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Russian River Brewing Company Pliny the Elder® Double IPA | 5 Gallon Beer Recipe Kit | All-Grain
Russian River Brewing Company Pliny the Elder® Double IPA | 5 Gallon Beer Recipe Kit | All-Grain
Russian River Brewing Company Pliny the Elder® Double IPA | 5 Gallon Beer Recipe Kit | All-Grain
Russian River Brewing Company Pliny the Elder® Double IPA | 5 Gallon Beer Recipe Kit | All-Grain
Russian River Brewing Company Pliny the Elder® Double IPA | 5 Gallon Beer Recipe Kit | All-Grain
 

Russian River Brewing Company Pliny the Elder® Double IPA | 5 Gallon Beer Recipe Kit | All-Grain

Please select from the following option(s) to see pricing and availability.
Pre-Milled: 
Description
  • This BrewMaster Series kit was scaled down to a homebrew batch size in collaboration with the brewmasters at Russian River Brewing Company
  • THE original Pliny the Elder recipe, given to us directly by Vinnie at Russian River Brewing Company
  • High bitterness and intense hop flavor with a dry malt finish
  • Includes whole Cascade, Magnum, Simcoe®, Columbus, and Centennial hops
  • Estimated ABV: 8%
  • Estimated IBUs: 100+
  • Makes 5 gallons of finished beer

Pliny the Elder is a truly amazing beer with a cult like following, and was once one of the hardest IPAs to find, as Russian River brewed it in very limited quantities. Depending on where you live, it may still be next to impossible to track down! But with this killer clone kit you can make your own Pliny and perhaps you will develop your own cult following where you are worshiped by your beer loving friends. (Hey, it could happen!). Light malt color, huge hops, and a dry finish. Be prepared for an outrageous amount of flavor.

This is THE original Pliny the Elder recipe, given to us directly by Vinnie at Russian River Brewing Company. This beer is an intense Double IPA. High bitterness with a dry malt finish, 8% alcohol, 6 separate hot side hop additions, 3 separate dry hop additions, and intense hop flavor and aroma! Pliny sets the standard for Double IPAs!

Who is Pliny the Elder?
This beer is named after Gainus Plinius Secondus, or Pliny the Elder, a Roman author, lawyer, naval man and naturalist who first mentions the botanical name for hops in his writings - lupus salictarius, which translated from Latin means Wolf Among Willows. Sadly, Pliny died while helping people escape the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in August, 79 AD. Pliny the Younger was the nephew of Pliny the Elder and is the name of another outrageous and highly sought-after beer from Russian River.

Russian River Brewing
If you have not tasted beers from Russian River Brewing Company, you should put it way up on your priority list. This is a brewery with huge demand that keeps quality as a first priority. Owner Vinnie Cilurzo is also unique in that he still actively brews and tests recipes and ingredients (on a MoreBeer! Brewsculpture by the way) on a constant basis. Amazing.

  • Makes 5 gallons
  • Estimated Original Gravity: 1.070-74
  • SRM (Color Range): 10
  • IBUs: 198-202 (this is a theoretical number, you will actually get around 100 IBU)
  • Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 8%

Our recipe kits DO NOT include grain bags, yeast or priming sugar. To find our yeast recommendations, choose your preferred kit option above and then select the drop-down menu under “Yeast Options”.  For more info, click on the recommended yeast(s) below in the “You Might Also Need” section below. All grains will come milled, unless you select unmilled base malts.
 
