Finally Tried Pliny The Younger!

Russian River Brewery makes a double IPA called Pliny the Younger. Beer lovers rave about it and it consistently rates near the top of beer rankings. I’m an IPA kind of guy myself, so this is right up my alley. The problem is that the beer is only available about 2 weeks of the year, in February.

It took me 6 years or so to get it, but I finally tried it this year. Here is how and where I found it.

The brewery itself of course has it, but the lines are epic. Sometimes 12+ hours. I want the beer but not that badly.

In SF, Toronado seems to always get a few kegs of it, but every time I have been there have either been huge lines or they were out. So I went there on a Monday at 10:30 to await the bar’s 11:30 opening. I was 4th in line, so I liked my chances.

Until the bartender stuck a sign in the window saying “No Pliny”. No Pliny? What could that mean? No Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger’s regularly available and pretty good counterpart?? I stayed in line in denial until 11:15, then gave up and went home to search the Twitter for other places nearby with it. At 1:30 I saw a Tweet from a guy claiming he was enjoying Pliny the Younger at Toronado that moment. I raced back over in an Uber and walked right in and ordered 2.

I ended up having 5 that day. Happiness.

After that, I watched Twitter for bars announcing they had it. From reading other people’s experiences, ahead of time announcements usually brought people over in flocks and the keg would tap as you waited in line.

Taplist.at was handy in reporting Pliny sightings, but with some lag between the official sighting and the email landing in your inbox.

I was able to get a second set of servings of Pliny the Younger at City Beer Store on Folsom. Taplist.at reported it on tap on a Wednesday night, and I was in the area on a Thursday running an errand away from work. I figured I’d just drop by City Beer to see if they had it. They did. Had 2 small glasses before they tapped.

I do see what all the fuss is about — the beer is amazing.

Next year, I’ll be watching Twitter for sightings, using taplist.at and get the time away from work to get the beer while the sun shines because it usually taps before dark.