What should I get at Russian River??!?

Oh misunderstood the description details of Row 2 Hill 56. I knew they wanted to do a hop growers series highlighting certain hops, I thought it was a single hop series and the next one might be like Row 7, Hill 40 or whatever they might call it. Call it east coast ignorance, I scored the beer in a trade and loved it anyway.

 

This whole craft beer thing is becoming more about keeping some kind of list of beers you've tried over actually just simply enjoying the product.

I don't mean to pick on raynmoon and I'm kinda using this opportunity for my own personal rant (which is admittedly lame) but this drives me nuts. It's not a competition beer nerds. No one is keeping score. Just go to Russian River, drink some beer and buy yourself whatever the hell you think sounds good.

 

the meatball sandwich with spinach salad

 

Gotta do a growler of the elder... Supplication is killer, no need for blind pig if you go with pliny, imo.

Also, get yourself the sampler and try ~15 of their beers, but order early since they've only got 3 I think and you might have to wait if others have also ordered.

 

MORE BLIND PIG or Row 2! Pliny can be had on tap in San Jose at a few places, and in bottles once a month for a few days. The Sours is what you need to get over there.

 

After reading far too many of these types of threads, it's apparent you were asking other people what beer you should buy.

Don't ask a bunch of strangers on the internet what you should buy, since the only thing that matters is personal preference. Try the sampler of all the beers, and fill the growler with what tastes good to you.

Cheers

 

I just realized my post sounded a little cold. I'm speaking from experience, and there's nothing more enjoyable than being surprised with a new beer that you love.

It's a lot more fun than going up to RR with a list you're just waiting to tick.

 

I got 15 day old bottles from the brewpub. What sucks is you don't know until you slice the green tape.

 

Wow. That's surprising. Though 90% of the Pliny I drink is draft, so I guess I'm not the best authority.

 

The implication here that getting 2-week old Pliny is a letdown seems pretty ridiculous to me. I don't know if that's how you meant it, but it came across that way.

 

It is when you buy it at the brewpub - it absolutely is especially considering I can buy it 3 days old in San Diego.

 

So where in SD should I visit?

 

That's what I thought, too:
http://russianriverbrewing.com/brews/row-2-hill-56/
This is one of several beers we plan to make in our NEW “Hop Grower’s Series” highlighting certain hops from our growers! It has that trademark Simcoe nose with citrus and pine, nice bitterness and tasty hop flavors round it out.

 

Buy as much as you can afford and drink in a timely manner if you're getting beers not meant for aging and depending on availability in your area. I once walked out with a case of pliny(for a trade, yes the whole damn case...) and 18 375mL bottles. Parking nearby is limited so if you're gonna buy a bunch of shit I'd highly recommend asking if you can move your car closer so you don't have to nearly kill yourself carrying close to 100 lbs in beer and glass a block away.

 

Actually if you ask them they'll usually grab a hand cart and walk it out for you. I've seen this happen numerous times, though probably more likely to happen during the day.