Clash of the Titans

Alight so it is not a clash at all, more a meeting of two very well respected and different beers on the same night. I have had both before but in limited quantities so I never got to experience a full serving of each.

First up last night was my bottle of Pliny the Elder which I brought back from my Northern California trip. I wish I could bring more beer back, I remember the good ole days when a trip across the Atlantic allowed you two suitcases of checked in luggage up to 60kg (132lb) or more and you could carry on liquids. Now you can barely bring enough clothes to last you a week let alone almost three.
Enough griping, back to the beer. I have heard tell that Pliny is the one of the best IPAs out there. Do I agree? Well lets see. It has one of the best aromas from an IPA that I can remember. Pine, sweet tree sap, grapefruit, a hint of caramel and some orange in there too.
Once in the mouth the first thing that hits you is the hops, your mouth at first feels like it is being assaulted with the different hops but it quickly becomes a fast paced march across your tongue. The bitterness is ever present but does not detract too much from the orange marmalaide, grapefruit and pine forest growing in your mouth. It is an outstanding example of an IPA and while I can't say for certain it is the best I have ever had, it is certainly a beer worthy of visiting Northern California for. Try an go in February and get Pliny the younger which I hear is awesome.


I also cracked open one of my bottles of Tokyo* last night. I last had this in Cumbria and I shared the bottle with a bunch of beer nerds. Tokyo* was once the strongest beer in Britain at 18.2% and caused a storm with the Portman group wanting it banned for promoting binge drinking?* That was lunacy considering a single 330ml bottle of this beer would cost kids £10 and for that money you could buy a crate of cheap beer or a much larger and stronger bottle of whiskey. Anyway this beer started the drive to brew the strongest beer in the world and was eclipsed using freeze distilling techniques up in he 50 odd percent range.
As a beer in its own right, Tokyo* is absolutely magnificent. Now this is a stout but not as we know it. Of all the imperial style stouts I have tried, including brewdog's Paradox range, this is by far my favourite. The aroma is like a good sherry and it warms the cockles from the get go. The alcohol is obvious but it does not hit you in the face and kill the experience. It is almost syrupy without being distracting. Wood and vanilla are in abundance as well as chocolate and some cherry. It is a complete party in your mouth and enjoying a whole bottle is highly recommended. I believe it took me over an hour to finish the 330ml bottle and maybe up to two. Every sip was a pleasure.
I have no interest in trying any of brewdog's other high alcohol Ryanair style advertising gimmick beers but this is a regular one and actually worth the price of €8.95 in Drinkstore. It is not a beer you will drink very often and I do believe that sharing a bottle with a friend is the best way to go.

*I believe brewdog themselves let the Portman group know about the beer to cause a media storm.


Anyway I am off to visit the Nut House today, that is to say I am going to the home of The Beer Nut for Nutfest which is essentially a loaf of beer loving people like myself going for a good time of beer and various cheeses and breads. The underlying reason for this is a stout face off. Three home brewers. One doing stout from a stout kit, one from using Extract brewing (Beer nut himself) and the other doing All grain. A blind tasting will ensue and we have to decide which one is which and what one like the best.
The last time we tried this we were all embarrassed to get them all wrong and pick the kit beer as the best. Since all three of those beers were brewed by the same person but someone who has a lot of experience in kit brewing and more limited in extract and all grain we decided this way would be more interesting. Three brewers, Three different brewing methods and a hell of a lot of beer.