Heady Topper vs Citra vs Pliny

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by sarge27, Sep 2, 2012.

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  1. sarge27

    sarge27 Initiate (0) Jun 9, 2012 California

    Had an exciting night of IPA tasting with Gambac and Skunk242 tonight while watching the USC game. Had a big variety of things, but the highlight was a blind tasting of Heady Topper (early August bottling), Pliny the Elder (June bottling, not as fresh) and Citra (most recent bottling). I am no good at describing beers, but it was a fun tasting. Citra was by far the favorite between the three of us. I would love to try this side by side with Pliny the Younger and see what came out on top. Pliny versus Heady Topper was slightly more controversial, though Heady came out ahead. Both were delicious, would be happy to drink either any day, but the Heady was just a bit more scrumptious. It would have been nice to do the Pliny a bit Fresher, but we happened to have a couple month old bottle and didn't want to search around for a fresher one. Just thought it would be fun to share our experience with these three fantastic beers. On a side not, Enjoy by 9/21/12, Nelson and Hoppy Birthday were all absolutely amazing beers as well. Overall for the night, Citra was the best. There's not a certain answer over #2, but Enjoy by and Nelson seem to be the top choices.

    Cheers to all!
     
    #1 sarge27, Sep 2, 2012
  2. CelticAleMan

    CelticAleMan Initiate (0) Dec 11, 2010 California

    Whoa, buddy. Try that again with a fresher Pliny. A two month difference is unforgivable. I had all of these beers fresh (under a month old) multiple times, and think that Pliny is the best of the 3. I am probably in the minority on this but I think Citra is way overrated. It is not even the best DIPA that Kern makes. 5th anniversary was way better. Just my opinion.
     
    #2 CelticAleMan, Sep 2, 2012
    LSUPT and sbuysse like this.
  3. Rymar9

    Rymar9 Zealot (688) Jan 24, 2011 South Carolina
    Trader

    Some fantastic IPA's there, now you need to get your hands on some Double Sunshine..the best of the bunch in my opinion.
     
    #3 Rymar9, Sep 2, 2012
  4. grandmeaulnes

    grandmeaulnes Initiate (0) Oct 18, 2010 Ohio

    Pliny hands down if you can get it fresh.
     
    #4 grandmeaulnes, Sep 2, 2012
  5. skunk242

    skunk242 Initiate (0) Mar 1, 2009 California

    I freaking love living in SD county where we can get our hands on all of this relatively easily. I openned the fridge this morning after coming home with a few new bottles from this last night and couldn't help but smile. 2 bottles of Enjoy By, 3 bottles of Nelson, 2 bottles of Sculpin, a bottle of Citra, and a bottle of Ruination 10th staring back at me. Raging beerection. All of this has just further cemented my love of IPAs above all other styles.

    My bad on the Pliny. I stopped at a shop on the way out and grabbed the first bottle I saw and assumed it would be fresh still. Lesson learned. I wouldn't mind doin this again on a smaller scale with a fresh Pliny in the mix. You know, for the sake of science. Not just to drink more beer...
     
    #5 skunk242, Sep 2, 2012
  6. barfdiggs

    barfdiggs Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2011 California

    Double Sunshine = Knuckle sandwich > Heady > Citra > Pliny...
     
    #6 barfdiggs, Sep 3, 2012
  7. LOCAL

    LOCAL Initiate (0) Oct 29, 2006 New Hampshire

    I can get fresh heady most days of the week so thats gonna be a no contest with me... even if the others are actually better, and its proably splitting hairs at that point, but I'm so close to VT that its hard to have the others compete in the freshness catagory.

    Would love to try Double sunshine. I've had the regular and it was great.
     
    #7 LOCAL, Sep 3, 2012
  8. DarthKostrizer

    DarthKostrizer Initiate (0) May 13, 2011 California

    I just did this with equally fresh heady double sunshine and citra. And the order goes Citra Double Heady. I would say my overall personal favorite DIPA's goes Citra, Abner, Double, Heady
     
    #8 DarthKostrizer, Sep 3, 2012
    BdubleEdubleRUN likes this.
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