Thursday, February 9, 2012

Over-Hype Reality Check

The early February hype around Pliny the Younger is in full mania mode.  When I linked to the Russian River website for my previous post, I noticed the twenty beers on tap at the Russian River Brewpub in Santa Rosa.  I saved the tap list, and have copied and posted it below:


Beer ABV Description
O.V.L Stout 4.40% Nitro Dry Irish Stout
Aud Blonde 4.50% Blonde Ale
Gaffer's 4.50% English Pale Ale
Rusian River Porter 5.75% Robust Porter
Segal Select 5.75% Pale Ale - Segal Hop Farm
Row 2, Hill 56 5.80% 100% Simcoe Hop Pale Ale
Blind Pig IPA 6.75% IPA
Rusian River IPA 6.75% IPA
Pliny the Elder 8.00% Double IPA
Pliny the Younger 10.50% Triple IPA
Redemption 4.80% Blonde Ale
Perdition 6.10% Biere de Sonoma
Rejection 6.30% Belgian-Inspired Black Ale
Sanctification 6.75% Blonde Ale w/ Brett
Supplication 7.00% Sour Aged in Pinot Barrels
Defenstration 7.25% Hoppy Blonde Ale
Damnation 7.00% Golden Ale
Temptation 7.50% Sour Aged in Chardonnay Barrels
Consecration 10.00% Sour Aged in Cab Barrels
Damnation 23 10.75% Triple Aged w/ Oak Chips



It's an amazing line-up of beers.  I hope the people that went to Russian River to get a glass of the elusive PtY were able to see beyond the triple IPA myopia and try some of these beers.  PtY is all well and good, but it would be the 16th or 17th beer I'd try given the choices above.

2 comments:

Jay H. said...

Agree x1000. Great simple post. When I've been to Russian River what amazes me are the PRICES of these world-class beers. A glass of Supplication for $4? Sure! Have some pizza and wings with it? Hey, it's happy hour - Consecretion is now $3! Walk out with a growler of Damnation, Batch 23 for $12!

Amazing brewer.

Steve said...

Was up in Santa Rosa for the release that weekend, and think I had 2-3 glasses of Younger one night, and that was it for me... was much more interested in Sanctification (one of my all-time fav beers) and the new Row 2 pale ale which was by far my favorite beer of the whole trip. Gotta say, I absolutely loved PtY a handful of years ago, hell, I could walk into a bar in Orange where the keg had been on for 3-4 days (sometimes it'd last over a week, circa 2007) and sit down and have a 17oz mug (yes, really). Now, the lines are stupid, I won't even be going to Santa Rosa for the PtY releases anymore, and could care less about trying to drink it here in SD.