The Russian River Brewing Co. is known to brew some good beer. Don’t take my word for it. Mention their double IPA, Pliny the Elder (PTE), to any beer geek and watch as their eyes widen and gloss over. What makes me even more happy (or hoppy, sorry bad joke) about it is that these guys are based in northern CA! But, even being a “local” brewery, some of their stuff is still hard to come by, like the previously mentioned PTE. This is probably one reason that people go gaga over it. Supply and demand. I was lucky enough to have some at Father’s Office and yes, it was good. Now I’m on an epic mission to buy some of this stuff, bottled. Luckily, there’s a Total Wine near my work that carries it. So I stopped by one day and asked if they could check on a beer for me. When I told them that it was PTE, the look on their face immediately told me that many, many people have asked this question, and the answer is usually a no. I was informed that shipments usually come in on Thursdays and that only a few boxes come in at a time. They added that they go out really fast, usually that day. MAN! It’s like their bottles from the fountain of youth or something. Well, so far no luck, but I will persevere.

Anyway, hope that was a nice introduction because I will now move onto something crazier. PTE’s younger son, Pliny the Younger. It’s Russian River’s baby. A triple IPA brewed so well that it is one of the few beers that has scored a perfect 100. But because it’s so difficult to make, Russian River only releases this batch once a year for two weeks. TWO WEEKS. That’s it. Luckily for the rest of us that aren’t able to go directly to them, they also distribute it to carefully selected beer establishments throughout the area. It’s usually a first come first serve kind of thing, but because it’s Pliny the Younger, pours are made smaller, and the amount of pours you get are restricted. Some places even have to resort to raffling off the beer or having an invite-only event. Are you getting how crazy this beer is? Lucky for us (if you’re reading this in time), we’re at the tail end of the release, and you can catch one of the last tastings available if you’re in the area.

The Bottle Room was able to snag a 1/2 barrel keg of this stuff and will be releasing it tomorrow, 2/28 @ 3PM. According to their site, the pours will be limited to half pints and 2 pours per person. They estimate 250 half pints so don’t miss your chance. If you do, there’s always next year.

In the mean time, their less rare items are good beers as well, and I highly recommend their Damnation Golden Ale. I’ve only seen it at Total Wine, but it could be elsewhere.

Photo courtesy of Beersurfing

The OC Restaurant Week has begun. I’ve participated in the last couple of years and there were good experiences and bad ones. Oh the bad ones… Let’s just say I’m not going back to JT Schmid’s ever again. Anyway, one in particular sticks out and I think you get a lot for what you pay for. At Slater’s 50/50, for $20 they give you an appetizer, burger and a dessert. It also includes a beer or a glass of wine. Not too bad. Their burgers alone are ginormous, so I’m pretty sure you would have your fill. I don’t know if they have any restrictions on the beer selection though. I’ve been conned before where a restaurant offered a beer with each course, but we didn’t know until we got there that it was only one type and it was their nasty house beer. Also, in case you were curious, the “50/50″ is in reference to their patties that contain 50% bacon and 50% beef. Enjoy.

I want this garage.

Via Design Milk

A few co-workers and I were feeling a little good, so we decided to check out the mighty Santa Ana River that flows right behind our parking lot. It’s good to just be out in nature you know? Go back to our roots as man. Yea, so it’s more of a man-made river for drainage, but it’s still beautiful. Who am I kidding, it’s the anus of north OC, spewing out the things that everyone turns a blind eye to. Ah, nature.