The world says: "The best beer ever, anywhere ever, ever." We say: "Possibly, as long as you love hops."

Frankly, the only ones who would claim Pliny the Elder to be "overrated" would be contrarians. This is an expertly brewed beer, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Team SpoCOOL does prefer other styles of beer over the Double IPA, but it's impossible not to have mad respect for what Russian River has produced here.

It pours a clear copper color, almost shimmering, with a thick foamy head. Looks great, smells even better, with hops front and center, flanked by citric and fruity tones. A kind of unexpected hit of malts shows up toward the end.

And this is where Pliny the Elder shines. Double IPAs tend to be hop bombs, where some of the better ones generously add a bit of fruitiness toward the back. There's more to Pliny the Elder. This is probably the most balanced IPA I can remember trying, where the malts compliment the hops perfectly. It's not often I'd classify an IPA as being "malty", but Pliny the Elder is just that. Hoppy and malty.

It's a strange sensation: The hops hit hard, but within seconds the malts show up, dancing a Charleston over the tongue. As they swirl around, they toss off orange, pineapple, grapefruit… All the flavors work together in a sweet harmony, with a creamy mouthfeel.

Now, if you're not a hop fan you probably won't love this. But you will at least like it and respect it. It is impossible not to.

Sadly I've rarely seen this beer in our area—it has been about two years since I saw it in a Spokane store (I believe it was JB's)—and found this bottle in Seattle. Pick one up if you can, it is more than well worth it.

We've kept our mouths shut about I-1183, largely because we have—in the immortal words of the Stones—mixed emotions about the whole thing. Deregulating liquor sales is in and of itself fine, but the ten thousand square feet restriction seems incredibly arbitrary to us. Wonderful as it is for Shell only to be able to provide Bud, but not vodka, to bums and sixteen year olds, we can't help but think boutique liquor stores would benefit us more than liquor superstores.

Of course, we can shout and complain about it as much as we like, but the superstores are coming according to a Spokesman article. Total Wine is first in line, looking at opening two stores in north Spokane and the Valley. I'll leave the snarky stereotyping up to you.

Meanwhile, a look at the Liquor License Stalker will reveal that every grocery store ever (of a certain size) is intending to sell spirits.

Our take on the whole thing: With liquor superstores you'll probably see somewhat of a price reduction on ordinary brands of liquor. However, if these types of stores in other states are anything to go by, the selection of the actual good stuff tends to be minimal, and shelf space is reserved for a multitude of replaceable middle-of-the-road style brands. BevMo! is doing good business following that model.

That would be all well and good, of course, if we had the opportunity to shop at, you know, specialized stores, It's still a big unknown if a place like Huckleberry's will have the want or the knowledge to step up and truly embrace this as an opportunity.

The future for liquor sales, then, seems to be a bit up in the air. We have our doubts 1183 will do much as far as an improvement on quality selection goes. But hey, $5 off Absolut…

Have any input on the whole 1183 thing? We're (as always) genuinely curious about thoughts and opinions, so tweet us @SpoCOOL if you'd like.