West Coast Brewer Home Brewing Blog

Month: February 2014

Pliny the Younger!

Pliny the Younger - Tripple IPA

Pliny the Younger

 

Well folks, it is just about that time of the year again for Pliny the Younger to make it’s very rare and very antisipated appearance!  For those of you who do not know, Pliny the Younger is one of the most difficult beers to come by.  Only a handful of breweries and pubs will receive a keg of it and most of those will sell out of it within just a few hours.

 

Per Russian River Brewing Company, Pliny the Younger is categorized as a Triple IPA with and ABV of 10.25%.  It is very dry for the amount of malt used in the recipe, and it is loaded with hoppy flavor and bitterness. The hops used in the 2014 recipe are Simcoe, Warrior, Chinook, Centennial, Amarillo, and Tomahawk.

 

If you are live near Santa Rosa, CA then the Russian River brew pub is your best bet for getting you hands on a glass.  Unfortunately they will not do a growler fill of it, so drink up and enjoy before they run out of their daily allocation.  It is available at the brew-pub from February 7th – 20th.

 

If you happen to live in the Orange County, CA area you can try your luck at the Tustin Brewing Co, who is kicking off their Russian River Week Celebration starting on February 17th.  Here is some information on the even from the Tustin Brewer:  “Here at TBC, the most wonderful time of year is Russian River Week. The release of Russian River Pliny the Younger is obviously enough to celebrate on it’s own, however, we like to take it up a notch. We will be showering you with as much Russian River beer as possible. The hits, Pliny the Elder, Blind Pig, Row 2 Hill 56, and a slew of the beloved “tions.” We can’t determine each year how much we will be able to hoard, but we do know we will have more Russian River than anyone else in the OC. Oh yes, I know you’re all asking yourselves…Pliny the Younger will be released Wednesday, February 19th. Event details to follow…”

 

I am going to do my best get secure my goblet of Pliny the Younger this year and wish the rest of you the best of luck in getting a glass as well!

Pre-Built Beer Racks, Home Breweries, Brewing Stands and Brew Sculptures

 

Brewing Sculpture

Turnkey Home Brewery – Morebeer.com – Single Tier Home Brewing Rack

 

 

If you are interested in purchasing one of these all grain home brewing stands, you can view their full lineup here:

Click Here For Stainless Steel Home Brewing Stands

 

Pre-built beer stands, turnkey home breweries, pre-made brew sculptures, single tier brewing stands, multi tier home breweries… call them what you will.  Before your only option was to build your own brewing stand, but now, if you have the money; there are several pre-built home brewery options available.  So which is the best option for your money?

 

If I had not already gone through the blood, sweat, tears and frankly burns of welding and constructing my own single level home brewing stand; I would opt for one of MoreBeers brewing sculptures.  Over the last 5 years they seem to have perfected the pre-manufactured beer rack.  They have 3 styles of brewing sculptures available for you to choose from; a stainless steel single tier brewing rack, a 3 tier tippy-dump brewing sculpture and a 3 level gravity based home brewery.  I would personally go with their single tier home brewing stand, but if you have space limitations or can not afford the hefty price tag of the single level brewing stand, the stainless steel multi tier brewing stands are a great option as well.

 

 

3 Tier Home Brewing Rack

Multi-level home brewing stand – MoreBeer Tippy-Dump Stainless Steel Brewing Stand

 

What I like most about MoreBeer’s stainless steel brewing stands, over the other pre-constructed brewing stands on the market is that they seem to have thought of everything in their design and did not skimp on any of the features.  Their brewing racks are all made out of stainless steel and many of their versions include the following features:

  • Stainless Steel Maximizers and Diverter
  • High Temperature March Pumps
  • The MoreBeer Stainless Steel Ultimate Sparge Arm
  • Digital Temperature Controls
  • Control Panel
  • Convoluted Heat Exchanger for RIMS and HERMS support
  • Boil Kettle Whirlpool Arm
  • Fantastic Customer Support
  • Hard propane lines

The only downside that I can see is the price.  One of these stainless steel home brewing stands will run you anywhere from $1099  to over $6000 depending on the style, capacity and features that you want in your brewing sculpture.  In all reality that is not too bad of a deal when you consider that it comes with the kettles and almost all of the items that you will need to have an out of the box, ready to go, top of the line all grain home brewery constructed from stainless steel.

 

If you are interested in purchasing one of these all grain home brewing stands, you can view their full lineup here:

Click Here For Stainless Steel Home Brewing Stands