Finally Pliny! Review #10 - Russian River Pliny the Elder

Posted by: Stonecipher

Mar. 28, 2011

Finally!  A Russian River Pliny the Elder!  I have been to the top of the mountain and I have seen the Pliny!  Seriously, I pretty much had to go to the top of a mountain to finally get my hands and taste buds on this thing.  After a brutal disappointment at the Falling Rock Tap House in Denver earlier this week, the woman and I trekked up Highway 36 to Estes Park, Colorado.  Our target was a pizza place called Poppy’s that was rumored to have the Pliny on tap along with some outstanding pizza.

Before getting into this review, though, I need to say a few words about Poppy’s – it was downright awesome.  In fact, I believe that for many years this will be one of the more memorable experiences I’ve ever had at a restaurant. 

For starters, Russian River’s Pliny the Elder was actually on tap at Poppy’s and it was brought out to us by Rob, the owner of Poppy’s.  He asked if we had ever tried it before and when we told him we had not he spent about five minutes talking to us about it.  One of the things he wanted us to take note of, aside from the spectacular aroma, was the color.  He loved the color of the Pliny and really wanted us to appreciate it.  We did. 

This, of course led to more beer conversation and to make a long-story-short, after finishing our fantastic dinner Rob stopped back at the table and spent about 20 minutes with us talking beer and bringing out samples of some of his favorites.  He helped us narrow our dessert beer down to two Barley Wines and when we finally settled on one, he brought out a bottle of the other for us to take home. 

Since you may be wondering, the Barley Wine we drank in the restaurant was Moylan’s Old Blarney Barleywine, a tough beer to find, and it was outstanding.  The other was a Canadian Barley Wine called Solstice d'hiver from a Montreal's Brasserie Dieu du Ciel.  Anyhow, enough back story, here’s some specs on Russian River’s Pliny the Elder before we begin the review:

ABV: 8.0%

IBUs: 100

Brewery Location: Santa Rosa, California

Style: American Double/Imperial India Pale Ale

Average Beer Advocate Rating: A+/4.59 – World Class

My Beer Advocate Rating: A+/4.53 – World Class

Current Number of Reviews/Rank in the Top 20 on Beer Advocate: 1,999/4th

Brewery Description: Pliny the Elder

Bottled On: NA

APPEARANCE: (4 out of 5)  The Pliny was poured into a couple of tulip glasses and just as Rob instructed, we took note of the gorgeous, orange and ever so slightly hazy color.  The head was not enormous, but bubbles continued to flit to the top of the glass throughout the pint making the beer look very lively.  The lacing was solid with a thick wall of lace on the opposite side of the glass.

SMELL:  (5 out of 5) I know that at some point in my beer reviewing past I claimed that some other beer was the best beer I had ever smelled.  Before I tried a Pliny I remembered what that beer’s name was.  Now if anyone asks what’s the best smelling beer I’ve ever had there will be no hesitation or pause to think – the answer is clearly Russian River’s Pliny the Elder.  As my notes say, the Pliny “…smells like flowers.  Like delicious, hoppy, magic flowers.”  I had my nose in the glass for about five minutes before taking my first sip and I kept sticking it back in throughout both glasses I had.

TASTE: (4.5 out of 5) The Pliny takes the palate on precisely the balanced ride that it is supposed to go on with every Double IPA it encounters.  It may sound odd to say, but Pliny the Elder is a very technically sound DIPA.  Starting out sweet and piney the hops kick in towards the end of the sip along with strong floral flavors and a hint of honey.  Elegant is Pliny the Elder in a word, at no point does it taste too sweet or too bitter.  It is a near perfectly balanced beer. 

MOUTHFEEL:  (4 out of 5) As I mentioned above, bubbles continuously floated to the top of the glass throughout the entire pint and that kept the beer lively during the whole experience.  It was certainly better carbonated than many DIPAs, but it also had a slightly oily feel to it.

OVERALL:  (4.5 out of 5) I am very happy I was finally able to track down a couple of pints.  The hype is well-deserved, but may have also served to disappoint me just a bit.  This is everything a Double IPA, and in my mind, a beer should be - almost perfect balance with an absolutely spectacular nose, but not quite the life-changing event some have made it out to be.  That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this beer and it would have been easy to keep drinking this stuff all night.

