Historia Naturalis

If you see this...DRINK IT!

So when I went to Sacramento again recently, I decided to be crazy and drive over 2 hours to the bay area, just to get to the town of Santa Rosa, CA to experience the beer known as Pliny the Elder.  Toted by the Zymurgy Magazine and Beer Advocate as one of the greatest beers in the world, and me having a penchant for a tasty brew, I figured it would be worth the trip.

So yes, it is the greatest IPA I've ever had.  Which is sad, because I had though Bell's Two Hearted Ale was my favorite, and is much easier to get a hold of, not requiring a trip to CA...or even a trip up to Philidelphia.  Sadly the scenery of Napa and Sonoma counties were shrouded in nightfall, as the only the time I could go was after work, and then to the red-eye flight back home...

Did I mention this was the best IPA I've ever tasted?  The balance of mouthfeel with the hoppy character, which never bit hard, but swirled with iridescent characters of pine, grapefruit, pineapple, hyacinth, chardonnay and a hint of strawberry and grass showed a penchant for a deep knowledge of how hop-species play together.  That, and their name alone, took me on a journey of history that I had no idea was the origin of a lot of my scientific background.  The origin, would be his Historia Nautralia, a monumental compendium which tries to condense all of the roman scientific knowledge and and his field observations into a tome for all time.  And which most relevantly, does he identify the lupus Salictarius, "The Wolf of the Willows," a.k.a the beloved hop plant.  

Pliny's wiki article alone is a fascinating read.   In fact, the type of eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, Pinatubo, Mt. St. Helens and the like, where you have the explosion of the caldera into a mushroom cloud is called a Plinian eruption, in honor of this great scholar.

So I recommend on this journey, crack open a fresh bottle and then tune into this fantastic song by local Northern Virginia artist Meredith Bragg called "Plinian ".  Below are the lyrics to the song provided in the link...no youtube vidya this time.

When the stones rained down and smoke rose above the clouds

Dodging debris, my uncle put his fleet to sea

And as he waved and turned away, set his sails across the bay

Who could ever guess, my dear Tacitus

The gods were so enraged

And the lightning arched, and dust turned the daylight dark

And the helmsmen cried, wondered it they’d survive

But through the thickening smoke, they found the harbor choked

Still he urged them on while he stayed calm

And the ash fell like snow

And the mountain ground, tearing the buildings down

And for two dark days, fires lit the Naples Bay

When it came for them leave, there was no escape by sea

And his body fell as the vapors swelled

They say he died as if asleep

On a lonely ridge, a couple focus in

Their lenses trained on smoke and fire and flame

And in unison they rise as the plume reached greater heights

While around the bend a grey cloud descends

That’ll be their demise

And with blinding speed they’re both killed instantly

And the Island roars, boiling the ocean floor

Though their bodies disappear, mingled with the earth and air

They will echo on through the work they’ve done

Projected through the years

Meredith has created something really special here, using only the guitar and mastering effects to produce this haunting narrative as told by Pliny's beloved nephew to the roman historian Tacitus.  What I find fascinating, besides the limitation of using only guitar to make this piece, is the penchant for the classics, and delivering it with an emotional force to make the centuries old story relevant today, with romance, love and wistfulness that stands the test of time.

If only, Meredith were more famous...and his tumblr site more detailed...and he had more videos on youtube.  His label is Kora Records.  Who I invite you to peruse for other gems, like Fredrik.

Video Song "Viskra" by Fredrik