Anyone for Pliny?

BeerNut · 22-05-2014 10:30am #1

McHugh's in Kilbarrack and Artane have some samples of Russian River's Pliny the Elder double IPA to give out, on Saturday afternoon, from 4. It's a personal stash brought back by Cathal McHugh, so not for sale. It's a good beer, especially for free.

Cheers to abitofacomedian for the heads-up.

Ravelleman · 22-05-2014 11:48am

As many of you know from my constant reposts my summer holidays last year brought me to Santa Rosa and the Russia River bar there. Amongst the three of us we tried a lot of their beers and sours and I really felt that it was worth the hype.

This Saturday my holiday take me to Beijing, where I expect the local beer offerings to be less exquisite to say the least, so I won't be able to attend. There is at least one craft brewery - run by an American - in operation Beijing, which I hope to check out. Perhaps that'll cheer me up!

Anyway, if free you should check out the Pliny in McHughs, even if just to say that you've tried one of these mythic beers. It must have cost them a bomb to bring it back in any case. Bottles are $5 each to take away from the bar. We went to all day happy hour in Sunday and got pints of Pliny for something obscene like $2.50 each. I also bought a six-pack, which I later distributed to friends. I couldn't hog it for myself.

drumswan · 22-05-2014 11:58am

Ravelleman wrote: »

This Saturday my holiday take me to Beijing

You can try the worlds most popular beer which noone has ever heard of - Snow Beer

Lovely Bloke · 22-05-2014 12:47pm

Hmm, Saturday's brew day may be cut short.

BeerNut · 22-05-2014 12:54pm

Post corrected to say it's in both branches of McHugh's: Kilbarrack and Artane.

Seaneh · 22-05-2014 3:17pm

BeerNut wrote: »

Post corrected to say it's in both branches of McHugh's: Kilbarrack and Artane.

In that case it would be very rude for me not to pop around, seeing as I live about 5 minutes walk away from the Artane shop.

Lovely Bloke · 22-05-2014 5:09pm

Artane is better for me too, see you there Seaneh!

GristlyEnd · 22-05-2014 5:50pm

I'm heading in too. I was in with them on Tuesday and Frank told me about it. Now that they've announced it on twitter I'm expecting a rather big crowd. Told them I'd bring down a bottle of Beoir #1 for comparison.

merc230ce · 22-05-2014 10:48pm

I'll pop over to Kilbarrack.
(Might just head over there now, to be sure :-)

oblivious · 22-05-2014 10:51pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Hmm, Saturday's brew day may be cut short.

A couple of hours of mash in wont do any harm

drumswan · 22-05-2014 11:32pm

Could be a rather large gathering this. Hope the lads brought more than a sixpack back or it'll be a thimble full each.

I had a few pints of Pliny in Toronado in SF, a rite of passage for any beer wanker. A lovely beer.

Ipso · 23-05-2014 1:14am

I had Pliny twice; once in a bar on Haight Street in SF and again at christmas from a bottle.
First time I really enjoyed it, the second time I found it average. Afterwards I had an IPA from a brewery called Drakes based near Oakland that I enjoyed more.
I can't get over the fact that for $5 you can get a world class beer in a fairly major city like SF and Guiness in Templebar is probably around $7.

oblivious · 23-05-2014 9:15am

Ipso wrote: »

Afterwards I had an IPA from a brewery called Drakes based near Oakland that I enjoyed more. .

Savage stuff

BeerNut · 23-05-2014 9:17am

drumswan wrote: »

Hope the lads brought more than a sixpack back

Pic.

Ipso wrote: »

I can't get over the fact that for $5 you can get a world class beer in a fairly major city like SF and Guiness in Templebar is probably around $7.

I bet you can pay $7 and more for Guinness and plenty of other mediocre beers in SF if you go to the right places. Last time I was in JW Sweetman an imperial pint of Eight Degrees Full Irish was €4.50; you can often get Wrasslers XXXX for €4 at the Porterhouse, and both are world class, IMO.

Ipso · 23-05-2014 3:09pm

BeerNut wrote: »

Pic.

I bet you can pay $7 and more for Guinness and plenty of other mediocre beers in SF if you go to the right places. Last time I was in JW Sweetman an imperial pint of Eight Degrees Full Irish was €4.50; you can often get Wrasslers XXXX for €4 at the Porterhouse, and both are world class, IMO.

I would expect to pay it in SF (like a moron I paid $10 on Saint Patricks day), but my main point was about the price io locally produced beers. Sometimes Dublin just seems ibscene from a price point of view.

BeerNut · 23-05-2014 3:25pm

Ipso wrote: »

Sometimes Dublin just seems ibscene from a price point of view.

The times when you're in the wrong pubs, for instance

Every bad-value beer you buy reinforces the argument that it's actually a fair price.

