Pliny Pronounciation

This would be a good conversation to have after a few Plinkys.

 

You can ask for an Elder. They'll know what you mean.

 

Far be it for me to tell someone what to do, but are you really planning on going to RR for three straight days? There's such a wealth of awesomeness in the area, especially if you like wine, that I think you'd be doing yourself a bit of a disservice by spending all of your drinking time at RR's pub. The beer is great, but there's really not much else special about the place.

 

I'm sorry for further derailing this thread from the original topic, but can someone point me towards that "awesomeness in the area"? I never ever drank wine, so is there like a beginner guide to Napa or something? I think I'm going to go there again within the next few months and I would like to check out some other stuff around.

 

Lagunitas and Bear Republic are both within a half hour of RR, albeit in opposite directions. Bierkraft in Rohnert Park is kind of a City Beer Store from what my Petaluma-based friends tell me. Haven't been yet, myself (it's out of the way from home/work). Woodfour in Sebastopol had pretty good house beers and a solid guest list the one time I went. Also, just a few blocks from RR is Flavor Bistro which is essentially a brewpub for Moonlight brewing. I was also factoring in the entire Bay Area since the OP is coming in from Illinois.

 

From what I understand, when referencing the Greek Philosopher, historians pronounce it Plin-eeee, like rhyming with Vinnie. However, the actual Russian River brewer Vinnie Cilurzo (the guy who invented the beer) pronounces it "Ply-Knee." Here's a clip of him saying it outloud (go to 1 min 43 seconds) :



Since we are talking about the beer and not the philosopher, I go with Vinnie Cilurzo's pronunciation when it comes up in conversation.

 

I love everything about RR except the wait. Its too popular for its size.

 

Pliny the Elder (/ˈplɪni/)

Technically and phonetically speaking, Pliny, as souding like Vinnie, is correct. The I should be pronounced as a full vowel as in kit, or bin. In the beer world though, the man in the video says it like he means it.

 

This is probably overthinking it, but I always thought of RR's pronunciation ("ply-knee") as a play on "piney", which would make sense given the beer's hop profile.

 

The fact that people are still replying to this thread is proof that some people did not read the first page.

 

I took a Medieval Studies course in college, and then it was a short i, as in Plin - y.
But whenever people talk about the beer, I only hear it pronounced with a long i, as in Pline - y.

So........when talking about the beer, I go with the latter.

 

I've always said both are fine, but if you try to correct someone about their choice of pronunciation (this is probably 99% of the time going to be someone saying that the plin-ee version is right because of the historical figure) than you're being a douche.