Just a reminder that Sycamore will be hosting another beer dinner on October 27th, one week from today. Here are the details: http://www.sycamorerestaurant.com/events.htm. This dinner looks a bit different, in that no single brewer is featured. A bit more like a tasting that the traditional beer dinner at Sycamore. I’m really looking forward to it!
My first ever bottle of Pliny the Elder. This is a year round offering from Russian River. It came in a 500mL bottle allowing me to use an imperial pint glass and not feel cheated. I’ve been wanting to try this DIPA for quite a while. Thanks to Jason and Jeremy for picking me up a bottle while they were in Denver at GABF. Now if I could have just convinced them to blog GABF I would have been happy. Maybe next year…
Pliny pours golden yellow with a thick, firm head that has some retention. The head also leaves lots of lacing on the glass. Lots of citrusy sweetness on the nose, and bitter pine in the mouth. While bitter, the beer doesn’t have a heavy or overly bitter finish, and is quite drinkable. The finish actually reminds me of peeling and eating a fresh grapefruit.
It is 8% ABV so I don’t know how many I would want in a row, but it is really tasty. And actually, that 8% is hidden well, so I could see this beer sneaking up on me (like Jamie’s Centennial IPA). I will definitely have this one again. Maybe someday we’ll be able to get Russian River here in Columbia, but I don’t expect it anytime soon. Outside of California, Russian River only distributes to Oregon, Colorado, and Pennsylvania.
The Tribune had a nice article about our group in the Wednesday food section. Be sure to check it out.
Another beer dinner is coming up at Sycamore. The tentative beer list looks pretty good. Check the Sycamore events page for more details.
I picked this up in Chicago at the beginning of August. I enjoy Three Floyds beers, but this is the first time I’ve had Pride & Joy. It is called a mild ale by Three Floyds, but all the beers I’ve had from Three Floyds have been anything but mild, so I was curious how this would taste.
The beer pours a light orange amber color. It has a sweet malty nose with a hint of citrus from the hops. The beer doesn’t pour with a lot of head, but it does leave some lacing on the glass. The beer has lots of malty flavor and a mild bitter hoppy finish. All in all a well balanced beer.
It is labeled a session beer, and I can certainly see that. The beer reminds me of Alpha King, without being quite so over-the-top. I’ll definitely picking more of this up next time I make it across the Mississippi River to Illinois.