Russian River Event Tomorrow At Super Deli Mart

Coming up tomorrow, March 20th, at Super Deli Mart in West Seattle is a great Russian River Brewing Company tasting event.  This will also likely be one of  the last times you'll be able to find Russian River Brewing's Pliny The Younger in Seattle this year. 

Starting at around 5:00PM, Super Deli Mart will have available the Russian River Brewing beers either on tap and/or in the bottle:

• Temptatation
• Supplication
• Consecration
• Redemption
• Salvation
• Collaboration Not Litigation
• Damnation
• Pliny The Elder
• Pliny The Younger

Tickets for this tasting event went on sale back on March 13th but sold out in minutes.  A few additional tasting tickets went on sale yesterday, March 18th, but were sold out, according to Super Deli Mart, in less than a minute!

Don't worry if you didn't get a ticket, however, because while a ticket will guarantee you a 7oz pour of Pliny The Younger and three other Russian River beers, tickets are not required - but you'd better get in line early.  Those with tickets are guaranteed schooners of Pliny The Elder, Pliny The Younger, Damnation & Sour (Temptation or Supplication). 

So if you missed Pliny The Elder during any of it's other appearances around Seattle this year, or if you're just a fan of Russian River Brewing beers, get down to Super Deli Mart tomorrow and get your fill.  I might try to stop by, but I already have two other events planned for tomorrow (overbooking myself again!), so I may not make it. 

Super Deli Mart will also have a discount on all Russian River bottles during this event, from 5:00PM - 8:00PM, so get down there and stock up!

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

Have You Been 'Youngered' Yet?

It's back, and people everywhere are going crazy, trying to find some on tap to try.  Have you found any yet? 

Back in a post that's now nearly a year old, I'd explained that I don't generally go around 'chasing' Pliny.  However, that statement generally applied to Russian River Brewing's Pliny the Elder, which used to be far more difficult to find (but I can generally find it when I want it/when it comes around at Seattle's local bottle shops).  Eventually, people realized that Pliny the Elder actually comes around every six weeks or so.  It's not a 'rare' beer in that sense; it just tends to sell fairly quickly when it's around.  In fact, many local bottle shops still have a 1 or 2 bottle per person per day limit, so they don't run out quite as quickly (there are a couple of other places with higher bottle limits, but I have to keep some secrets to myself, don't I?)

Since it's only available on-tap, however, Pliny the Younger is far more elusive and difficult to find.  Even if you do come across a Facbook post or Tweet from a bar or tavern saying the just put some on tap, unless you're about 5 minutes away when you read that post, the chances of any Younger being left when you get there are slim to none. 

The last time Brouwer's Cafe put on a keg of Pliny the Younger (a 1/6th barrel - about 5 gallons), it was completely drained in under 7 minutes.  And last night, while chatting with Don Webb down at Naked City Brewery & Taphouse, he mentioned that the last keg of Younger they put on was drained in 6 minutes.  Basically, they left the tap handle fully open & just kept bringing glasses. 

I've never had Pliny the Younger myself.  But I'd like to change that.  And it looks like I may be getting my chance soon.  Word on the street is that Naked City will be tapping a keg of the elusive Younger at 2:00PM today (2/15), and the Parkway Tavern in Tacoma will be taping a keg tomorrow (2/16) at 7:00PM.  If you have the desire to try Pliny the Younger and the means to get to either of these places in time for the keg taping, I encourage you to do so. 

I also have a 'ticket' for a 'guaranteed' taste of the Younger at The Last Drop Bottle Shop up by Lake City Way.  Last week, they started selling tickets for pours of Pliny the Younger.  They'll be tapping the keg at 4:00PM on 2/18 and you have to be there by/before 4:30 or they have the right to give your pour away.  Unfortunately, if you're only learning about this now, you can't get a ticket for Last Drop.  They sold out in 1-2 days.  If you're feeling adventerous, however, - you could try and show up without a ticket & pray that someone who bought one can't make it! 

I hope these tips can help you find some Pliny the Younger.  If you miss out, keep an open eye and ear.  These three places aren't the only places with kegs of Pliny the Younger to tap - and a few places (like The Publican) already tapped theirs last week - but perhaps they have more.  There's no way for us to know. 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

Got Your Year End Beers Picked Out?

2012 is almost upon us.  As 2011 comes to a close, I'm looking back over many of the various beers I've had this year and trying to decide what my selections will be for around the holidays - especially considering the fact that I'm planning on a 'dry' January. 

You may already be aware that a few different places are celebrating the year's end with things like the `12 Days of Beer' (I believe this event is over now - sorry) or the Bottle Sale & Gift Wrapping event going on this weekend at Beveride Place Pub in West Seattle (Dec. 18th - 1-7PM).

(From Beveridge Place Pub's Website):
We’ll pull up rare offerings from the cellar from great breweries like Avery, Dogfish Head, Full Sail, Hair of the Dog, Harvieston, Hitachino, North Coast, Russian River, and more! We’re selling these rarities “to go” at retail prices! The selections will make perfect gifts for the beer geek in your life, even if that beer geek is YOU!  Bottle selection will be available soon.

Planning A December Trip To Some California Breweries - UPDATED 10/28/11

Updated 10/28/2011 - The article below has been updated with a few more breweries we'd like to try and visit during this trip.  We may not be able to hit them all, but we're sure as hell gonna give it a good try!

On the road again.  I can't wait to get on the road again!  My wife and I haven't had a decent vacation in quite a while, so this year, we're going all out.  I like to think of it as a sort of warm up for the Beer Monger World Beer Tour Project, which I hope to get off the ground in a few years. 

This December we'll be making a drive from Seattle all the way down to Tuscon, AZ to visit some family.  Along the way, we've planned several brewery stops and a few gourmet food stops and will be ending our trip (before the drive home, that is), by spending New Years in Las Vegas. 

