some damn good IPA's out there

[BraddA]

Thinking I'll skip this though. Got other things to do on a Sunday morning than wait in line for 10 oz of beer.

I mean, I love the Elder, is the Younger THAT good??

Its great and all, but no, I don't think it'll be worth the shitshow that will be bcp on Sunday. With Strong Ale just around the corner, I've got more than enough to look forward to on the beer front.

[guroo270]

Pliny the Younger tapping at Backcountry Pizza and Taphouse in Boulder. Sunday the 19th. Starts at noon. First 191 people there can buy a $10 ticket for a 10 oz pour.

Thinking I'll skip this though. Got other things to do on a Sunday morning than wait in line for 10 oz of beer.

I mean, I love the Elder, is the Younger THAT good??

I don't know how good it is to be honest. The beer has evaded me. The Elder is my favorite beer though, and for you judgmental people out there, I found one on a shelf that said 2 per customer, so I thought it must be good. Bought it, loved it, looked it up, and then found out how sought after it was. I guess I just have an amazing palate.

[stapes]

Yea the Elder is so tasty it makes me wonder if the Younger is that much better. Or is part of the allure the rarity and limited batches?

Schralp, other west coast IPA lovers, care to chime in? I'd love to hear some thoughts.

Kinda bummed I missed the onsale for tix at OB. Oh well, I'll just have to wait until they tap the next Elder, which will probably be in a week or two.

[fool]

Yea the Elder is so tasty it makes me wonder if the Younger is that much better. Or is part of the allure the rarity and limited batches?

Schralp, other west coast IPA lovers, care to chime in? I'd love to hear some thoughts.

Kinda bummed I missed the onsale for tix at OB. Oh well, I'll just have to wait until they tap the next Elder, which will probably be in a week or two.

Agreed. I don't think there's any chance I'll get the Younger out here, but even if it was possible, the price and time it sounds like it takes to drink one Pliny the Younger sounds a wee bit ridiculous. I look good beer...but damn! I'd rather not wait hours for it.

Though the way schralp talks about beer, I may have to spend a few days in the bars of Oakland and the local area next time I'm out there. Apparently there's a lot to learn (/drink)...

[Hugh Conway]

Though the way schralp talks about beer, I may have to spend a few days in the bars of Oakland and the local area next time I'm out there. Apparently there's a lot to learn (/drink)...

It'd take a month to go through everything at Beer Revolution alone likely. So many good beers around locally it's nuts.


I think Elder's a better beer than this year's Younger; haven't had the previous ones though. Younger's very good but imo the limited distribution is part of the Hype (somewhat, but much less, for the Elder). $10/glass is stupid. It was like $4.50 or $5.50 at the brewery.

[Lexi-Bell]

Chalk up another winner from SN in the Ruthless Rye. I don't know why but I never go wrong with SNPA/Celebration/Ruthless Rye. So good and at around $6/sixer it's hard to beat. I realize it's not Hugh approved, but I do live in MT and none of the bigger NW brewers do all that much for me.

Also, I know probably only one person reading this thread has ever tasted it, but I still think Blackfoot River Brewing's (Helena, MT) is among the best I've ever tasted.

Word Root I love the Blackfoot IPA as well, too bad they don't can or bottle it. Obviously Double Haul is readily available and reliable so its pretty much my go-to, also just discovered Oasis in a few places around here



Brewed by Tallgrass in Kansas, its a malty IPA I really dig, I found their standard IPA pretty mediocre.

[White Chocolate]

Pliny the Younger is an awesome beer. I got to have some a few years ago with minimal effort, and it was really, really good. However, I didn't think it stood head and shoulders above the crowd. I also think that the current mayhem that surrounds every "we're tapping our younger keg...." event now is just stupid. It's just a beer, and you aren't going to be a lesser person for not trying it. Standing in line for 5 hours to drink a beer for 20-30 min and then talk about? Not worth missing the equivalent amount of time that could be spent doing something productive like skiing!

On another note, how has Zombie Dust only been mentioned once in this thread? That shit is delicious! If only it was distributed in Washington...

[guroo270]

My favorite 5 beers this past year that were new to me in order of greatness.

Pliny the Elder
Uinta Brewery Dubhe Imperial Black IPA
Oskar Blues Gubna
Green Flash West Coast IPA
Deschutes Brewery Cascadian Dark Ale Hop in the Dark

Honorable mention:
Gumball Head from Indiana


...not that anyone cares.

[guroo270]

Looks like Lucky Pie in Louisville is tapping their keg soon. Just posted a pic of their keg on FB w/ "Not yet, but soon...stay tuned." The lines there should be way less than Back Country, especially since they are only announcing it on FB. I wouldn't wait in 5 hour lines for it either, that's just plain crazy.