DRAWBACKS: There are very few holes to poke in Pliny the Elder’s quality, but I will say it was not quite as exciting as I thought it would be.  While I appreciate the accuracy and precision with which Russian River crafted this Double India Pale Ale, it did not become my favorite beer ever.  It may very well have been the best beer I have ever had, just not my personal favorite, which is what I was expecting from all of the hype.  My favorite beer needs to have something distinctive, something that sets it apart from the rest. 

SOUND:  Some of the most technically sound music I have ever heard has come from James Brown and his musicians.  One particular song that stood out to me as one of the finest examples of the Godfather of Soul’s talent and precision was “Give it Up or Turn it Loose” – a perfect song to sum up the same precision that is Pliny the Elder.

The Mystery of the Missing Burton Baton – A Short (and True) Story About the Three Beers I Didn’t Get to Drink this Week.

Posted by: Stonecipher

Feb. 18, 2011

It has been a tough week here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights.  If all had gone well, we would have had three more of the Top 20 DIPAs reviewed and checked off the list, bringing us close to the halfway point.  Instead, the beer universe was against us and we are still stuck at #5.

I’ll begin with the worst news of all – the beer that went MIA and is now presumed dead.  As some of you may have read, we were in Nashville, TN over the past weekend.  While we were there we actually began the trip with a bit of good beer luck when we found some Oskar Blues Gordon Ale, one of the Top 20 that is not readily available here in Illinois.  That, however, is where our luck ended. 

When we got back from the bar that night we decided to throw the one bottle of beer that we had brought with us in the hotel room’s refrigerator.  That bottle was a Dogfish Head Burton Baton, which comes in at #11 on The List with 1,176 reviews.  The plan was to take advantage of some of the downtime I was hoping to have to review it and cross it off the list.  Unfortunately, I never ended up having too much downtime in the hotel room.  So, I never got around to it.

When we arrived back in Evanston on Monday, I asked my girlfriend where the beer was.  She thought it was in one of our bags.  Turns out it wasn’t.  I thought maybe I had left it in her refrigerator.  Turns out I had not.  Then she suggested maybe it was in my fridge.  Nope.  The trunk of the car?  No dice.  Was it rolling around in the back seat?  Negative.  We could just not figure out where it had vanished to. 

Finally, last night, while sitting at one of our local hangouts and sampling a few of Goose Island’s high-end sours, it hit me.  I turned to my girlfriend and said “I know where the beer is.”

“Where!?!” She replied.

“It’s in the hotel fridge.” 

And with that, the mystery of the missing Burton Baton was solved.

Of course, the Burton Baton would have been Beer #6 on The List, but what about the other two, #7 and #8?  Well, number seven, was supposed to have been the Weyerbacher Double Simcoe.  Many of you read about that last week.  Due to some minor technical difficulties, however, it looks like the Double Simcoe may not arrive until sometime this weekend… if I am lucky.  By the way, none of this was the fault of my trading partner; it was the middle man who totally dropped the ball on this one.  Said middle man has promised to straighten things out quickly, but we shall see.  Hopefully, there is a swift and happy conclusion to this story.

As for number eight, well, this one was simply a case of false advertising.  OK, maybe not false, but at the very least it was lazy advertising. 

Two nights ago, we planned to take my mother and my aunt to see Les Mis in the City.  On the way we picked out a nice restaurant called Erwin on Chicago’s North Side.  After picking it out I went on line to see if they had much of a beer list.  I was not very hopeful, but I figured there would at least be a standard Goose Island brew or two and maybe another craft selection.  As it turned out though, their beer selection was very impressive, I would even say inspired.  Of the 17 available bottles, only Amstel Light and Kaliber Non-Alcohol were non-craft selections.  If you click here and scroll down you can see just how impressive it is – Lagunitas, Two Brothers, Left Hand, even Ska! 

