Great songs – I love it when there’s a story behind them. I think “Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin is a fun example. If you listen to the song, there’s no reference to a black dog. The name comes from the black dog that wondered about the studio when the song was recorded. That’ll happen when you leave the doors open to enjoy the nice breeze on a warm summer day.

When it comes to beer, I’m the same way. I love a good story. Tonight, I’ll share the story written right on the bottle from Russian River Brewery that I drank tonight. Enjoy!

“Pliny the Elder” (currently #4 on the top 100 beers in the world according to Beer Advocate): “Pliny the Elder, born in 23 A.D., was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian traveler, officer and writer. Pliny, and his contemporaries, created the original botanical name for hops, “Lupus Salictarius”, meaning “wolf among scrubs”. Hop vines, at that time, grew wild among willows, likened to wolves roaming wild in the forest. Pliny the Elder died in 79 A.D. while saving people during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He was immortalized by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who continued his uncle’s legacy by documenting much of what his uncle experienced during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This beer is an homage to the man who discovered hops and perished while being a humanitarian.”

Beer…humanitarian…who knew?

Cheers!