 
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Community Q&A
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Start typing your question and we'll check if it was already asked and answered. Learn More
Browse 14 questions Browse 14 questions and 25 answers
Why did you choose this?
MoreFlavor Store
i've made this before, really tasty
James L on Mar 7, 2023
Curiosity and I love to brew beer!
Tommy U on Mar 1, 2023
i've made this before, really tasty
James L on Mar 7, 2023
Nice kit close to the real deal
Jeff S on Mar 3, 2023
Curiosity and I love to brew beer!
Tommy U on Mar 1, 2023
Looked like a good IPA kit to make very hoppy and a good amount of abv
Armando O on Feb 23, 2023
I’ve had this beer before and loved it
Carlos M on Feb 23, 2023
Love this beer
Paul M on Feb 22, 2023
I've brewed this kit before, I look to have it on tap for the summer.
Michael C on Feb 15, 2023
Love this beer, spent 10 years in SoCal, can't get it in GA.....
Jackson on Feb 14, 2023
Positive reviews
Jeffrey Von D on Jan 24, 2023
Curious about the classic
Travis A on Jan 24, 2023
Have brewed this many times - a favorite
Valued C on Jan 9, 2023
WE cannot get this beer commercially so I will make it.
John H on Jan 8, 2023
I've brewed it a couple of times now, it's pretty darn close to the real deal.
MelloMoose on Jan 7, 2023
Great Recipe
Dave St. A on Jan 6, 2023
I like Pliny
James G on Jan 5, 2023
Friend's favorite... For Christmas
Jennifer K on Dec 23, 2022
Love Pliny, and this kit saves me the trouble of buying everything separately.
Patrick B on Dec 20, 2022
I've always wanted to brew this recipe
Severn A on Dec 15, 2022
favorite beer
Ross P on Dec 15, 2022
Because its awesome
Matthew S on Dec 15, 2022
Love this kit.
John W. Smith on Dec 7, 2022
GREAT KIT. I HAVE BREWED MANY TIMES
Adam Reynolds on Dec 1, 2022
It's delicious
Jason K on Dec 1, 2022
Great beer for sure!!!
Tony D on Nov 30, 2022
My boss loves this beer and we are unable to get it in florida
Flash G on Nov 9, 2022
I like it
Bob R on Nov 9, 2022
I lived in California until july 2021 and I really miss Russian River beers
Slowbrew on Nov 4, 2022
One of my fovorite beers.
Donald K on Nov 2, 2022
Allways Have Pliny on Tap!!
Barry S on Oct 28, 2022
Because I am cool and people will like me
MIke M on Oct 7, 2022
Pliney not available in Michigan
Andrew P on Sep 12, 2022
Awesome recipe- better than the bottled version
Tony S on Aug 17, 2022
Like the original. Still trying to get the kit to taste as good. Still tase good though.
Jimmy O on Aug 12, 2022
Great beer kit plus coupon. Win-win.
Scott J on Jul 23, 2022
I’ve made this before and it is fantastic!
Ben M on Jul 15, 2022
Fantastic kit. Turned out great last time I brewed it.
Ryan F on Jul 1, 2022
Super good IPA
Tim S on Jun 24, 2022
Had this years ago and loved it
Lauren H on Jun 21, 2022
delicious ale
Murf on Jun 3, 2022
It's Pliny the Elder!
Eric on Jun 1, 2022
Made a good beer before.
William T on Jun 1, 2022
So good!
Ken M on May 31, 2022
Great Kit
David O on May 31, 2022
Good Deal
Jim F on May 28, 2022
Good reviews
Michael C on May 25, 2022
Hubby's favourite
Margaret A W on May 24, 2022
Ordered before, happy with results
DUANE P on Apr 19, 2022
Solid recipe. Always delivers.
Guy F on Apr 8, 2022
Had the beer before it is Amazing!
Jeff H on Apr 4, 2022
I've made this many times and it's delicious!
Michael L on Mar 23, 2022
Nice kit close to the real deal
Jeff S on Mar 3, 2023
Looked like a good IPA kit to make very hoppy and a good amount of abv
Armando O on Feb 23, 2023
Is there an instruction sheet for the all grain kit? Mine shipped with none.
joseph d on May 15, 2019
BEST ANSWER: I'm not sure why it's not included with the shipment but if you look under the documents section of this page (or any all grain kit page) you will find the link to download the all grain instructions. The documents section is right below the description of the beer. Those instructions will take you up to the point after the mash is complete, from there just follow the extract instructions.
Does anyone have a target water profile that they used for the all grain kit?
Tim B on Sep 25, 2019
BEST ANSWER: In the book IPA by Mitch Steele it states that Russian River uses Santa Rosa city water treated with just a small amount of gypsum.
Are there all grain instructions?
Timothy K on Apr 16, 2019
BEST ANSWER: Please go to the bottom of the page under How-To and click on Instructions and Manuals. There is a link to instructions and pdf on All Grain Brewing. Happy Brewing!!
So I got the all grain kit and received the extract instructions. Tank goodness I have done enough brews to know what to do but would it be possible to include the all grain instructions with the all grain kit? I am mashing at 152 (has to guess) so hope this is right. Already did the yeast starter and need to do this tonight, so I hope it turns out right.
Charles C on Feb 14, 2019
How many pounds of grain in this kit?
Matthew L on Jun 12, 2018
BEST ANSWER: The kit uses 14 1/2 pounds of grain and one pound of corn sugar. There are also 14 oz. of hops in the recipe. I used the kit for the first few batches then started buying the ingredients locally. This is one of my favorite beers and I always keep it on hand. It tastes just like the original.
Alan Johnson
Can I get this in a 2.5 or 3 gal kit? If not, is it possible to get the recipe so I can build one on my own? I make mostly small batches because a 5 Gal batch lasts too long and I can try more variety with the smaller batches.
William J Leeper on Jan 28, 2019
BEST ANSWER: Hi William - Unfortunately we do not carry this kit as a 2.5 or 3 gal batch. Please email us at info@moreflavor.com for the recipe. Brewtarget (http://www.brewtarget.org/) is a great tool for scaling batches up or down.
Hello,

