This was intended to be a clone of the famous Russian River Brewery's Pliny the Elder. I had attempted a clone of the beer once before with unimpressive results and had thought that several more years of brewing experience would have improved my chances (I've started kegging since then for example).
I've adjusted my recipe here a bit (based on one published by Vinnie their owner/head brewer) and had some very nice bulk hops to use for it. I hit my OG number pretty accurately so was off to a good start. Unfortunately, I opted to use some saved yeast I had on hand which wasn't able to take the beer close to the 1.010 target (finished at 1.024 after an emergency second pitch) - was disappointing at the time but will give me a compelling reason for a third attempt most likely
Anyhow, I ended up with a very tasty beer that was a bit weaker than PTE but which probably tasted quite a bit like it (I haven't put in the effort to taste the real thing in the last couple months to say for sure). I've been expecting a killed keg here for the last couple weeks but have been too busy to write this post. Thank goodness for a rainy day so that I have the time and energy to capture this post before this beer is gone :)
Tasting Note:
- Aroma:
- Piney and citrusy hop aroma is strong. Maybe there is some yeast aroma in there as well but can't really pick up any malt character through the hops
- Appearance:
- Pours with a 2 finger head. It's golden in color and hazy. It leaves lacing on the glass
- Flavor:
- Bold hop flavors up front - piney and citrus. This is followed by a slight bit of malt character which then transitions to a pretty strong bitterness in the finish. The balance is firmly on the side of the hops with just a small bit of malt sweetness in there along with lingering hop flavor. There is a hint of alcohol in the flavor profile as well and maybe a hint of something I could imagine is yeast.
- Mouthfeel:
- Medium light bodied and pretty dry on the palate. The firm bitterness makes this a nice drinking beer
- Overall:
- 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.
