Russian River Pliny the Elder

Brewed by Russian River Brewing
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Santa Rosa, California USA

Sweet, sticky, floral hop aroma - almost minty. Taste is dominated by grapefruit with a solid caramel malt backbone. Not insanely hoppy and bitter, just a well-made, enjoyable IPA. Moderate carbonation with a full-bodied mouthfeel. Long tasty finish. Awesome.

Tasting at GABF. Yellow gold- creamy white head. huge hops with citrus and sweet hops and malts. Flavor is fruit notes and sweeter malts supply caramel notes and make evident alcohol sweet tasting. Big hops make back bitter finish. Very complex soft salty and sharp finish.

On tap. Hazy orange pour. Aroma of simcoe hops, citrusy. Flavor is nice and astringent, with some bitter hops and pleasant citrus. Great soapy finish. A solid brew!

Great beer. Strong citrus nose, very clear golden orange color. Crisp bitter dry attack. Long slow finish.

Bomber from Belmont Station. Colour... peachy-orange with a thick white head. Nose... amazingly citrusy and piney all at once! Palate... WOOF! Forgot how good this is!! A wallop of Indian River grapefruit skin and pith, Poderosa pine pitch and the chewiness to go with it! Sweet, tart and yet remarkably well balanced. No wonder this stuff flies off the shelves when it hits town! Truly one of the best imperial IPA’s EVER!!!

This is a pure double IPA in the truest sense of the style. No gimmicks here, just a perfect balance between complex bitterness, body, and great finish and aftertaste.

Pliny just might be my favorite beer. At the very least it holds a place in the pantheon of my favorite beers. If you could bottle grapefruit flowers and then drink that bottle of grapefruit flowers and it got you drunk you’d have Pliny the Elder. My favorite part about the beer just might be how pale it is. Barely a hint of orange in a mostly yellow canvas. Upon gazing at it’s skinny hay color one could mistake it for the hair color of the girl who lived down the street, at the end of the summer, who’s days were spent in the sun. Then you taste the beer and it turns out she’s not only cute but smart too. That being said, I would expect this beer to be darker; not a big deal, just saying. My only knock on Pliny is that sometimes the batches can be inconsistent. The best batch of Pliny is my desert island beer; but to someone as accustomed to it as I am, when you get a bad batch it’s a little disappointing. However, the worst batch of Pliny I’ve ever had is still better than 90% of the beers I’ve ever tasted. Great beer, just get one. As I heard someone say once about Pliny the Elder, "It’s a life changing beer, man...". I tentatively agree.

I regularly have this on tap around San Diego, but this rating at home based on a 500 mL bottle purchased at South Bay Drugs ($4.99). Pours a clear light honey-orange with about a finger of white head. Aroma of fresh ruby red grapefruit, more citrus, peach, fresh flower bouquet. Flavor is dominated by the hops (grapefruit, tropical fruit) and is very good. Might benefit from a bit more malt balance. Quite a lot of bitterness in the dry finish. I can tell that I prefer this on draft over the bottled version. Good stuff, but I think I like the local Exponential Hoppiness and Yulesmith better.