjoy a glass. I agree it def is not the best out there but if you can land fresh Pliny (as in a few days to a week from the Bottle date) then buy as many as you can and drink them ASAP! This beer changes dramatically and the people who dog this beer are people that get older bottles that were not protected and cared for properly. Pliny to me = the definition of WestCoast IPA

[BeerGeekNation]

@truthisrare777 Ive actually had this fresh on tap in philly but I cant wait to try it even fresh at stone!

[TheBEERSgoneBAD]

Pliny is awesome, there some places in SD where this is on tap.

[BeerGeekNation]

@TheBEERSgoneBAD Yeah I cant wait to have it when Im out in SD in a few weeks!

[TheBEERSgoneBAD]

@BeerGeekNation Awesome you should come by when you here and do a review with us!

[BeerGeekNation]

@TheBEERSgoneBAD R u going to any of the events? We are hitting the Brewers GUild Fest, Stones Rare bee breakfast, the Alpine take over at Obriens and a bunch of stuff at Churchills. Its going to be me,Stumpyjoejr,Tantrum777 and The Endosymbiosis

[TheMasterOfHoppets]

What a coincidence!!! I just uploaded my review of Pliney today too! My bottle was 1 month old, but still very nice. But I wasn't as blown away by it as I expected. Still a great DIPA nonetheless. It actually also reminded me alot of Hop Stoopid, just more hoppy and balanced. Hopefully I will get to try Pliny the Younger sometime too. I also agree with you there are better DIPAs than this, but still its an amazing brew! Good review Chris! Cheers!

[BeerGeekNation]

@TheMasterOfHoppets Yeah just watched it. Its not the best DIPA I have ever had but its just a perfect example of what a west coast IPA should be.

[chowner]

On draft FTW.

[duckmanco04]

Somehow, I bet it won't be quite the same. Great review man.

[duckmanco04]

Despite the hype, the beer still lives up to it, great stuff, just tough to get on the east coast. I'm attempting to clone this one with the farmhouse brewing supply hop pack soon.  Some

[BeerGeekNation]

@duckmanco04 Agreed, its not the best IPA out there but it still holds up. Ive brewed a clone with that came hop pack and it came out really nice. Pretty close to the real thing