Pliny vs. Pliny

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I recently brewed a Pliny clone, which turned out pretty well. By fortunate coincidence, a local store (the amazing Liquorama) regularly has Russian River products, including Pliny. As an aside, if you are in the general Claremont/Upland/Rancho area, and if you are a beer (or liquor) geek, I absolutely encourage you to check out Liquorama. They have an amazing local and regional craft beer selection, and they properly store their beer at cold temperatures. They very consistently have fresh Pliny (and other great RR beers like Blind Pig and STS Pils), which is an incredible treat. I always end up walking out with waaaay more than I intended to purchase.

In any case, I thought it would be fun to do a head-to-head comparison of my Pliny versus the actual Pliny. The real Pliny was bottled on February 4, which is three weeks before this tasting. My beer was kegged on 21 January, so mine is slightly older, but not by much.

So, let’s do a direct comparison!

Pliny vs. Pliny — my clone version is on the left
  • Appearance
    • My version is very slightly darker, and clearer. The Russian River (RR) version had a slight bit of hop debris (a common issue with their bottled beer if it has been agitated, as happened when I transported it home). My version had a slightly more persistent head.
    • Appearance Winner: The Clone
  • Aroma
    • The RR version is absolutely better, with a more “fresh” orange/citrus hop aroma at the forefront. I definitely pick up the Simcoe hops, which I don’t get from my version.
    • Aroma Winner: RR
  • Flavor
    • Both beers are equally smooth. Mine has a touch more malt character, but the RR version has a touch more citrus/Simcoe flavor.
    • Flavor Winner: RR (but it’s very close)
  • Mouthfeel
    • Both are pretty equivalent, in terms of body, carbonation, and mouthfeel.
    • Mouthfeel Winner: A draw
  • Overall
    • RR’s authentic Pliny has just a touch better hop aroma and flavor, so I give a slight edge to the “real deal.” It’s most apparent in the aroma (and slightly in the flavor), where the Simcoe is more prominent. If I were to do mine again, I would swap the quantities of CTZ and Simcoe. My version had 1 oz. Simcoe, 3 oz. CTZ and 1 oz. Centennial; for a future version, I would do 3 oz. Simcoe, 1 oz. CTZ, and 1 oz. Centennial, to (hopefully) better match the original.

There is a reason why Pliny the Elder is a classic, and it’s super apparent when I do this tasting. It is just a nice beer! My clone comes close, but doesn’t quite hit the mark. Time to rebrew, I suppose!

Pliny the Elder Clone: The MoreBeer Edition

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I don’t often get beer kits, because I usually find it easier and cheaper to assemble a recipe on my own and also because kits tend to sit around on store shelves with pre-milled grains and old hops. However, I couldn’t resist getting the Pliny the Elder clone kit from MoreBeer, when it went on sale recently. I did a “homegrown” Pliny clone awhile back, and it was OK but not outstanding. So, I decided to give this recipe family another try.

I augmented the kit slightly, because the provided packages of Magnum were ridiculously low alpha–only 2.3% according to the package! I didn’t know that this variety even came so low, and I needed some “real” Magnum from my personal stash to augment things.

For this batch, I also decided to really pay attention to my handling of the beer. Every transfer was closed, and everything was kept either cool or cold, depending on the stage of the process. The end results were definitely worth it!

