This is my first attempt at a blog.
Why am I blogging? Who am I blogging to? What is a blog?
All good questions but I think I will start with a beer.
Pliney the Younger to be more specific.
Why am I blogging? Who am I blogging to? What is a blog?
All good questions but I think I will start with a beer.
Pliney the Younger to be more specific.
This is Beer Week in Northern California where all things hoppy are celebrated with craft beer tastings and beer walks (why you would want to walk with your beer is a mystery to me but anyway...).
Russian River Brewery has one of the best IPAs in the world, Pliney the Elder, but once each year they release their special triple IPA, the legendary, the mythical: Pliney the Younger.
It was 2 years ago when I first hear of this super rare elixir of the gods. The only place I could find nearby that had it was the Rose and Crown in Palo Alto but they had only one keg and it was tapped at 10am and gone by 11am.
Last year I did my homework in advance and stood in line at Harry Houfbrau in San Jose for 2 hours. It was a madhouse, hot and steamy with the smell of bratwurst burping beer dudes in beer t-shirts with beer hats and beers in hand. By the time I finally got my room temperature $12 half glass, I honestly couldn't tell much difference between the Elder and the Younger. But everyone said it was great and worth the wait. But I was unconvinced.
So this year I was determined to resist the Walmart-last-Tickle-Me-Elmo-Doll mob mentality. A friend told me about driving 2 hours to the Russian River Brew Pub in Santa Rosa and waiting in line for 5 hours for a half glass. Places in San Jose like Good Kharma were getting one keg and expecting lines around the block and charging $15 for a half glass.
But yesterday after working on a corporate video project in Pleasanton, the gang went by The Hopyard for beer and guess what? It was quite and pleasant. No crowd, no line, no beer dudes. And they had both Plineys and the Younger was only $6!
So I did a side by side comparison between the Elder and the Younger. There is no doubt that he Elder is really a superb IPA: good hop taste and lots of flavor. But the Younger is like a overly concentrated version of the Elder, a little overbearing. The alcohol content is pretty high and you can taste it. The hop flavor is really strong with an after taste that is not great.
I have got the hand it to Russian River Brewing. By limiting production and availability to the point where more people have heard about the beer than actually tried it they have created an almost mythical product.
Russian River Brewery has one of the best IPAs in the world, Pliney the Elder, but once each year they release their special triple IPA, the legendary, the mythical: Pliney the Younger.
It was 2 years ago when I first hear of this super rare elixir of the gods. The only place I could find nearby that had it was the Rose and Crown in Palo Alto but they had only one keg and it was tapped at 10am and gone by 11am.
Last year I did my homework in advance and stood in line at Harry Houfbrau in San Jose for 2 hours. It was a madhouse, hot and steamy with the smell of bratwurst burping beer dudes in beer t-shirts with beer hats and beers in hand. By the time I finally got my room temperature $12 half glass, I honestly couldn't tell much difference between the Elder and the Younger. But everyone said it was great and worth the wait. But I was unconvinced.
So this year I was determined to resist the Walmart-last-Tickle-Me-Elmo-Doll mob mentality. A friend told me about driving 2 hours to the Russian River Brew Pub in Santa Rosa and waiting in line for 5 hours for a half glass. Places in San Jose like Good Kharma were getting one keg and expecting lines around the block and charging $15 for a half glass.
But yesterday after working on a corporate video project in Pleasanton, the gang went by The Hopyard for beer and guess what? It was quite and pleasant. No crowd, no line, no beer dudes. And they had both Plineys and the Younger was only $6!
So I did a side by side comparison between the Elder and the Younger. There is no doubt that he Elder is really a superb IPA: good hop taste and lots of flavor. But the Younger is like a overly concentrated version of the Elder, a little overbearing. The alcohol content is pretty high and you can taste it. The hop flavor is really strong with an after taste that is not great.
I have got the hand it to Russian River Brewing. By limiting production and availability to the point where more people have heard about the beer than actually tried it they have created an almost mythical product.
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