Sure enough, the Avery Maharaja was listed as well, and in fact, still is.  Shortly after we arrived, however, the waiter informed us that they have not had any in stock in quite some time.  I should have known better, Maharaja is not an easy beer to find and it is only brewed a few times a year (I believe three), but still, it was heartbreaking.  Plus, in all fairness, I probably would not have reviewed a beer in that setting, but still, I thought I was going to have a crack at a rare treat.  So Erwin, I appreciate the amazing salmon we had, the delicious burger I tried and whatever that delicious bean spread was that came out with the bread before the meal, but please do me a favor and take the Maharaja off of your online beer list.  Or, wait, better yet, get some Maharaja and let me know when you do so that I can come back.

The good news from all of this is that it shouldn’t take too long to get all of these beers back into my possession and reviewed.  Dogfish Head is distributed here in Chicago, so even though the Burton Baton is a tough find, I’m sure I can track it down.  Avery is also distributed here, but even if it continues to hide from me in Illinois, I will be in Boulder in late March and I will be sure to stop at the brewery then.  As for the Double Simcoe, well, it could show up any time between now and Wednesday and if not, well, I’ll have another topic for a blog post. 

Enjoy your weekend everyone, and remember, just say no to Bud, Miller-Coors.  Say yes to good, American craft beer!

Review #5 - From Nashville - Oskar Blues Gordon Ale (a.k.a. G'Knight)

Posted by: Stonecipher

Feb. 11, 2011

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the girlfriend and I are in Nashville, Tennessee this weekend.  So far, I have to say, I am fairly impressed with the beer culture down here.  That said, we are primarily hanging out around the Vanderbilt campus and it is fairly reasonable to assume that a more educated crowd is more likely to be into craft beer.

The highlight up to this point has been our stop at the 12 South Taproom which we found on Beer Advocate on the drive down.  I had a good feeling about it after reading just a few reviews and I am so glad we went.  We had an excellent time, were treated like regulars, had some delicious food, listened to some very funky, live blues and most important to the blog…I found Oskar Blues Gordon Ale!  And no, I didn’t just find G’Knight, I found the old Gordon Ale can, which may be pretty tough to find from here on out (more on that in a future post).

The G’Knight/Gordon Ale was previously one of the four that I thought I would for sure have to trade for.  So when I saw it sitting in the cooler at 12 South I was pumped. 

I have to say, I was impressed, and I enjoyed it, but I was not quite as impressed as I thought I would be.  I actually ended up liking the Oskar’s Gubna Double IPA more.  Before the review though, here are some facts about Oskar Blues Gordon Ale:

ABV: 8.7%

IBUs: 60

Brewery Location: Lyons, Colorado

Style: American Double IPA

Average Beer Advocate Rating: A-/4.12 – Excellent

My Beer Advocate Rating: B+/3.95 – Very Good

Current Number of Reviews/Rank in the Top 20 on Beer Advocate: 941/14^th

Brewery Description: Oskar Blues Gordon Ale

Bottled On: NA

APPEARANCE:  (4.5 out of 5) - The picture I took won’t do it much justice, despite being in a fairly well-lit bar, I just couldn’t get that super-premium, quality camera on the iPhone to take a decent picture.  So, if I pick up a sixer or something on the way out of Tennessee, I’ll try to post one.  For now, you can just use your imagination. 

OK, back to the task at hand – the appearance of the Gordon Ale.  As you can see, it did not completely fill up the stemless snifter I was given to pour it into and that gave me the freedom to pour a little more aggressively than normal.  The pour created a gorgeous, clean white head, which rested on top of a deep reddish brown colored beer.  The only problem with the head (and the only reason I did not give OBGA a 5 out of 5 in appearance) was that it did not lead to very much lacing.  Gordon Ale is a very pretty beer.

SMELL: (3.0 out of 5) – The nose was the only category in which the Oskar Blues Gordon Ale did not impress me.  What was detectable was appetizing, but the sweet and malty aromas just did not come through without a lot of effort.  At one point I had my nose so far in the glass that the tip of it got wet. 

TASTE: (4.0 out of 5) – Wow!  The first sip of the Gordon Ale is a malt bomb.  The flavor is certainly what sets this beer apart and makes it one of the most unique that I have tried on The List so far.  I imagine none of the other DIPAs I try for the blog will taste anything like this.  While the malt is the star of the show, and its sweetness remains throughout the entire sip, a little bite of bitterness creeps in towards the end just as the malt is beginning to fade.  The malty flavor sticks around for the aftertaste, but a touch of hoppiness joins it.