[SchralphMacchio]

Pliny the Younger is an awesome beer ... the current mayhem that surrounds every "we're tapping our younger keg...." event now is just stupid. It's just a beer

I agree for the most part.

This is what I liken it to ... when I first saw the Fleet Foxes, they carried their own gear to the show, really humble dudes, cheap tickets, and they were amazing. Now, the shows sell out every time, they fill famous venues, lots of buzz. Are they that good? You bet. Some shows and nights are not as good while some are incredible. Are they worth the trouble and fuss? Maybe, maybe not - depends how much you like their style of music and what they're doing lately. I love seeing bands like Radiohead and Arcade Fire, but they are "discovered" now and it's going to be that much harder to see them, so it's just a fact of life.

That doesn't mean that I still can't find the next great band that no one's heard of at my local venue, or taphouse for that matter. There are other incredible beers out there waiting to be discovered.

I really think that Drake's is an underrated brewery and I'll be sad when the annual release of Aroma Coma becomes the next Younger or whatever.

Yea the Elder is so tasty it makes me wonder if the Younger is that much better. Or is part of the allure the rarity and limited batches?

Schralp, other west coast IPA lovers, care to chime in? I'd love to hear some thoughts.

So I had the Elder last night, and it was fantastic. Bright hops, smooth resin, dank smell, so good.

I had the Younger 4 or 5 times over the last 3 years. It's a much different beer than the Elder. Elder focuses on balancing grapefruit peel, plant resin, big hop nose, and smooth mouthfeel. It's not a high-IBU or high-malt IPA. The Younger is a higher-IBU, much higher-malt beer than the Elder with less nose. Less focus on grapefruit and more focus on making a bitter, malty beer go down very, very smoothly.

