Pliny and the Fig

My craft beer journey began before I knew it, having been introduced to excellent early adopters such as the Boulder Brewing Company and Flying Dog at the tail end of college. Once I found there was life beyond Coors Light, I started reading up on the movement, and soon noted rumors of the best beers out there. Pliny the Elder, an IPA crafted by Russian River Brewing in California, appeared to be the Holy Grail (forgive the mixed metaphor).

I haunted my local libation emporium, Liquor Mart, searching for it among the wall of brew. I finally got up the nerve to ask about it, and the helpful young man told me with a shake of his head, “We get it on the third Tuesday of the month, and it’s always gone by noon,” or something like that.

Scheduling an appointment to buy a beer seemed pretty out there, so I was thrilled to find it one day on the menu at Lucky Pizza in Louisville, Colorado. The depth of its aromas and breadth of its flavors did indeed fill me with joy. It was worth the wait. I hoped (hopped?) to have it again one day.

So imagine my delighted surprise when a fellow Tweeter posted a pic of the iconic beer (called the best in the nation at least seven times over) at none other than my favourite restaurant on the Sonoma town square, The Girl & The Fig. I had a reservation within the hour.

Does the anticipation make a scene even more wonderful than perhaps it deserves? Maybe so. But the back patio at the Fig, a round of duck liver mousse, my family, and a pint of Pliny the Elder sure made for a marvellous afternoon.