MOUTHFEEL: (4.5 out of 5) – I loved the mouthfeel of the Gordon Ale.  It was intensely sparkling and palate scraping, but the sweetness allowed it to be enjoyed throughout the whole can.  In fact, I’m sure I could have had another one and would have been fine.  It was almost as if the sparkle simulated the ripping away of my taste buds, while a contrasting sweet, stickiness worked to keep them all intact.  Overall, it had an amazing mouthfeel.

OVERALL: (4.0 out of 5) – I have had the pleasure of tasting Oskar Blues before, but only once or twice and neither time was it the Gordon Ale.  I have heard a lot about it, but was never able to track it down.  I am very happy I found it at the 12 South Taproom though.  It was a pleasant, unique and very good beer.  Although the beer is not supposed to change at all, I am still really glad I got to try a can before the name changes to G’Knight.  I do have to say though, as much as this beer has been hyped, I was slightly disappointed.  It is good, it is served in a can (maybe the only can on The List), but its brother, Gubna DIPA, also from Oskar Blues, edged it out in almost every category. 

SOUND: Whatever the funky, jazzy blues being played in the 12 South Taproom, that’s what this beer sounded like.  The blues seemed to be the perfect match for drinking Oskar Blues.

DRAWBACKS: The lack of much nose was a turn off to me.  From my experience strong, red ales usually have a very hoppy smell, and since the Gordon Ale highlighted the malt more than the hops, maybe that had something to do with the lack of aroma.  Otherwise, it was a well crafted beer that deserves to be recognized for its uniqueness within the style, but again, it was overhyped.  I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I wasn’t expecting the best beer ever before I tried it.

Big Find in Nashville, Tennessee

Posted by: Stonecipher

Feb. 11, 2011

It's a balmy 39 degrees out...and that is pretty spectacular given that when I left Chicago yesterday it was about 3.  So what is this tropical paradise?  Those of you sharp enough to read the headline have probably already figured out its Nashville, TN.  The woman and I took the weekend off to head south for a bit and we arrived late last night (after a stop at Three Floyds in Munster, IN which will be reviewed later).

Our first stop after checking in to the hotel was the 12 South Taproom.  After reading a dozen or so reviews of various beer bars on Beer Advocate on the way down I had a good feeling about the Taproom...plus they had an excellent beer list that included one of the beers on The List, that is not available in Chicago - I was just hoping they still had a can of it left when I got there.

It turns out that it was not only a great choice, but they also had a can of Oskar Blues' Gordon Knight Ale.  Actually, it has recently been renamed G'Knight Ale for legal reasons, which I hope to explore here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights sometime soon.

Anyway, we'll get to the review sometime very soon.  For now, I just wanted to post something and let you know to keep checking back for the next update.  I'm very excited to have tracked down a can of Gordon Ale without having to do a trade.

Review #3 - Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

Posted by: Stonecipher

Jan. 31, 2011

Last night I was very happy to be sitting down with a large glass of beer after racking my brain all day with class and work.  Like the Dreadnaught, I have tried Great Divide’s Hercules Double IPA in the past, but I did not review it.  I remember enjoying it, but I was also eating at one of my very favorite restaurants in Chicago, Bad Apple on Lincoln, just kitty corner from the Half Acre Beer Company – home of Daisy Cutter Pale Ale.  It’s always tough to tell if the burgers or the beer is better there, the selection of both is phenomenal, but I digress. 

Here are some basics for the Great Divide Hercules Double IPA –

ABV: 10%

IBUs: 85

Brewery Location: Denver, Colorado

Style: American Double IPA

Average Beer Advocate Rating: A-/4.2 – Excellent

My Beer Advocate Rating: B+/3.9 – Very Good

Current Number of Reviews/Rank in the Top 20 on Beer Advocate: 1,184/10^th

Brewery Description: Great Divide Brewing Company

Bottled On: July 1, 2011

By the way, you’ll notice the Avery Brewing Company glass, a Colorado glass for a Colorado beer.  Haven’t been to the Great Divide Brewery yet, but may be making the trip when I’m in Denver and Boulder in March.  That also may have to be the time I review Avery’s Maharaja – One of my all-time favorites that just so happens to be in the Top 20.

