Pliny the Elder

[BlackDuck]

Good job on the FG.

As for the tatse, I wouldn't worry too much right now. I remember mine was so-so at the dry hop stage too. And I was worried that it wasn't going to be real flavorful. But when I finally tasted it after the conditioning phase, I was quite surprised has much flavor it had. I'm sure yours will be awesome too.

[Inkleg]

Glad to hear that this batch has gone better than the last. I myself have a hard time telling how a beer is going to be before it's carbed. When it gets to that stage I have no doubt it will be equal to or better than ours.

[Kealia]

Yeah, clearly 3/4 oz of each dry hop isn't enough

That's why I quit tasting my beers until they are 100% ready. I've had mediocre tastings along the way that turned out great but it killed my anticipation for them to be ready. Now, I just wait it out.

I'm sure this will be outstanding when it's fully carbed.

[Beer-lord]

Actually, the first dry hop is 3 oz total but the second is only 3/4 oz total. Yeah, it's a lot but look at Maharaja. It had almost 9 oz of dry hops total.
Look at what you did now! I'm now going to have brew Maharaja again soon since you put it in my mouth. You are an evil person.

[Inkleg]

We shall see.
Not that I don't believe y'all, but while taking a sip yesterday I said really to no one but myself "damn this is a good beer", the wife ask which one I was drinking. Told her it was the Pliny and she said "why don't you enter that one too, you're always talking about it". So I just added another entry to go with my Saison and Biere de Garde to be judged at the Suwanee Beer Fest.

Now when to bottle from the keg, I'll be dropping off my beers on the 22nd. Bottle them now or closer to the 22nd? What do you think?

[BlackDuck]

I would think you should bottle it now. Then let it sit in the fridge until you drop them off. This way, it's undisturbed for a longer period of time. If you bottle from the keg closer to that date, it might effect the clarity slightly.

By the way. I've got a three hour drive back home from my brothers today. And it looks like it will be snowing the entire ride. Good thing I prepped the fridge with 3 bottles of Pliny before I left on Friday. After a three hour snowy drive, I'm going to need a few beers. And Pliny is the prefect one for the job. I'll post a pic later tonight.

[Beer-lord]

Yep, bottle now. Let us know how you do.
Gonna do the 2nd dry hop this week then keg next weekend. Fingers still crossed tightly it's good.

[BlackDuck]

So I left my brothers amid quite the snow fall.

The highway looked like this for almost the entire drive:

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Then, when I got home, someone wanted to play in the snow:

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So, after a long snowy ride and a little bit of snow fun with the little one, it was time for this:

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And oh boy is this good. Just like it was last time too. Nice and hoppy and very tasty.

[Beer-lord]

Other than the snow, I'm envious. You can keep the snow, send me the beer. You have a beautiful daughter. I'm sure she takes after her mom.

[Kealia]

What's great is knowing that I've tasted that beer (a number of us have, actually) so it makes it seem like I can almost taste it from that picture, too.

Enjoy!

[Inkleg]

I was thinking the same thing Ron, "I know that beer".
It looks REALLY tasty Chris, I can smell it from here. I will not touch mine until I bottle the two for the competition, which I'll do in the next day or two. There's 15-20 left in the keg. Damn almost time for a re-brew again.

Like Paul said, thank goodness for that mother/daughter connection.

[BlackDuck]

Like Paul said, thank goodness for that mother/daughter connection.

No kidding....if she looked like me do you really think I would have posted a picture of her?

[Inkleg]

Like Paul said, thank goodness for that mother/daughter connection.

No kidding....if she looked like me do you really think I would have posted a picture of her?

Good point, she'd probably look like that frog hat she's wearing.

[Beer-lord]

Did the final dry hop tonite. It calls for .75 total but since I need more hops because Pliny just isn't hoppy enough and since I don't want to keg hop, I did double that amount. It's nothing compared to the dry hop amounts for Maharaja but they are different beers.
Fingers crossed for this ending up like I hope it does.

[Inkleg]

You went with MORE HOPS than called for, Oh my, how will you live with yourself.
Sounding great Paul, keep us informed.