Russian River Pliny the Younger

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

I can’t thank irishboy enough for giving this to me for nothing. Seriously, this was a nice treat. Pours gold with a thin white head. Juicy hop and citrus aroma. Flavor was very fresh with the with sticky pine and floral hops dominating and citrus fruits coming up in a close second. Slightly sweeter than expected, but it still has a nice dry bitter finish. This was very nice, thanks Irish!

22 oz bottle via Irishboy (MUCH BIG thanks man!). man i have been wanting to try this beer for over a year now. no answers to my ISO posts, until out of thr blue Irishboy comes through. Woohoo!! Ok it pours a near clear copper with an average sized white head. Nose is mostly citrus and pine..or is that pline?! Now for the main event..mmm..mm.how to describe the taste. It is ALMOST as expected. A bit clean too balanced ( i prefer total hop-bombs), but otherwise near perfect. Lots of flavors in this one. Starts with some sweet orange, apricot, mango..then some pine, grapefruit, lemon, and finishes with some tangerine that rides on a solid malt backbone. BOdy is full, carbonation is perfect. The beer is close to flawless...the only thing i would like more of is flavoring/aroma hops...but then again i NEVER get enough of those except when i add a pound of finishing hops in my own homebrews. What commercial brewer could afford to do that?! For a commercial DIPA, this is about as good as it gets. Now my goal has changed from just trying this, to trying it on tap,lol..gotta have something to live for, right? An outstanding worldclass Imp IPA!! Oh, and 11% abv? Are you kidding? This is the most well-hidden alc I have ever seen. I would have guessed 7 or 8% lol.Nice work as usual Vinnie!!

Aroma was Unbelievible! Taste was very balenced for a triple IPA Cittus was prodominent witha nice malt backbone and a great dry finish! Overall this was a wonderfull experience!

12oz handbottle (as a bonus no less!) from Irishboy. Insanely rich and powerful aroma of wet and sticky hops. Very , very lush. Loads of freshly zested citrus. Cut flowers, wet grass, mint and a touch of sweeter caramel malt. Pours full, bright copper with a decent sized white head leaving only average lacing. Plenty of oily, viscous and rich piney hops on the tongue. Bitter, but restrained. This isn’t a palate shredder. Nicely balanced between rich and sticky caramel malt and almost bracingly bitter hops. 11%? Hardly tastes such. Rich and mostly full bodied. Quite lush and creamy. Wonderfully long and complex finish of oily pine, sweeter caramel, and dry grass. This is one hell of an IIPA, and along with Yulesmith Summer, the standard to which this class of beer should be judged.

On-tap at O’Brien’s 2/12 and 2/13. Pours an unassuming honey yellow color. Sticky white head that leaves pretty good lace. Smells hoppy sweet, not overwhelming, grassy though. Tastes smooth and sweet hoppy, well balanced and grassy. The best part is the aftertaste. I can actually picture the hops as I taste them, stems and sticks and bodies. Full bodied, syrupy, with subdued carbonation. Earth shattering? No. Good? Yes.

On tap @ The Hopyard San Ramon - the ONLY place I could find that still had some on tap! Pour was golden copper with almost no head. As soon as the waiter put it on the table I could smell the aroma of resiny hops. Holding it closer, some caramel malt came through also. The flavor was actually quite sweet from the malt, along with pineapple hop sweetness. Quite complex with a smooth mouthfeel and a slight alcohol burn, with a subtle bitterness in the finish.

Had this out of the final keg at The Hopyard in San Ramon. Yum! Pours a golden clear with little head. Floral, almost misty flavor, followed by an alcohol warming flavor. The vapors come out at the nose - but the hoppy bitterness compliments this. Pine notes on the finish. Very dank and musky, yet balanced. SECOND ANALYSIS: Picked up a growler on the release date at RR - damn this is an awesome beer fresh!

Served in a 10oz glass. At 10.5% alcohol I was expecting a very pronounced tone of alcohol. Nope. Hop aroma is dramatic. Of course this beer is all about hops. It will sneak up on a person who is not expecting so much in a beer. Truly outstanding. Very dry & bitter. Hazy from the hops. Just the way it is supposed to be. Here and gone. Can;t wait till next year when it comes back on tap.