For the All Grain Pliny the Elder kit, the 2oz Cascade (mash). Does this mean to add it when I add the grains to mash or as a FWH after the grains are removed?

Thank you.
Jennifer A on Mar 26, 2021
BEST ANSWER: You'll want to add the whole Cascade hops to the mash. I added them right after adding my grains, and stirred it all in. This is called 'mash hopping' and is used to add complexity to the beer. You shouldn't expect this to add any noticeably bitterness. Also, hops in the mash adds porosity to the grain bed and helps with lautering.
Does the Russian Rivers Pliny the Elder® - All Grain Beer Brewing Kit (5 Gallons) come with the Corn Sugar?
Sean S on Jan 20, 2023
BEST ANSWER: Yes my kit did.
The Pliney the Elder recipe says to add the dry hops during primary fermentation. Not sure when. I assume it's not when you pitch the yeast ? The 3 to 7 days is contact time, right
Thanks, Phil
Phil N on Apr 4, 2022
BEST ANSWER: Made this kit, and it turned out perfect. In general, best time to dry hop is right after the yeast is done working. Usually that’s in 3-7days, if you’re using a secondary fermenter that’s the time to add the dry hops and let the alc cool off. Would def recommend a secondary ferment and a cold crash to get this beer super clear.
What mash thickness to use? The brewing sheet specifies 1.1 qt/gallon (not the typical 1.25). Any thoughts on or experiences with this recipe?
Charles M on Mar 22, 2024
BEST ANSWER: It was a while ago so I don’t remember. I probably did whatever the included instructions indicated. What I do remember is it was the most fun out of any kit I have brewed before or since. And it was quite good!!👍😎🍺
I am just starting out and haven't brewed anything yet. Should I order this kit pre milled or not? Thanks
Daniel L on Aug 24, 2022
BEST ANSWER: Thank you for your question. We recommend purchasing this and all of our kits premilled if you do not own a reliable grain mill. Cheers!
Does anyone have a water profile for Russian Rivers Pliny the Elder I can add to my BeerSmith?
Don J on May 17, 2021
BEST ANSWER: Here is a water profile used by Mike McDole who was close with the owner of Russian River and praised for his ability to recreate their beers as homebrew. He published this water recipe on the Maltose Falcon's website many years back in the heyday of Pliny.
"The water was R/O to which was added gypsum, Epsom Salt, and salt to bring it to Ca-110ppm, Mg-18ppm, Na-17ppm, SO4-350ppm, Cl-50ppm. "
The recipe is not posted for some reason. I wanted to know if this kit uses Cascade hops?
Charles C on Feb 5, 2019
BEST ANSWER: Hi Charles - Thank you for pointing that out, we will be sure to add the recipe onto the webpage. This website (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/morebeer-pliny-the-elder-instructions-confusion.302620/) contains the recipe sheet. It's towards the middle of the page.
Recommended mash thickness? Brewing sheet specifies 1.1 qt/pound, not the typical 1.25 qt. Any comments? Recommendations? Experiences? (this question was corrected and resubmitted)
Charles M on Mar 22, 2024
Reviews
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4.8 / 5.0
91 Reviews
5 Stars
4 Stars
3 Stars
2 Stars
1 Star
77
8
5
1
0
Rated 5 out of 5
Tastes great and a fantastic tribute to the real Pliny
This is a fantastic kit which comes with so many hops. I have learnt a lot brewing this one - up to version three now. The cascade whole hops in the mash create an immediate atmosphere that this will be a serious brew day - and it is. 90 min boil, hop edition after hop edition and dry hops to top it off. Tastes fantastic, however as I improve my processes it is tasting better. A brew to develop skills!