Pliny the Elder Clone: The MoreBeer Edition

  • 13 lb. 2-row malt (Briess)
  • 1 lb. Carapils malt (Briess)
  • 4 oz. Caramel 40L malt (Briess)
  • 2 oz. Cascade hop pellets (7.3% alpha), added to mash
  • 2 oz. Magnum hop pellets (2.3% alpha), 90 minute boil
  • 2 oz. Magnum hop pellets (10.1% alpha), 90 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (12.9% alpha), 45 minute boil
  • 1 oz. CTZ hop pellets (14.4% alpha), 30 minute boil
  • 1 lb. corn sugar, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. yeast nutrient (WLN1000), 50 minute boil
  • 2 oz. Centennial hop pellets (9.9% alpha), 5 minute whirlpool
  • 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (12.9% alpha), 5 minute whirlpool
  • 2 pkg. American West Coast ale yeast BRY-97 (Lallemand)
  • 3 oz. CTZ hop pellets (14.4% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1 oz. Centennial hop pellets (9.9% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (12.9% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • 1.073 o.g., 1.011 f.g., 8.3% abv, 165 IBU
  • Claremont tap water, adjusted to achieve target water profile of 66 ppm Ca, 22 ppm Mg, 91 ppm Na, 204 ppm SO4, 85 ppm
  • Full volume mash, with 90 minutes at 151°.

Procedure

  • I mashed in with 7.1 gallons of water at 159°, to hit a mash temperature of 151°. I added 8 mL of 88% lactic acid, to adjust the pH. I held at 151° and recirculated for 90 minutes, before mashing out at 168° for 10 minutes. Then, I pulled the grain basket and sparged with 1 gallon of hot water.
  • In total, I collected 7 gallons of runnings at a gravity of 1.055, for 74% mash efficiency. For high gravity beers, a small sparge really makes a difference on the Anvil.
  • I added 5 g of gypsum and 5 g of epsom salts to the kettle, to hit my target water profile.
  • I boiled the runnings for 90 minutes, adding hops and finings and such per the recipe.
  • After 90 minutes, I turned off the heat and chilled to 65°, before transferring to the fermenter.
  • I pitched the yeast, and set the beer to ferment at 66°.
  • I brewed the beer on 27 December 2021. I pulled it to ambient (58 to 60°) on 8 January 2022.
  • On 15 January 2022, I did a closed transfer of the beer into a purged keg for dry hopping quickly popping the lid to throw in the loose hops. I used a hop screen on the floating dip tube.
  • On 21 January 2022, I transferred from the dry hopping keg into a purged serving keg, and then carbonated. I lost probably close to a gallon of hop sludge.
  • The beer started out fairly hazy, but was reasonably clear within a few weeks.
  • Starting gravity was 1.070, and final gravity was 1.013, for 7.7% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Pours with a creamy, off-white and persistent head with very nice lacing. The beer is gold, with a very slight haze.
  • Aroma
    • Citrus at the front, with a light herbal and grassy character behind that.
  • Flavor
    • Hops! Bitter! There is a real orange hop quality, with in-your-face bitterness. Hops are quite high (as expected), with not much for malt character against the hops. The yeast character is very clean; I’m happy with the fermentation on this one.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body, off-dry extended finish with very slight astringency. Moderate carbonation.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Yes! I am really pleased with this…it’s a great double IPA. The hop character is excellent. I could do without the slight chill haze, but otherwise the beer is awesome, and not a bad approximation of Pliny. I could probably reduce the dry hop length to only two or three days (rather than six), to hopefully reduce the slight astringency.
  • Overall
    • 8/10

What’s Brewing? February 2022 Edition

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I’ve continued to plug away at brewing projects over the past few weeks, and am enjoying the opportunity for a bit of creativity.

Beer Batch Updates

  • I kegged my altbier on Valentine’s Day, and it is now cold conditioning.
  • I transferred the Pliny the Elder clone into a serving keg; it went fairly well, although there was probably a gallon of beer sludge left in the bottom of the dry hop keg.
  • I brewed my HOPBOX pale ale on 29 January, and it is pretty much done with fermentation. I’m going to keg it in the next few days.
  • I brewed “The Simple Monk” on February 5, and the beer is pretty much finished with fermentation. I’ll probably keg it later this week. The beer was…well, dead simple–100% pilsner malt, 1 oz. Cascade whole hops, 1 package of Belgian ale dry yeast.
  • On 14 February, I brewed a new pre-Prohibition lager recipe.

What’s On Tap?

