Pliny the Elder availability?

Discussion in 'New England' started by Jayh5, Aug 6, 2013.

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  1. grr32

    grr32 Initiate (0) Nov 7, 2012 Michigan

    Thank you for your help.....
     
  2. nc41

    nc41 Initiate (0) Sep 25, 2008 North Carolina
    Trader

    Pliny is hit or miss, even the bigger online stores are up and down. Blind Pig is even harder to track down.
     
  3. amnesia85

    amnesia85 Initiate (0) Mar 31, 2012 Connecticut

    It appears the NC would be 200 or so miles closer give or take. Regardless that's crazy. I've actually gotten ground to San Fran in 4 business days through fed ex. Maybe you should try shipping on Monday before pick up time through fed ex. If that doesn't work who knows. I guess it doesn't really matter because you can't tell the difference anyway.

    Yes I can tell the difference in 10 vs 14 day old Pliny. Any hoppy beer will change over a 2-3 day period. Most good IPAs can hold up and still taste amazing but still it will taste different then it did when it was fresh. Pliny on the other hand drops off quickly. I guess I'm the minority in this thread. Everybody's entitled to there own opinion, and u guys can keep all the old Pliny! I've drain poured equal amounts of Pliny that I've consumed...

    When it's bad, it's horrible. I guess you guys should be thanking your lucky stars that u haven't gotten a bad batch.
     
  4. nc41

    nc41 Initiate (0) Sep 25, 2008 North Carolina
    Trader

    I just did a Ca trade and I shipped on a Mon and he received it yesterday. 8 days to the letter, like always, wish I could shorten it a few days in the summer though, I hate it sits in a truck or warehouse that long. You send me all that undrinkable 14 day old Pliny you get stuck with and I'll fairly compensate you. I've had older Pliny and I agree it changes, so does Flower Power, not sure what kind of hop that ones uses but they do change more quickly than most, I'd never consider anything over 30 days in hand to be fresh though on either of these, half that is a good as it gets for me..
     
  5. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Laugh all that you want but Pliny the Elder does indeed ‘fall off a cliff’ in a short timeframe. I can’t provide a value since all of my drinking of PtE has been via draft beer.

    A couple of weeks ago I was at a local beer bar and they had PtE on tap. I was a happy camper. I ordered a glass and to my dismay that beer had zero (and I do mean zero) hop aroma. I was also not able to detect much in the way of hop flavor. It still had a noticeable bitterness. That beer was a disappointment. How old was that keg? I have no way of knowing: 1 month old? 1.5 months old? I have a difficult time thinking that it was at the 2 month mark. Too little Russian River is delivered to the Philly area for me to conceive that this keg was 2 months old (or older).

    I wish I could state that this has been my only disappointing experience with PtE but it wasn’t. I have had this occur before.

    Another aspect I have no knowledge of is how well the beer was handled. Did it get abused in transport? Was it poorly stored at the wholesale distributor? These considerations could also impact the stability of this hop forward beer.

    There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that PtE is only a good beer for a short period of time.

    Cheers!
     
  6. shadowane

    shadowane Zealot (631) Sep 7, 2007 Pennsylvania

    Well, I'm a bit suspicious of how quickly some bars in the Philly area tap their kegs of Pliny the Elder. Too many still try to make an event of tapping them so they don't get tapped upon immediately entering the area. Since it's probably already 2 weeks old when it gets here, just waiting 2 more weeks gets it to a month.
     
  7. williamjbauer

    williamjbauer Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2012 Colorado

    I just drank a year old Pliny and though it was a malt bomb, it was still a very tasty beer. Almost a sin to not drink it sooner though
     
  8. LambicPentameter

    LambicPentameter Initiate (0) Aug 29, 2012 Nebraska

    I've never had Pliny on tap, and regardless, there is no way of knowing how old a Pliny keg is unless one is friendly with the bartender and asks them to check, so compared to the bottles, there is a little bit less information available.

    But what I can say is that I've had Pliny out of the bottle on several occasions. I've had multiple bottles that I've opened within a week of bottling. I've also had multiple bottles within a month of bottling.

    While there was a difference between the week-old and the month-old, it was minimal to me. In fact, I had one last night that was just about at the one month mark and there was plenty of grapefruity hop smell and flavor, although I would note that it wasn't quite as aromatic as the fresh stuff.

    Now, if we start getting into two, three, four and more month intervals, I'm sure it starts to degrade quickly, but I've never had a bottle that old, so I have no idea.
     
  9. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    “I'm sure it starts to degrade quickly

    Not only does it degrade quickly from a timeframe perspective it severely ‘drops off a cliff’ and for me it is no laughing matter when it happens.

    Cheers!
     
  10. SPRichard

    SPRichard Maven (1,296) Apr 26, 2008 New Jersey
    Trader

    If you think Elder falls off quickly you should see how fast Younger falls off
     
  11. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I am not intending to be a wise guy here but does Pliney the Younger ever get a chance to get old? That beer is a ‘feeding frenzy’ when it gets released!

    Cheers!
     
  12. SPRichard

    SPRichard Maven (1,296) Apr 26, 2008 New Jersey
    Trader

    It gets kegged the 1st week in Feb and doesn't get tapped (in Philly) until at least the 1st week of March or later.

    I had it a few times over the course of a week and as the week went on it tasted different each time
     
  13. joehill

    joehill Zealot (594) Apr 11, 2008 New York
    Trader


    I was in SF in May and found bottles of Pliny at BuyRite in the Mission and at Beer Revolution in Oakland.
     
    dinksinct likes this.
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