Creamy Goodness · 24-05-2014 11:36am

Going to tag along to this but i have a feeling it's going to be rammed. which is the best shop to hit do you think? I'll be travelling from Bray.

Seaneh · 24-05-2014 3:32pm

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

Going to tag along to this but i have a feeling it's going to be rammed. which is the best shop to hit do you think? I'll be travelling from Bray.

Kilbarack is closer to the dartline methinks?

Seaneh · 24-05-2014 4:27pm

Popped into Artane and bought a bottle of Evil Twin Falco IPA and had a taste of Pliny while I was there.

They are doing it side-by-side with GBB's OFAF. Testimant to young Mr. Treanor indeed that his beer was chosen as the comparison and it stands up rather well. Pliny is delicious, such depth of flavours. Wish I could have bought a bottle.

Creamy Goodness · 24-05-2014 8:13pm

Went to artane myself. Drove in and tried it side by side with OFAF. OFAF is great (although prefer it on draught) pliny is pipping it for me. Still great to have a beer or two (with beoir #1) that can live up to the legend (whether it deserves that status or not is another thing).

The depth of pliny and the flavours were amazing and so well balanced too I would have paid €20 for a bottle of it.

neamhspleachi · 26-05-2014 12:44pm

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

The depth of pliny and the flavours were amazing and so well balanced too I would have paid €20 for a bottle of it.

It truly must be the ambrosia of the Gods, I'm envious

For this weekend I settled on some SN Bigfoot 2012 I've had in the garden shed for the last 18 months

Creamy Goodness · 26-05-2014 1:28pm

well it's relative I guess, When I said I'd pay 20 euro for one would be so I could see how it handles when it starts to warm up, how the flavours change as you drink a full 500ml. You can't get that from a mouthful so i think it'd be well spent. others will probably think i'm crazy.

adamski8 · 26-05-2014 6:43pm

surprised there isnt more reviews of the beer? Were people dissapointed or did it exceed expectations?

Lovely Bloke · 28-05-2014 6:40am

It's quite hard to review something you only get ~100mls to drink.

From what I could gather, it's not a "kick you in the face hoppy" DIPA, it's more balanced, but I expected more hops tbh. Now, I don't personally like over-hopped beers, so I'd happily drink this again probably. I find that, with my own palette, it takes a while for malt backbone and complexity to become apparent in this style of beer, after the initial hop-shock, so I can't comment on that really. Don't get me wrong, this IS a hoppy beer, but I do think someone going in expecting something as hoppy as even OFAF is going to be disappoint.

People who've properly tasted the beer may feel different, in fact, WILL feel different, and I'm uncomfortable even posting this as it's unfair to the beer imo.

irish_goat · 28-05-2014 9:28am

How old was the bottle did they say?

drumswan · 28-05-2014 9:33am

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

It's quite hard to review something you only get ~100mls to drink.

100mls is plenty for a tasting. 1-2oz is typical for BJCP I think

Lovely Bloke · 28-05-2014 10:42am

drumswan wrote: »

100mls is plenty for a tasting. 1-2oz is typical for BJCP I think

I don't actually care what the "BJCP" have to say, personally, I find a sample size of 100mls to be too small for ME, when it comes to hop-forward beers.

I have absolutely no idea what is so hard to understand about that, and I did make it clear in my post.

I actually knew I shouldn't have posted that review, that it would be picked apart by hoppists.

Lovely Bloke · 28-05-2014 10:44am

irish_goat wrote: »

How old was the bottle did they say?

no, they didn't say. Cathal McHugh posted a picture of himself with the two boxes of it recently enough though. He bought it over in the US, so I imagine it was fairly young.

drumswan · 28-05-2014 10:53am

People get very touchy on here about beer. Its just beer, relax. I was simply pointing out that it is not, in fact, difficult to review a beer based on an 100ml sample.

Seaneh · 28-05-2014 12:13pm

irish_goat wrote: »

How old was the bottle did they say?

Was from the 5th of march (i think). So plenty fresh.

Lovely Bloke · 28-05-2014 3:58pm

drumswan wrote: »

I was simply pointing out that it is not, in fact, difficult to review a beer based on an 100ml sample.

yeah but you still haven't read either of my posts about that, or if you did, you have dismissed them for some unknown reason.

I'll state again that for me, personally, not you, not anyone else posting here and not some nameless joe in the "BJCP", that 100mls is not enough for my palette to adjust sufficiently to appreciate the malt backbone or complexity of very hop-forward beers. Always with beers like this (IPA, DIPA, even dry-hopped pale ales sometimes) I get this initial "hop-shock" that I cannot get rid of with just one or two more sips of beer, which lets face it, is what 100mls is.

For that reason, I have already stated that my review, based on a small tasting sample, is obviously not doing the beer justice, and may also be a reason why nobody else has posted a review based on such a small sample as was being given out by the guys in McHugh's at the weekend.

Anyone for Pliny?

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