After a quick stop at Gustav's German Restaurant in Vancouver, Washington for a great, authentic German meal, our first stop will be at Hair of the Dog Brewing in Portland, Oregon.  We've been there before, but wanted to drop by on our way South to fill a growler or two with some Adam and perhaps some Doggie Claws barleywine.  After a quick visit, we'll be back on the road, headed down towards California. 

Board Membership & The Waiting Game

This past Saturday the 22nd of October, I was officially selected as the next member of the Board of Directors for the Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery.  It's been a long road since I first joined Flying Bike as member #12 earlier this year, but I'm ready to take a leadership role and do all I can to help Flying Bike move forward and become a great success. 

It seemed clear at the annual meeting, that the members desire more communication from the Board of Directors regarding what's happening with the cooperative 'behind the scenes'.  As someone who's only been a member up until now, I fully agree.  During my time on the Flying Bike Board of Directors, I intend to do all I can to make the activities of the Board as transparent to the members of the cooperative as possible. 

Fly-PA Judging Last Month at Pillager's Pub

Next up for Flying Bike is something very exciting.  Our first beer is going on tap!  For those who members who didn't get a chance to try it out at the annual meeting this past weekend, gather your friends and acquaintances and come on out this Thursday, October 27th, where Fly-PA will be on tap at the following locations:

Pillager's Pub
8551 Greenwood Ave. N
Seattle, WA  98103

Beveridge Place Pub
6413 California Ave. SW
Seattle, WA  98136
(West Seattle)

Fiddler's Inn
9219 35th Ave. NE
Seattle, WA  98115

Also, this past weekend, I took my long-anticipated BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) exam.  It was a three-hour written exam, but I was so busy writing the whole time that it felt like it was only about 15 minutes!  The test consisted of several 'essay' style questions and four beer tasting/judging challenges, done at half-hour intervals after the first hour of the exam. 

It's an extremely challenging exam, and the three-hour time limit may sound long, but it's not!  The test requires a vast amount of knowledge regarding all the various styles of beer, the 'classic' examples of what each of those styles should encompass, as well as an extremely thorough knowledge of the entire beer brewing process - all the way from grains to glass. 

Now I play the waiting game.  Unfortunately, the BJCP is so backed up in scoring exams, that I won't have my test results for approximately six months; a long time to wait.  Due to this, however, the BJCP is changing the format of the test next year.  The test will be given in two parts starting next year: The written part which, for the first time ever, will be available to take in an online format, and the tasting portion, which will have to still be scheduled and attended in-person like the current exam. 

I'm hoping I did well enough my first time taking the exam to get 'Certified' status, which requires an exam score of 70% or higher; no easy task.  Otherwise, I'll likely be 'Recognized' status, which requires an exam score of 60% or higher.  But I can always take the exam again next year in the new online format. 

My whole motivation for taking the BJCP exam has been to increase my own personal knowledge about beer and the brewing process, mainly so that I can better articulate my various beer experiences and tastings to my readers.  There is no other benefit to me or to any other BJCP judge beyond the personal satisfaction of gaining the knowledge and experience necessary to continually improve our beer tasting and evaluation skills.  And, though I have now taken the test, the journey is not over.  I'll continue to learn more and improve my tasting and evaluation skills, so that I can provide better information to my readers about all the various and wonderful beers out there to try. 

I'm looking forward to putting some of my sharpened tasting skills to the test this December, when I hope to visit as many of the following breweries during my vacation as possible.  I plan to contact each brewing I'm going to visit beforehand, to see if I can setup some interviews and get you all as much 'inside' information as I can:

Hair of the Dog Brewing Co. - Portland, OR

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. - Chico, CA

Russian River Brewing Co. - Santa Rosa, CA

Lagunitas Brewing Co. - Petaluma, CA

Moylan's Brewing Co. - Novato, CA
(Moylan's is the 'Sister' brewery to Marin Brewing below.)

Marin Brewing Co. - Larkspur, CA

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. - Paso Robles, CA

Stone Brewing Co. - Escondido, CA

Whew!  I hope I'll have time to hit 'em all. 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there!

Pliny The MADNESS!

Many have heard of it; some have not. But whenever it arrives, it sure doesn't last long. Kegs drain in record time. Bottle shops have a run on it and must impose a bottle limit per shopper - and they still run out in under a day in most cases.

What am I talking about? That'd be Russian River Brewing Company's Pliny The Elder Imperial IPA. And those who don't know, Pliny The Elder is one of two 'Pliny' beers made by Russian River (The other, of course, being Pliny The Younger). Both are excellent Imperial IPA's, but that's not the only reason demand for both Plinys has gotten so high.

Beer Advocate, a beer culture website based out of Boston, MA, last year declared Pliny The Younger, quite smiply, the best beer in the World (based on reviews from their readers - all beer styles were allowed/considered).

Head to their site to see a list of their 100 Top Beers. You'll note that Pliny The Younger is right on top.  Does it deserve to be there?  I honestly don't know.  I've never tasted it. 

Pliny showed up in Washington state late last month. My local bottle shop was sold out of Pliny The Elder in just a few hours. Also, at Brouwer's Cafe in Seattle, they tapped a 1/6 barrel (5 Gallon) keg of Pliny The Younger at 10:00PM on Tuesday, March 1st. According to their Facebook page, the keg was drained in approximately 7 minutes!

Now, I can appreciate a well made Imperial IPA as much as the next person; perhaps even more. However, I think that the lengths some people are going to in order to get their hands on a pint or bottle of Pliny is a bit over the top. Is it an excellent beer? Without a doubt. But in your mad dash towards a Pliny, don't overlook all the other amazing beers that are also likely staring you right in the face.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there!