Russian River Pliny the Younger

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

On draught at RR in Sonoma. I’ve come a long way for this... And the Elder. Half pint - and the aromas club you like a big grapefruit. Given it’s high alcohol, and hi hop rates, my god is it balanced.. I would guesst that there is some use of brewing sugars because of the clean mouthfeel, i.e not flabby. A real treat! From a man well deserving of his plaudits.

Pours orange, very clear, with a white head. Big citrus hops in the nose, very grapefruity throughout. So fresh tasting. The hops actuall work well with the malts, giving a sort of caramel flavor blended with those orange flavored christmas chocolates. Finish is resiny and piney.

On tap at Najas. Holy schnikes this is powerful. It’s akin to a barleywine to my buds. I like it, but it’s hard to have more than one. I prefer The Elder. The flavor is incredibly complex, has all the flavor ingredients to it, but perhaps I prefer the DIPA’s to the TIPA’s. Rerated- 4/27/08: Had a few of these at Luck Baldwins Barleywine festival. It was so delicious I went back for more. Huge hop aroma and taste. Amazing beer. Rerated again on June 20, 2009. My first ever 5. This beer is perfect for me in every possible way. It is the ultimate maven of all IPA beers.

Way too sweet, this is hopped sugar. Honeyed malt with extreme residual sugar. I would prefer to see this much drier. Big hop profile all of the way through. Sugar and hop resin finish with the sugar overpowering all.

Cask at Naja’s in Redondo Beach. This was a phenomenal beer, and although it is quite hoppy, it is not overwhelming and is very well balanced. The pour was a beautiful golden creamy amber with a half-inch white head. The aroma of this beer is second to none and I could not get enough. Very floral , honey-sweet, and full of hops. The flavor was sweet, citrusy and hoppy which perfectly masked the 11% ABV. The finish is very tight, and although lasting, does not linger unecessarily like some imperial IPA’s. As for the palate, this beer has great body and is perfect on the tongue. You can’t ask for much more in a beer.

On draft at the Grey Lodge in Philadelphia. Pours a clear amber coppery color with a small white head. Aroma is floral with strong hints of grapefruit and fresh hops. Flavor is very citrusy with strong grapefruit and floral overtones. Alcohol is very well hidden. Excellent, one of the best Double IPA’s out there. On par with Dreadnaught, yet not as hoppy.

Pours a moslty clear bright coppery orange with a fluffy sticky white head and good lace. Aroma is a touch of alcohol, but moslty sharp grapefruit and pine hops- hint sof orange and mango- some hints of phenolic-solvents though. Sweet sticky malts dont balance the beer, but rather provide a nice starting point for all the hops to be presented. Nice resinous piney hops with lots of citrus. Rediculously bitter harsh finish which I loved- also a bit of alcohol which is bound to come out of an 11% hop monster like this.

A hazy orange beer with a thin orange head. The aroma is lovely hoppy with notes of alfa acids and oranges, as well as light floral notes - A hop soup aroma. The flavor is sweet with alchol, that jumps at You right from the start with a slight burning sensation on the tongue, but it is soon acompaniet by strong hoppy notes, and a bitterness that sets in much earlier than in other beers and grows more and more powerful. Acompanying the bitterness there’s also a note of grapefruit that grown in intensity. The body is very powerful.