  • Eagle Face Oatmeal Stout is still on tap; I’m not going through it terribly quickly. It’s not a bad beer, just not in my “sweet spot” of flavor interest at the moment. It is popular with some friends, so I’ve been able to pass it along for them!
  • My Pliny clone is drinking super deliciously! It’s a nice beer, although definitely a few abv points above my usual preferences.
  • I just rotated my German pils into the keezer, after about 6 weeks of lagering. It is delicious, although it has a tiny bit of haze that just hasn’t dropped out yet. I wonder if it’s a result of the Viking pilsner malt?

What’s Coming Up?

  • I plan to do a Scottish 70/- heavy, for something new. It’s another low-abv style, and my recipe should clock in at 3.1%.
  • I have ingredients to do my Alta California lager, but I’m not sure when it will go into the rotation.

Other Notes

  • I got another HOPBOX recently, with six more varieties to play with. The “standard” varieties of Chinook, Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic were in the box, along with some Azacca, Eclipse, Idaho Gem, and Triumph. I used the Triumph hops for my pre-Prohibition pilsner, for something a little different in there. I suspect an IPA or two is in my future!

What’s Brewing? January 2022 Edition

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January has blown by, and I’ve been able to get back into a rhythm of regular brewing!

Beer Batch Updates

  • MoreBeer had a sale on Pliny the Elder kits, so I picked one up and began the brewing process on December 27, 2021. I made a self-built recipe last year, and it turned out okay, but not great. For this time around, I’m adjusting the hop techniques a bit, to see if I can get some improvement. After initial fermentation, I did a closed transfer into a purged keg (on 15 January 2022), and then (quickly) added hops to the keg. This keg had a floating dip tube with a mesh screen, so that I could do a closed transfer off the hops and into the serving keg. The goal is to avoid hopping in the serving keg, so that the beer clears up nicely; the closed transfer is intended to preserve the hop aroma a bit longer. The beer is now transferred and carbonated–while it drops clear for a few days, I’ve started some tastes. It’s pretty nice, although quite a bit of hop haze.
  • I started a kolsch-style ale on January 8. The plan is to close-transfer and then let it condition for a few weeks to drop clear. Although I’ve previously used K-97 as my primary kolsch dry yeast, I’m trying Lallemand’s version this time around.
  • I brewed my Alstadt Alt recipe again on 22 January. It’s pretty much the same as before, because I love this beer so much!
  • I kegged my German pils on 26 December 2021, and the beer is now lagering in the serving keg.

What’s on Tap?

  • Eagle Face Oatmeal Stout is drinking pretty nicely. I’ll do a tasting soon.
  • The dark mild has been really delightful, and I think I’ll be sad when it’s gone. For serving, I’ll often let it warm up to around 50 degrees, and the dark malts shine through beautifully.
  • Dimorphos Kellerbier has cleared to brilliant, and tastes amazing. It has been really enjoyable to follow a beer through from young-and-fresh to mature-and-lagered. This recipe has weathered really well, and just keeps getting better.

What’s Coming Up?

  • I’m brewing a pale ale this weekend, using some HOPBOX hops–El Dorado and Strata will be front and center.
  • In preparation for Lent, I’m doing a Belgian SMaSH that I’m calling “The Simple Monk.” It will be pilsner malt, whole Cascade hops, and Abbaye Belgian yeast. The beer is intended to be no muss, no fuss, no temperature control, just let the ingredients play out for a flavorful low-abv beer.

Other Notes

  • A few weeks ago, I cracked the final bottle of the Gingerbread Winter Warmer, brewed way back in late 2016. It was delicious–but I’m also glad I didn’t save it any longer.
  • During the holidays, I started a ton of fermentation projects.
    • A new batch of sauerkraut is going.
    • I started a new batch of miso paste, because my previous batch is just about gone.
    • For something new, I am making malt vinegar! I put a bit of unpasteurized cider vinegar into a pint of a recent weissbier–it created a gorgeous vinegar mother, and I think the vinegar is just about ready to use.