So, with the weather getting increasingly worse here in the Chicago Area, I sat down last night to sample the Great Divide Hercules Double IPA and here’s what I found:

APPEARANCE:  Poured a hazy, medium copper into the Avery pint glass.  A decent looking, fluffy white head dissipated rather quickly.  The Hercules is a good looking beer, but there is nothing particularly notable about the appearance.  One thing that was interesting is that this beer did break the streak of my Double IPAs only lacing on the left and right sides of the glass.  The Hercules had a more typical lacing pattern, with big thin rings lining the opposite side of the glass from top to bottom. 

SMELL:  The first word that came to mind when I sniffed the Hercules was intense.  And that’s just the way I like my beers.  The strong, piney hop smell steals the show, but there are also hints of grassy and citrus aromas.  Great Divide certainly knows how to create an appetite and excitement for a hop head.

TASTE:  The first sip was a little bit of a letdown.  I was expecting a bitter hop bomb, but instead tasted more sweet malt flavors.  That wasn’t a terrible thing, just unexpected.  As the beer began to warm, however, the bitter hoppy flavor became more apparent and the sweetness was relegated to the background as a balancing agent.  Hints of citrus, mostly lemon, came through at the tail end of the sip as the bitterness emerged for the aftertaste.

MOUTHFEEL:  If I remember correctly it was Barq’s whose motto was “Barq’s has Bite”.  Well, Hercules has bite, particularly if you hold it on the tongue for a couple of seconds.  The carbonations digs into the tongue, but strangely the rest of the palate seems to get more of a pleasant mouth coating sensation at the same time.  This combination seems to be responsible for making the aftertaste exceptionally strong, an unusual, but excellent feel. 

OVERALL:  This is a somewhat erratic and funky beer.  In my last review I described the Three Floyds Dreadnaught as a roller coaster ride, and the Hercules is the same in some ways, except that the roller coaster is old, rattling and extremely shaky.  For the roller coaster connoisseur, my guess is that the rattle and shake might add to the excitement, but for a rookie, it might be terrifying.  I thoroughly enjoyed this beer, but I can see how it would frighten some light beer drinkers away in a hurry. 

DRAWBACKS:  Once again, the roller coast ride was both a plus and a minus.  The Hercules is a very complex beer and with complexity comes a variety of tastes, smells and feels.  The likelihood that one beer drinker will love all of these is fairly low, so as the odds would have it, there were a few characteristics that didn’t quite do it for me.  One was the appearance.  I do believe appearance is the toughest category to screw up (I mean how often do you look at a beer and say to yourself “Well, I just don’t want to drink that”?), but the Hercules did leave something to be desired as far as its appearance went.  Additionally, the early sips were too sweet for me.  I understand the need to balance the hops out with some malt, but it took longer than I wanted for the correct balance to appear. 

SOUND:  This was a tough one, but I have to go with Miles Davis’s “Bitches Brew”.  What can be grating and, well, downright scary to the untrained ear can also be a thing of beauty to a jazz aficionado.  The Hercules is going to be a classic that must be respected, but may not be fully enjoyed or appreciated by everyone, just like Miles in 1970.

Bell's Brewery Hopslam 2011 Release

Posted by: Stonecipher

Jan. 25, 2011

OK, so with the very first review I'm directly contradicting the name of this blog, oh well.  It's about 3:30 in the afternoon here in Chicago and I have been working on important stuff all day, plus I have this six-pack of fresh Bell's Hopslam in the fridge that is calling my name, so I think it is about that time - time for a Bell's Hopslam from Bell's Brewery.

First, some basic facts:
ABV: 10.0%
IBUs: Somewhere in the range of 69 - 136.  The debate rages on.
Brewery Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Style: Double IPA
Beer Advocate Average Rating: A/4.43 - Outstanding
My Beer Advocate Rating: A+/4.75 - Exceptional
Current Number of Reviews/Rank in the Top 20 on Beer Advocate: 2,034/3rd
Brewer's Description: Click on the Hopslam thumbnail.