2010's Younger was incredible - you can find my review on this site in the Pliny the Elder thread here in Padded Room. 3 distinct "movements" of taste, long 15 second finish, super smooth mouthfeel. Last year's was very, very good. This year's was "just" very good - I had it fresh on tap on Saturday AND Sunday - but it was very good in a "what's the big deal" way. Honestly, I like the Elder better than the Younger this year, but not in other years. Beer is brewed from natural ingredients, not chemicals - it's going to be somewhat different from batch to batch.

~~~~

So I had a big night last night (damn beer week messing with my work punctuality).
Started with a 8-variety flight of Mikkeller Single Hop series on draft at the Press Club in SF. Wow, wow, wow, much better and much fresher than I thought they would be. Simcoe, Sorachi Ace, Summit, Centennial, Nelson, Bravo, Apollo, and Tomahawk. They were out of Amarillo.

Nelson was incredible, best one for me. Summit was next favorable, then Simcoe. I really liked Appollo as a blending hop to add distinctive nose and character. I can put my tasting notes on each of the 8 here if anyone really wants to see that level of nerdiness.


After the single hop tasting, headed over to the California Academy of Sciences which was a shitshow so I only had a Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout and then bailed.

Then went to Toronado for an Elder, some Damnation 23 (46th batch) and some aged Lagunitas GnarlyWine and Ruben and the Jets.

Woke up at 6 AM with a massive headache ...


If anyone wants to come out to Oakland or SF for a hop tour, heck yeah I'd be happy to meet up with anyone and show off the local establishments!

[Imz]

Headed out tonight (Friday) for SF Beer Week.

Anyone else going to be roaming around?

[PowerWhore7]

Been super stoked on these for a while now...


Wasn’t sure about the can at first but I really don’t see any difference.

[SchralphMacchio]

I called and they said it should be going for another week, hopefully more - they don't think they will run out this weekend.

I'm going to try to go Friday night - they are tapping a keg of 2010 Jolly Rodger that was aged in a Jack Daniels barrel.

Curious to hear about this, might make a trip out of the lair

Sooo, the Jack and Jolly was just meh. It was a 2009 Jolly Rodger (Imperial Brown) and kind of a letdown, but the bourbon-barrel-aged Drakonic Imperial was pretty amazing, like drinking a port. Other amazing barrel aged beers going right now (they have something like a cross between RR Consecration and an IPA that was barreled in 2007 and now pouring). Next year they tap the 2010 Jolly which I'm hoping will be much better.

BUT, Hugh, I don't know where you live, but head thee to Drake's for the Hopocalypse. It's worlds above 2012 Younger, and right level with 2010 Younger. It keeps getting better with every sip as it warms up - really awesome. I can see how it won gold. I think that Triple Rock Rodger's last stand has more character, but that Hopocalypse Black is a better crafted beer. Not any distinctive notes that come out - just a high high octane, high hop, high malt, ultra smooth beer where everything comes together very well. Rodger's Last Stand has more unique hop elements that show off but it's not refined like Hopocalypse.

Make the drive to both Berkeley and San Leandro to have a glass or two of each and you can justify the gas money!!! Let me know if you end up going, and it ends up being worth it. Do you know where the Drake's Barrel House is? Behind the Walmart off Davis St. on 880.

Also, the pours at Drake's are MASSIVE. Shockingly huge pour for a 12.5% beer

[SchralphMacchio]

good luck to anyone trying for the Younger this weekend! Hop hop and away ... I'm off to Yosemite NP.

[stapes]

Thanks for the Younger thoughts Schralp! I love the aroma of the Elder. So pungent and delicious. Don't think I'll be making an attempt to get any Younger this weekend.

Had some very tasty Upslope IPA last night. Maltier than your normal IPA, but I like it.

Wish I could get my hands on some of that Drakes! May head to the big liquor store today and pick up some flavors I've never had today. In the mood for some IPA taste testing.

[HD333]

Had my first Green Flash last week. Good stuff.

[Danno]

Just had my first "Black IPA" last week...Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous (8.7% and 90 IBU's).

I had this a couple of weeks ago and freaking loved it.

[stapes]

Just picked up a bunch of Elder!

Also grabbed an IPA and a Triple IPA from Hoppin' Frog out of OH. Never heard of them. The triple better be good cuz it was $18.95!!! Picked up an Imperial IPA from Epic too.

Was drinking Deviant Dale's out at the Lyons Oskar Blues yesterday. Very tasty. It's gonna be trouble when they release the 16oz cans of that!

Edit: Oh yea, also had a Stone Ruination IPA last night that just didn't taste as good as I remember it being. Maybe it was all the Odell's IPA beforehand. It's been a hop fueled weekend, as usual.

[Crass3000]

Wasn’t sure about the can at first but I really don’t see any difference.

It's pretty well accepted that canning beer is at least as good as bottles given they are at least as airtight (typically more) and don't allow light-infiltration. This is assuming you pour out the beer into the proper glass prior to drinking.

[fool]

If anyone wants to come out to Oakland or SF for a hop tour, heck yeah I'd be happy to meet up with anyone and show off the local establishments!

Duly noted. I've heard a fair bit about the Bay Area beer establishments, but I haven't had a chance to partake in them yet. I may be out there in May for a Shasta trip (if conditions are good) and Bay to Breakers, so I'll let you know. Perhaps Hugh too?

Just spent like $60 on beer today...primarily IPA's. Pictures to come soon (east coast stuff). Stoked!

[Crass3000]

Also grabbed an IPA and a Triple IPA from Hoppin' Frog out of OH. Never heard of them. The triple better be good cuz it was $18.95!!!

Hoppin' Frog makes some good beers but more in the stout realm. Hoppin Frog Boris and BA Boris are tasty. Seems like the prices you paid are a little high as thata one is $14.95 around here. Hard for me to pay that much for an TIPA or DIAPA but that's just because stouts can be aged if I don't get around to drinking them. I'm assuming you're around Pennsylvania? Think thats about the only place you could get Pliny and Hoppin Frog.

[stapes]

Hoppin' Frog makes some good beers but more in the stout realm. Hoppin Frog Boris and BA Boris are tasty. Seems like the prices you paid are a little high as thata one is $14.95 around here. Hard for me to pay that much for an TIPA or DIAPA but that's just because stouts can be aged if I don't get around to drinking them. I'm assuming you're around Pennsylvania? Think thats about the only place you could get Pliny and Hoppin Frog.

I'm in CO.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't have picked up the Hoppin' Frog had I known the price. I think they had just set them out and they didn't have the prices labeled. Oh well. I was in the mood for trying some new stuff, but was a little shocked at the register.

And if some of you are looking for a good IPA in a can check out Oskar Blues Gubna.

[guroo270]

I'm in CO.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't have picked up the Hoppin' Frog had I known the price. I think they had just set them out and they didn't have the prices labeled. Oh well. I was in the mood for trying some new stuff, but was a little shocked at the register.


And if some of you are looking for a good IPA in a can check out Oskar Blues Gubna.

What liquor store do you frequent to be able to get that many Pliny's? I'm in Lafayette and go to Liquor Mart in Boulder, Harvest in Boulder, and Union Jack in Louisville.

[SchralphMacchio]

I'll look out for the Oskar Blues IPA, because we do get Oskar Blues out here.

Got some Avery IPA in a can at Beer Revolution last month, and it was damn fine.

[Crass3000]

I'm in CO.
.

Interesting. I knew CO got limited RR but didn't know Hoppin' Frog was out there. They don't even come to MN. Gotta go across the bridge to WI. Decent distro is CO. Given the extra distance to CO I can see Hoppin Frog being fair at a few bucks more per bottle.