Heady, Focal Banger and Sip of Sunshine show up once every couple of months at some bottle shops in LA.
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I could be wrong, but I think those bottle shops don’t get them through distribution channels, they get them by trading or buying them off of someone over there, and usually mark them up a crazy amount and limit them by one or two cans per person. At least that’s what it was like a couple of years ago.
pliny the elder is semi-widely distributed yearround
pliny the younger is limited release, bottles only available directly from the brewery, but some bars in LA get kegs of it
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I think (at least for Heady and Focal Banger) they are distributed properly. I have gotten 4 packs at Total Wine in Glendale when they have come out this way. Brew dates were within a month and have gotten some that were 2 weeks old. Total Wine did not refrigerate it though, which is criminal.
Yep I see Heady Topper and Focal Banger in the OC every so often. Usually 1-2 cans max at a decent markup. I would lean towards grabbing some of the local brewery cans over month old marked up cans.
Pliny the Elder was never very hard to find.
In the Bay Area, sure. But down here it was pretty limited for a while. There was a long period where Russian River wasn’t taking new accounts so only legacy bars and shops got it, and even then it was one case here, one keg there. I remember telling people the distributor’s schedule so they could time up their visits to Bill’s in Atwater with Pliny deliveries and catch it before it sold out.
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Tell me you didn’t drink Pliny back in the day without telling me you didn’t drink Pliny back in the day 
It was very limited as to which stores got it, and when they did, they imposed one bottle per person rules. It would still usually sell out in a matter of a couple of hours or less, so I’d say it was pretty hard. Sort of like how people are treating Fortaleza, Blantons, etc. now a days.
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You have a good OC hook up for Blantons that isn’t marking up crazy? I found a place by me that sells for $150. GTFO
Not in OC, but I’ve had luck in total wines and random liquor stores around LA where I’ve found them for $70-80
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Citra from KRBC hits better than pliny and shockingly even that beer is a shelf bitch these days.
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Maaan, I remember winning the lottery to pick up Citra at Kern, it was hands down THE most glorious beer I’ve ever had in my life. That was maybe 11 years ago, since then the head brewer left, they’ve expanded and it just hasn’t tasted the same. Camping up the river and going to the brewery is so much damn fun. Highly recommend for a weekend.
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The El Segundo Citra has been great lately. I agree on Kern going a bit downhill recently.
I mostly stick to Green Cheek and Monkish bc I live 15 minutes away from both. GC makes the most consistent best WCIPA IMHO. Monkish makes the best hazy. Best of both worlds. No distribution of cans but you can get lucky with kegs in the area.
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I don’t know about LA, but in the Bay Area that was Pliny the Younger, which they brew only once a year. I saw the Elder fairly often at good beer bars and liquor stores with a good beer selection. It’s currently in stock at Total Wine & More in Glendale, Long Beach, and Woodland Hills.
Pub draft and bottles, local distribution draft and bottles, some draft to distributors, bottles to all distributors, year-round.
Pliny the Younger will be released in person at both our Santa Rosa and Windsor pubs on tap and in bottles from March 22nd – April 4th, 2024! Stay tuned for more info coming soon!
My dude……. everyone in this thread is clearly familiar with both beers, and yes both were rare down here for a long time. Obviously PtY more so, and they didn’t even bottle it until recently, but PtE was indeed rare in LA until the last few years. Ask anyone who worked in the business or at a package store from like 2010-2020 (me) about the calls they used to get for Pliny.
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Bristol Farms in South Pasadena usually has a lot of Pliny the Elder in stock (chilled), no limit. Ocean Liquor on Huntington Drive in So. Pas. has several coolers full of craft beer, including the Pliny and several others from Russian River (including Pliny for President) that I’d not seen before. I’m appreciating all the IPA recs here! It took me a loooong time to appreciate IPAs, and it was the NEIPAs that were my “gateway drug” that allowed me to start enjoying the WCIPAs…that, and a visit to Alpine Brewing in SD County before they sold out, which helped me understand how crucial freshness is to the quality of an IPA. The bar has gotten so much higher now, which sure helps.
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Pliny for President is very good - if you see bottles in the wild or if cans are available I highly recommend. The cans have been on sale twice this year on Friday and sell out very quickly. I’m saving 1 bottle for a get together this weekend and 1 for Super Bowl.
I’ve had Pliny the Elder a few times in my life. My first time was 11 years ago when I made my pregnant wife and 18 month old wait in line for 6 hours at Hollingshead Deli in Orange for a taste. Coincidentally I almost got divorced 11 years ago. The same 10 or so places in LA and OC get PtE every year. It’s a real pain but I do prefer the places that sell tickets ahead of time that can be redeemed on a specific date vs having to wait in line.
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pre lottery, queue for 3 hours with breakfast burritos next door to the brewery. I gotta bust out my tshirt I bought too. Citra was one of the best beers I have ever had too.
Sucks many breweries expanded and quality dipped, two of my favorite beers of all time from Alpine pre Greenflash. Makes me sad 
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The guys from Alpine opened a small brewery a few years back named Mcilhenney Brewing. Freed from their corporate overlords and whatever noncompete clauses they were under a few of the old recipes came back.
Just gonna put this here for you:
Muntz = OG Nelson
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Awesome, thanks for the info!
I haven’t really been up on the beer game and since we have many local spots here such as Bottle Logic, Brewery X and Monkish I haven’t made my way down to Alpine. But this definitely gives me a reason to schlep down there because Nelson was my friend and I all time favorite beer.
The only beer that I had that came close was Nelson Showers but it was limited.
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