April 8, 2025
Rated 5 out of 5
excellent all grain kit
One of the best all grain kits I have tried.
It will definitely be my choice when I brew an IPA.
March 6, 2025
Purchased
 over 6 years ago
Rated 5 out of 5
Finally, the kit vs the real Elder
From those other states in the United States or America without a sense of taste or humor. I finally had friend who gave me a real bottle of Pliny the Elder I can finally compare it with the corresponding kit I brewed previously. This being the case, I can tell you the kit provided is excellent and under my my amateurish brewing and taste skill it is as close to original as expected. I will definitely brew this again. For transparency purpose, I implemented a partial mash with 10 lbs or grain with with DME instead of the full grain bill. Conclusion, this kit was excellent, and I will brew again. Hint, Hint - I recommend it.
September 29, 2024
Rated 4 out of 5
Great, kit, but ABV calculation is off
First of all, great kit, a ton included and great value. I was a little bit disappointed when my OG came in at 1.060 as the recipe sheet shows a 1.070+. I started to think that I did not receive all of the grain that was part of the package, but then entered everything into a grain/ABV calculator which said that the real potential for this amount of grain is 1.065. I have historically had great efficiency with my Anvil Foundry and was just a little bit thrown off by the OG.
April 8, 2024
Rated 5 out of 5
Ingoming up on a decade of Brewing this beer
My first try at this was in September of 2014. I brewed a 10 gallon batch of this used Nottingham from Lallemand. It was my first Brew using Brun-water to dial in the water chemistry and mash ph, and the resulting beer was nothing short of life-changing. Almost literally so. I called three brewing friends to stop in and try it the first night on tap, and they showed up the next two nights in a row. We drank that first 5.1 gallon keg in three nights. There were some days called off from work from that experience. We all laugh about it to this day but you just simply couldn't stop. Wow is this stuff good.

I've done it both from kits and from ingredients I stock, and I'm going to say hands down my best results are picking up the kits and brewing it because the hop quality is quite important in this beer, and it's better when I open individual bags rather than using some of my stuff that might have been on the shelf a little while. The cost difference is meaningless, if there's any at all, so I'm sold on just buying it in kit form. My third batch went to a County Fair brewing contest and won first place, in spite of having competition from many local microbreweries, and members of several local brew clubs.

I keep spare kegs in refrigeration at all times and I'm convinced it really helps this beer. It also allows it to sit and cold crash for months on end if you can keep it around that long. I highly recommend filtering out as much hop matter as you can so it does not go in the fermenter. If the pellet hops is not taken out of the wort adequately, you will end up with a harsh bitterness which I think is pretty common in many brews, but not remotely desirable. If you can clean this beer up really well before you ferment it, it will do wonders for the end result. There's no lack of bitterness without the hops in the fermenter. Done correctly, this is a transcendent beer. I will also confess I have made a batch that I did not filter and it was so harsh I dumped that 10 gallon batch down the drain. Those are painful moments but I was certainly not going to drink it.

