Russian River hoppy beers

What's "relatively fresh"? BA hates when I say this but my experience with bottled PtE is that it only lasts about a week. I've drain poured 2 weeks' old ones even though they've been refrigerated the entire time.

 

I had a PtE pour at Beachwood Seal Beach a few weeks ago, so I know it was fresh with clean lines, and found it to be good but I much preferred the Riip Super Cali I had after.

 

PtE does drop off quicker than most WCDIPAs, but I've had 2+ week old bottles and they were fine. YMMV.

Cheers,

 

Ian is doing amazing things at Riip, I drink his beers pretty regularly.

Cheers,

 

I’ve been drinking Pliny from 7/31 and while it isn’t top 5 beer of all time, it is still an amazing beer that I enjoy.

 

I noticed that my glass on draft for the first day of Beat pick ups tasted off. Got a bottle to bring home and that was one of the worst plinys I've had. Super muted, almost tasted watered down.

 

I've been hearing that getting PtE from NOT the brewery is the best way to go. But that's anecdotal.

The last time I had Blind Pig was at Beachwood LB, and I thought it still tasted great. Granted, I think there are better and easier to find IPAs, but it hadn't deviated much from my experiences with the beer.

 

I had a Pliny a couple of weeks ago that was bottled maybe a week before. I honestly tried to nitpick and find things wrong with it, but dammit it wouldn't let me.

 

While I'll definitely agree that PtE changes substantially in the first 30 days from bottling, I'm quite certain I've never felt the need to drain pour it, let alone at 2 weeks from bottling. Yes, I love it immensely within 4-10 days from bottling, but it still tastes good-great for my palate and preferences until approximately 40 days from bottling. Yet another data point for me that your palate and preferences are 180 degrees from mine. TETO

 

Some people say the PtE and BP are not the same since the bottles come out their new Windsor location. These days I find Pliny still good but less flavorful. I used to visit their Santa Rosa brewpub every week or two for a decade.

 

PtE is perhaps the most sought after beer in California and the ramped up production seems to have balanced supply and demand. Let's hope the next step is PtE and Blind Pig going into cans.

 

Just had Pliny on tap for the first time in ages yesterday and it was perhaps my favorite Pliny experience. I grabbed a bottle of blind pig that I haven't gotten to yet but I've got faith it'll be great as well (I'm a much bigger fan of bp usually)

 

Pliny is readily available in the Bay Area (on tap and bottles) and no longer need to get it same day. It is on my regular rotation and the quality is unchanged. Still enjoy it as much now as I did years ago. It is still good even after 3 weeks (keep refrigerated at store and home obviously).

But after 30 days, you may as well not purchase it or drink it if you have it.

I've always really enjoyed Blind Pig; fresh (no more than 7 days), it is a real treat and the best hoppy west coast IPA I've ever had.

 

It was only a matter of time before RR’s move into a larger facility ignited the “Pliny isn’t as good as it used to be” dialogue.

 

I haven't had either out of bottles but Happy Hops is tasting fantastic.

If anything the packaging should be even better at the Windsor facility. Vinny talked about the challenges of moving to the new system in the Craft Beer & Brewing podcast (highly recommended).

 

Happy hops is super tasty and they just revived another brand from the same old brewery, Velvet glow and it's a wonderful lager. RR is one of the few breweries that I both wish was slightly cheaper and respect that it's worth every penny

 

We were at Windsor earlier this year. Love the new location. Huge and layout was very open. Echoing ambience inside. I think their draft $ are spot on. Some of the food items were a bit on the higher side. I could easily fly SFO > RSA. Uber over. Hang for 3-4 hours, Uber back to RSA. RSA-SFO-LAX. I did bring back a 6pk each of Elder & Pig. Freshest bottle was 2 weeks out. Not good imo. For $6 per bottle I’m cool with that. The most I pay per bottle here locally is only .50 more. 2 weeks out. Go figure. Maybe a miss here and there. Overall? Still in my rotation for good ole clear dipa. Happy Hops?