Dark Mild 2021

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As part of a general interest in brewing session beers, I recently tried my hand at a dark mild. Thanks to Ron Pattinson’s excellent work on historic English brewing, I’ve learned that the original dark milds were in fact beyond session strength, and have evolved to be low alcohol. Either way, the modern take is supposed to be a style that is full of flavor and light on ethanol.

My particular version was formulated after looking at a few other recipes, with consideration of what supplies I had on hand. Conveniently, I had some Maris Otter to finish out, and a few other English malts. I had planned on using a packet of English ale yeast from Cellar Science, but it just so happened that I kegged an oatmeal stout right before brewing the mild. Because the stout used Nottingham yeast, I decided to pitch the mild directly onto the yeast cake (after removing a cup or two, to reduce the potential effects of overpitching). I’ll admit this strategy also served my laziness, because then I didn’t have to completely clean and sanitize a new fermenter right in the midst of the brewing process.

To go for a more “authentic” cask-like serving style, I carbonated the beer to only 2.0 volumes. My keezer is set a bit cooler than ideal (~40°), so flavors don’t really start to pop until the beer warms.

Dark Mild 2021

  • 6.75 lb. Finest Maris Otter ale malt (Crisp)
  • 0.5 lb. crystal 75 (Bairds)
  • 0.25 lb. Carafa Special I (Weyermann)
  • 0.25 lb. coffee malt (Simpsons)
  • 2 oz. black malt (Briess)
  • 0.75 oz. East Kent Goldings hop pellets (5.0% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • Nottingham ale yeast (Lallemand), pitched onto partial yeast cake from previous batch

Target Parameters

  • 1.036 o.g., 1.010 f.g., 3.3% abv, 20 IBU, 20 SRM
  • Mash held at 156° for 60 minutes, and 10 minute mash-out at 168°
  • Claremont tap water, treated with Campden tablet

Procedure

  • I heated 6.75 gallons of water to 161°, and mashed in with the grains to hit a temperature of 156°. I added 5 mL of 88% lactic acid to hit ~5.35 pH (estimated), and held at 156° with recirculation for 60 minutes.
  • After 60 minutes, I raised the mash temperature to 168° for 10 minutes, and then removed the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.1 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.035, for 73% mash efficiency.
  • I boiled for 60 minutes, adding hops and finings per the recipe. After 60 minutes, I turned off the heat and chilled down to pitching temperature (~68°).
  • Starting gravity was 1.040, a bit higher than targeted.
  • I transferred the beer onto the yeast cake from my previous batch of Eagle Face Oatmeal Stout. Prior to transfer, I removed ~2 cups of yeast in order to avoid overpitching.
  • Once the yeast was pitched, I sealed up the fermenter and moved it indoors to ferment at ambient of around 65°.
  • I brewed the beer on 11 December 2021, and kegged it on 26 December 2021
  • Final gravity was 1.020, for 2.6% abv. I carbonated to around 2.0 volumes. Within about a week of kegging, the beer had dropped completely clear.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Pours with a light tan head that rapidly disperses; the beer itself is pretty clear and a deep mahogany in color.
  • Aroma
    • Light chocolate and coffee on the nose, and no major yeast character.
  • Flavor
    • Coffee and dark chocolate and some faint roasted notes, and a bit of biscuit character in the malt. There is faint dried stone fruit quality in the yeast. Bitterness is low, and the finish very much tips towards the malt.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Light body, low carbonation, off-dry finish with very slight astringency.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • I really like this beer! For such a low alcohol brew, it packs a really punch of malt character. It is eminently drinkable, but also very interesting in flavor. I wouldn’t mind a little more yeast character, perhaps some extra fruity notes, but that is a fairly minor critique. I may well try this recipe again, and will certainly brew a dark mild again. It is a style with a fair bit of latitude, which is worth exploring.
  • Overall
    • 8/10