I've never done this beer with a starter, but my best results have been when I pitched trub from a previous batch in order to get a much higher pitch rate. It deserves some extra yeast. When I've done new dry yeast , I use three packs for a 10 gallon batch. But I get slightly better results pitching have to an entire quart jar of harvested yeast in this.
February 3, 2024
Purchased
 over 7 years ago
Rated 5 out of 5
Some
Of the best brew I've made
March 27, 2023
Purchased
 over 2 years ago
Rated 2 out of 5
Incomplete instructions.
Please include some dry yeast, and enough of it. I wanted to get a kit so I could learn a recipe by seeing every what ingredient was, but not including the yeast was confusing and what I tried didn't work out.

Why was one of the specialty grains pre-milled when I selected to not have any pre-milled?

Also, if one is ordering an all-grain kit, please just include the all-grain instructions, not extract ones.

I am really new, and this as my 1st all-grain brew. So, more instructions would have been helpful, like
- How fine to crush the grain in my mill.
- How long fermentation is expected.
- Precautions about preventing hop matter from getting into the brew, hazing it up too much.
- keg carbonating tips.
March 13, 2023
Purchased
 over 2 years ago
Response from MoreFlavor
Hi John! Thanks for reaching out and for providing your feedback for our kits. I certainly understand your frustrations and am happy to help make sure your next brew goes as smoothly as possible. Feel free to reach out to us in Customer Service. Myself or another rep will help you understand our kits and why we set them up the way we do.

Regarding general instructions for all grain brewing, I'd suggest checking out our "How-to" section at the bottom of our website. In addition to all of the resources here, there are plenty of resources available online to help new all-grain brewers with any aspect of the process. Cheers!
March 24, 2023
Zack M
Rated 3 out of 5
You can get this beer with a much simpler process.
I brewed this beer, then brewed another beer I created a few years ago, me or my buddy couldn't tell the difference.
Here is my much simpler and easier recipe for this exact beer.
13 lbs pilsner
. 5 lbs carapils
1 oz Citra boil for 30 mins
1 oz Simcoe and 1 oz Amarillo 30 min whirlpool
1 oz Simcoe and 1 oz Amarillo 30 min whirlpool (this is a double whirlpool)
1 oz Amarillo and 1 oz Simcoe dry hop day 3
1 oz Amarillo and 1 oz Simco on kegging day
That's it
Enjoy!
August 7, 2022
Rated 3 out of 5
Vary bitter, going to reduce the heat to hops.
User submitted image
Added Jul 23, 2022
July 23, 2022
Purchased
 over 3 years ago
Rated 5 out of 5
Truly a Clone
I've been doing extract brewing for many years and even tried a Pliny LME clone kit from another supplier. While it was okay, I was left pretty unimpressed.

I pulled the trigger on an all grain setup and didn't hold back on getting everything for a very good home brewery... conical unitank, glycol chiller, kegging, pressure transfer, etc.

My very first brew in the new setup was this Pliny kit and I couldn't be more ecstatic with the outcome. Several people who are quite familiar with the real deal, including me, have tasted it and simply couldn't believe it was possible.

I followed the directions faithfully throughout. My only screwup was having the blowoff tube in sanitizer when cooling the wort in the conical before pitching yeast... I think I sucked a cup or two of Star San into the fermenter. Perhaps I should incorporate that into the recipe going forward. ;-)

Despite my one screwup, we did back-to-back taste comparisons with 6-week old bottles of real Pliny and almost everything was exactly spot on; color, ABV, bitterness, carbonation, and malt. The only difference was a very slightly more intense hop flavor in the real deal and I have ideas on how to resolve that one discrepancy for the next batch.

My goal in my new brewery setup was to avoid any oxygen exposure on the cold side. While that's important for any brew, I think it's particularly important for this one and am confident it's the reason I got so close to the real thing.

I did 5 days of fermentation at 66?F, dumped trub/yeast, dry hopped, and then a gradual diacetyl rest to 72?F for another 5 days before cold crashing and carb'ing in the conical prior to pressure transferring to keg. Total of 12 days from boil to serving with no additional conditioning.

I should add that I used CellarScience CALI and there's no way I'll move away from this for future batches despite not being a liquid yeast. Phenomenal results and my attenuation came out perfect. Super impressed.
June 28, 2022
Purchased
 over 3 years ago
 
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