What if I told you that one of the world’s most regarded breweries was a mere four-and-a-half-hour drive from San Luis Obispo, yet its beer was completely foreign to us?
Unfortunately, this scenario — which I call the doomsday scenario — is true.
The Russian River Brewery, based out of Santa Rosa, makes some of the most tasty artisanal beers.
In fact, its signature brew, called Pliny the Elder, is rated as the sixth best beer in the world by Beer Advocate.
Sadly for us, the nearby brewery doesn’t deliver its bottled goods to anywhere on the Central Coast, according to its website.
I knew a little about Russian River Brewery for a long time but had never lucked upon any of their beer until about a year ago at a bar in San Diego. I saw Pliny the Elder on tap and I about fainted.
It’s not often you get to try one of the top 10 beers of the world, let alone have it available on tap.
Pliny the Elder is a double IPA, or as I like to call it, the steroids-era Barry Bonds of IPAs.
Double IPAs are not for the weak of spirit. They are super hoppy, very strong drinks with bursting flavor and Pliny, being a top beer of the world, was no different.
I’m not what you would call a hop-head, but this beer was simply orgasmic. It had a very strong scent of pines, citrus and mega hops.
I thought I was going to be overpowered by the beer, but it was very balanced. It’s an 8 percent beer, but really isn’t too strong. The flavor is just right.
I loved every drop of it, but sadly it was my only brush with greatness, as my buddy wanted to get home. Being a visitor in a strange land, I was forced to head back with him.
It seemed a little premature for me to recognize the greatness of this brewery based on one beer so I did what any great writer would do when in peril – I asked my girlfriend Sarah, who is currently living in Colorado, to taste for me.
Now, she’s not as beer snobbish as me, but I wouldn’t date her if she didn’t like good beer, so you can trust her evaluation.
Russian River Brewery doesn’t send its beer to a lot of places, but for some reason, my girlfriend’s podunk town in Colorado has it at one liquor store. Talk about random.
I recommended that she try a concoction they call Supplication.
For any of you wine lovers out there, Supplication is aged in pinot noir barrels with sour cherries and wild yeast strains, a year before it is bottled.
“There is some hoppiness to it, not like an IPA-hoppy but very dry tasting, almost like a dry champagne taste,” she said. “You can taste the sugar and molasses after you swallow.”
Huh, that’s a pretty succinct analysis. Maybe she should be the one writing the column. Anyway, she went on to say there are early tastes of sour cherries and tartness in the beginning, but that it has a very pleasant aftertaste. She recommends it to beer and wine lovers alike for its uniqueness.
Sarah says she wouldn’t drink more than one of these at a time because they are so different.
So I know what you’re thinking. Why are you telling me this if I can’t get the beer here.
Well, I’m organizing a letter writing campaign (i.e. pestering the owners of the brewery until they start delivering the beer here).
You can join me in sending an email to info@russianriverbrewing.com. Please be nice to them, it’s a relatively small brewery and I want them to actually deliver the beer here, not blackball us from ever getting it.
Tell them this is a college town that likes more than just Natty Ice. We want their artisan brewing here. And we want it now.