The Hunt for Pliny the Younger

Sunday, Feb 27, 2011 at 10:44 pm by Bess Dougherty

In the beer geek world there are those rare beers that will cause people to wait in line for hours in the hopes that they might get a taste. The majority of the time these limited beers are available only at the brewery or a satellite location, but every once in a while, kegs make their way to eagerly awaiting hands. Such is the case with Pliny the Younger (PtY), a triple IPA from Russian River Brewing Company.

Falling Rock has traditionally been the place to go for rare beer tappings, and the past two weekends it has been just that. On the afternoon of February 20th, Falling Rock held the first tapping for PtY, and I was lucky enough to sample the brew. The second and final tapping was held on the afternoon of February 26th. Never fear dear Denverites, if you happened to miss these two events, there are still a few chances to hunt down PtY.

Photo courtesy of www.learner.org

Denver has had a fresh crop of craft beer bars pop up making the chances of tasting this elusive brew fall within the realm of possibility.

Freshcraft has the next scheduled release on February 28th at 6pm. Tickets will go on sale at 5:30pm and there will be a limit of one per person. The going rate is $8 for an 8 ounce pour.

One of my favorite haunts, Hops & Pie also has a release scheduled for Sunday March 6th at 3pm. The pours will run 10 ounces for $8.

For those looking to take a scenic Drive to taste PtY, Trinity Brewing down in Colorado Springs has their tapping scheduled for Monday April 11th at 5pm.

Last year at least one of the three locations in the Mountain Sun family had PtY as well though no details for this year could be found.

To get a heads up on events such as these, I highly recommend signing up for mailing lists when available and following you favorite restaurants & bars on the Twitter and the Facebook. And of course, keep an eye here on Denver Off The Wagon.

Cheers!

About Bess Dougherty

Bess Dougherty's life revolves around hooch. By day she has the pleasure of making beer. At night this dame can often be found sipping whiskey and beer around town. This bearcat is also an avid homebrewer. Yar.

Tags: beer, events, Falling Rock, freshcraft, Hops & Pie, Mountain Sun, Pliny the Younger, russian river, Trinity Brewing

Scott S

Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids and Solids had it on Thursday (2/24). Last year, one place had it in Ft. Collins, but I haven’t seen any mention of Ft. Fun PtY yet.
Giovanna

It’s funny to me that beers are named after these guys who were ancient Romans. One of whom (Pliny the Elder) was a naval captain and wrote an encyclopedia and tried to “save” people from the explosion of Vesuvius in 79 CE. After he ferried people away from the blast, he told them to go party and sleep on the beach and they all ended up dying from ash and noxious gas inhalation. Pliny the younger, his nephew, was responsible for writing a lot of the information we have from the explosion from his uncle’s memoirs. Just two fairly random guys to name beers after.
mtroyhughes

made it to freshcraft for the brew-haha last night. from everything i’ve ever heard/read about Pliny tappings, i was expecting there to be a line around the block. lucky for us that wasn’t the case. not sure how other places distribute their supply, but freshcraft handled it pretty well with the tickets and all.

which brings me to a couple conclusions:

1. As more people have tried Pliny, the aura has really died down a lot. It’s a fantastic beer. I wish i coulda had a few more pours. but unicorns didn’t fly outta my ass like i thought they would.

2. I think it’s gotten a little less exclusive. Seemed like you could only get it at one or two places in the past. Looks like a few more places have gotten their hands on kegs.

Anyway, great job by both Russian River and FreshCraft. Had a great time.
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