Pliny the Elder Clone

 Back in 2016 I attempted to brew up a clone of Russian River's famous Pliny the Elder.  The beer turned out to be dark, murky, and didn't carbonate.  It tasted pretty good but was clearly not a very well made beer.  I'd like to think I've come a long way since then so I've decided to try making this again.

This recipe will be based on one that the Vinnie (the owner of RR) provided - found on the Bertus Blog.  Below is my interpretation of the recipe (which is all in percentages).  The grain bill is pretty simple with just a touch of caramel malt (which is about 25% of what we had last time which should help with the color) and some sugar to create a dryer and lighter bodied beer.  The hops are the star of the show - this recipe has a pretty big dose of flame out hops (although maybe not that high compared with the hazy beers being made today) and I've opted to dry hop with 8 oz which should create a satisfyingly hoppy Double IPA

I'm diverging a bit from the recipe by using Imperial's Juice yeast but it's contributions will be pretty subtle in a beer this hoppy.

I haven't brewed a Double IPA since making this beer previously.  They had been very popular back in the early 2010s but seemed to have diminished in popularity quite a bit since then.  Pliny the Elder was a very difficult beer to get back then as well but these days you can find if fairly regularly on tap here in SEPA as well as in Norther California some 90 miles away from the Brewery (which wasn't the case just a couple years ago).  It is still an excellent beer having had it just last week - I'm excited to drink a keg worth of a (hopefully) close approximation of it.

Recipe Details:

• Grain/Adjunct:
• 14.5 lbs Pale Ale
• 4 oz Crystal 60L
• 12 oz Sugar
• 4 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 2 oz Chinook (Leaf, 12.2% AA) at 60 min
• 1 oz Simcoe (Leaf, 10.6% AA) at 30 min
• 1 Cascade (home grown) at 0 min
• 0.8 Centennial (Leaf, 8.7% AA) at 0 min
• 0.8 Amarillo (Leaf, 8.8% AA) at 0 min
• 0.8 Simcoe (Leaf, 10.6% AA) at 0 min
• 3.3 oz Simcoe (Leaf, 10.6% AA) Dry Hop
• 2.6 oz Cascade (home grown) Dry Hop
• 1.4 oz Columbus (Leaf, 14.6% AA) Dry Hop
• 0.7 oz Amarillo (Leaf, 8.8% AA) Dry Hop
• Yeast:
• Imperial Yeast A38 Juice (Using a saved yeast from last year)
• Extras:
• 13 gal Spring Water
• 1 oz CaCl
• 1 oz Gypsum
• 1 oz Irish Moss at 15 min

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash Temp:
• 154 for 50 min
• Boil:
• 60 min (Target 60 min)
• Fermentation Temperature:
• Mid 60s (Ambient Basement Temp)
• Primary Duration:
• 3 Weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• NA

Results:

• OG:
• 1.072 (Target 1.070)
• Efficiency:
• 75% (Target 73%)
• FG:
• 1.024 (Target 1.010)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 65% (Target 85%)
• ABV:
• 6.3% (Target 7.9%)

Brewing Notes:

• 3/25/23 - Setup a yeast starter for the beer.  I wanted to see yeast activity to confirm it was a healthy pitch so I didn't put it on the stir plate this time.
• 3/26/23 - Brewday - 10:30 AM to 3:00 PM - Including setup and cleanup
• Heated 11 gal of spring water up to 180 F
• Milled my grain.  Added CaCl an Gypsum so I wouldn't forget

• Moved 6 gal of strike water into the mash tun and cycled through the RIMS until the system had settled out at 164 F
• Stopped the RIMS cycle and added the grain.  Stirred well to eliminate doughballs.  Let this sit for 10 min to settle (ended at 155 F).  Cycled the RIMS at 155 F for the next 50 min
• Heated 8 gal of spring water to 180 F for the sparge
• Fly sparged until 8 gal of wort was collected.  Started heating the boil kettle after collecting 4 gal.  Had it at a boil shortly after the end of the sparge
• Boiled for 60 min
• Added the bittering hops

• Added 30 min hops
• Added sugar with 20 min left
• Added Irish Moss at 15 min
• Put in the wort chiller to sanitize with 5 min to go
• Added the zero min hops
• Left the heat on low and chilled down to 190 F
• Let the hops steep for 30 min as the temperature settled down to 170 F
• Chilled the beer down to the mid 60s
• Drained the wort into the fermenter.  Added the yeast starter during the transfer

• Measured the gravity as 1.072 and collected 6 gal of wort
• 3/27/23 - Signs of fermentation being underway by this afternoon
• 4/10/23 - It has been a couple weeks since brewday.  I'm adding the dry hop addition now and will plan to keg in a week
• 4/13/23 - Checked the gravity today and found it has only fermented down to 1.032 when I'd targeted 1.010.  I guess my aged yeast just didn't have enough vitality to do the job.  I wish I'd checked this before adding the dry hop.  Anyway, I think I'll pitch some additional yeast to try to finish the job (WLP 99)
• 4/14/23 - When I went to add the extra yeast today I found krausen still on the surface of the beer.  The gravity was down to 1.026.  I'm going to give it a few more days and will check the gravity again.
• 4/24/23 - It seemed to settle at 1.024 which I'm calling "close enough". Chilled the beer down to 35 F and added gelatin to fine the beer
• 4/28/23 - Kegged the beer - still at 1.024.
• 6/24/23 - Tasting Notes - This is a boldly flavored hop forward beer.  I think the hop aroma and flavor have subsided a little bit over the almost 2 months I've had it in the keg but it's still plenty hoppy.  The haziness isn't an intentional trait here but it does look nice (if this weren't intended to be a clone of the clear Pliny).  This was intended to be a 7.9% ABV beer and I only managed to hit 6.3% but this is still a pretty strong beer - I like drinking it but it's not a beer to do 2 of on a week night.