Russian River Pliny the Younger

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

Collin’s Pub on draught, pours a golden honey with a quickly dissipating off white head, yes, it’s fucking fantastic and hides the alcohol well, and for 5 bucks a tulip, it’s tasty and does the trick:)

Got a glass with lunch today....12 oz glass. Clear amber golden with a fantastic nose, smooth and with a nice malty edge. Certainly nice to try, but I doubt I’ll drop the amount of coin it cost to get this beer. Good, nice tasty beer, really phenomenal ...but like Girl Scout Cookies...if they were available all the time wouldn’t be such a big deal or so costly.

Poured out of a growler, shared by an extremely generous California BA, poured into a tulip. I’ve been waiting to try this one for quite a while and was pretty certain that it couldn’t live up to my expectations. The growler was full to the brim and opened with only the slightest hiss. The pour was very good, extremely clear amber with a hefty cream-colored head that hung around on top for a while and left a bit of lacing. A good start. It didn’t take me long to get a whiff of this beauty, with a huge floral hop kick up front, tons of pine resin especially. There is plenty of malts in the nose to keep the hops for becoming overpowering, great balance overall. The taste is exceptional wtih lots of the aforementioned pine hops but with some grapefruit and other citrus sweetness thrown in. The malts provide a nice balance underneath but the finish is definitely bitter and sticky with hops. The mouthfeel is well carbonated with lots of hop juice and a bitterness that builds up after each sip. This beer is certainly the most drinkable 11% beer I’ve ever tasted and probably one of the top few beers I’ve had in recent memory. Exceptional.

Draught at Toronado, SF Clear amber with a small, off-white head. Hoppy, fruity citric aroma and flavour; peach and some apples. Soft and smooth with a warming alco-touch. Sweet and full-bodied maltiness.

Wow. Small sample from a growler at Grape and Gourmet. Pours a golden orange color with a little bit of white head. Aroma is absolutely incredible. People in the store were just smelling and smelling. Huge hops, floral aroma, citrus, but all were on another level. Taste is astounding. Great hop flavor, sweet and bitter at the same time, amazing. I wanted to go buy a fake mustache so I could get another sample.

Hand Bottle at home huge thanks to iowaherkeye for this one ... crystal clear dark amber ... Big Big pine resiny hops nose...Sweet pine hops ... little pineapple ... rich resins quite bitter ... big bitter linger ... Bit of a let down... Much prefered its uncle... 3.5->3.7 as its grown on me ... DO think its a decent beer i think i just had such high hopes as i loved the Elder much more.

hand bottle from trade poured a lovely orange yellow color and has a nice one finger white head that left pillows on the surface and nice lace. aroma has all the expected citrus, grapefruit, candy pineapple, and resins. just the right sweetness and hop mix. mouth feel is a solid medium and coats well. flavor has a decent bitterness, superb citrus, sweet tropical fruit, and a good dose of caramel malt. so to the business, this seems a little thicker and has a heavier bitterness than the elder and where they put the extra alcohol bringing this to 11% I don’t know. more chewiness and toward the barley wine side but both incredible.

Growler in trade from madorb. Thanks! Pours a clear amber color with a lasting beige head. Smell is big piney hops and some fruitiness. Taste is quite hoppy and bitter with fruity orange and grapefruit along with pine. Touch more hoppy and bitter than Pliny the Elder, but not any better and less drinkable. Medium body and carbonation. Certainly great, but definitely not my favorite DIPA. Flavor wasn’t quite as good as PTE, and I’m glad that the other one is readily available rather than this.