Now, before I dive into this review, it is worth noting that I reviewed this beer last year as well on Beer Advocate and if you click here you'll see my BA review.  My palate was just beginning to become sophisticated enough to understand what I was drinking, but I was too stupid to know that the Hopslam was a DIPA and therefore, pretty high in the ABV department.  Anyhow, I wrote the following review before I re-read the old BA one and it is interesting to see compare the similarities and contradictions.  The one thing that stood out from the first review is the quote I used from a fellow bartender of mine "It's like they tried to fit two beers into that one bottle and somehow they fit."  Perfect description, even for the 2011 release.

Alright, without further ado, the review:

APPEARANCE:  Poured this into a snifter fairly aggressively and I was rewarded with a solid, foamy, quarter-inch thick head.  The bubbles are a mix of large and tiny with the bigger bubbles occupying the area towards the center of the glass.  The brilliant and almost completely clear golden color is reminiscent of the honey flavor that I know is waiting in this glass.  Interesting lacing, it appears to remain only on the left and right side of the glass instead of the opposite side I was drinking from and what remains are foamy pillars that stretch from the top to bottom.

SMELL:  The aroma hits the nose immediately with the Hopslam.  As soon as it is poured out of the bottle a sweet, piney, hoppy and honey smell fills the air.  As I move my nose closer to the glass the honey stands out as the dominating aroma.

TASTE:  Upon the first sip, the first thing that stands out is that this beer is more hoppy than it was last year.  True to its name, the hops slap your palate right up front, but as it sits on the tongue a sweet, honey flavor rises and falls before giving way to a bitter, but slightly piney aftertaste.  It is certainly a dryer beer than last year's release, and that, in my opinion is a good thing.  Bell's Brewery has managed to top near-perfection.

MOUTHFEEL:  Hopslam is very clearly a finely tuned, carefully crafted work of art, and while Bell's nailed the look, smell and taste of this beer, they did not forget about the feel.  My guess is that if this beer made any noise it would sound like Marvin Gaye singing "Inner City Blues".  Anyhow, back to the feel, generally, I like to feel a strong sparkle on my tongue, but the lighter sparkle, combined with an little bit of an oily feel make this beer go down extremely smooth.

OVERALL:  What else can I say about this beer?  I chose to review it first because A). it is in season and is fresh and B). it is one of my all-time favorites.  For 10% this is incredibly easy to drink.  The alcohol is certainly easy to detect, but it is so well balanced with the sweetness and hoppiness that it is easy to see how you can get into trouble with the Hopslam.  Maybe it's for the best that we only get to enjoy this delicious brew for a few months of the year.

DRAWBACKS:  There are not many flaws in this beer and you have to get very nitpicky to come up with any.  That said, the head retention and lacing could be a bit better, although that is not an easy proposition for a 10% DIPA, I understand that.  The only other thing I would change about this beer is that it could use a touch more bite on the mouthfeel.  Like I said, nitpicky.  But that's what you have to be when you're looking for drawbacks to an exceptional, near-perfect beer.

SOUND:  OK, I know beer doesn't produce a sound, but to add a little twist, I'm going to try to match up each beer to what I believe it would sound like if it could talk, sing or play some music.  To be fair, I think many of us have tried to talk to our beer at some point in the past, so hey, don't be too tough on me for this.  As I mentioned before, though, this beer is smooth, savory and sweet all at the same time and that is how I view Marvin Gaye's voice.  Given that Hopslam is one of my favorite beers it is only fitting that it would sound like one of my favorite songs "Inner City Blues".  In case you don't already have this gem in your music collection, here's a link to Marvin's "Gold" album on iTunes: 



Thanks for checking out the review.  Hope you enjoyed it and I hope you can get your hands on some Hopslam sometime soon.  It really is an exceptional beer.  Go ahead and leave a comment, tell me what you think of the blog, the beer or the review.  If you're too shy to do that, send me some Beer Mail on Beer Advocate, the user name is StoneTSR.  Cheers!