Russian River Pliny the Younger

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

12oz bottle hand bottled via trade with awaisanen! - Thanks Andy - Pours amber with a nice creamy white head that stayed fairly well and laced the tulip on the way down. Nice aromas of grapefruit and pine and also some floral hops. Flavor is nice and a little more mellow citrus. Oranges, peaches, grapefruit, pine, all over caramel malts with a nice spicy bitter finish. Body is full and mouthcoating with no sign of the alcohol at all. I found this a little more smooth and creamy on the palate than the elder was and also a little more balanced. Very tasty!

Tap at The Liar’s Club. The beer pours to a brassier colored body than the Elder with a very dense creamy white head that coats the glass well. Very dense sheet lacing. The flavor is very malty with some oranges, peaches, mangoes. Quite different than the Elder. Malty aroma and sweet juicy hops. The palate is medium bodied, bitter, tasty.

3/8/06. Poured out of 12 oz. bottle, bought in growler at Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa, CA 1/28/06. Hand-bottled. I hate this "Triple IPA" thing. I almost want to downgrade my rating for this beer because it calls itself one; just can’t bring myself to do it. A stately gold-orange color foretells the presence of juicy hops and fruit nectar. Tightly formed cream-tan head with respectable if unspectacular retention and lacing. Aroma is of stiff marmalade (stiff from oversugaring or stiff from alcohol, you decide), hypnotic grapefruit and orange, and touches of toasty, biscuity cookies. Flavor comes off a bit brash in comparison, serving up prickly, almost puckering hop resins to go with the tangerine jam. It’s a beastly little beer, subtle only in comparison to the other monsters of the pseudo-style. Interesting blend of alcohol into the resinous, juicy, zesty hops, serving to accentuate moreso than overshadow. If I didn’t know any better, I’d almost describe the alcohol as a kind of hop. A lingering but pithy, prickly bitterness. Like a patch of grass so dry it has almost turned to ash, laced with a candied sugar coating. Still a bit too gnarly for me. I can’t tell if the hop resins have left a thick, sappy film on my mouth or if the alcohol has stripped it bare. It’s been awhile since I felt a thwack like this. Full body before with just enough carbonation and juicy citrus teases on the tongue to feign brightness. I should have known better.

Draught at The Liar’s Club - San Diego: Gold color, light head, lots of lacing. Nose of bright earthy hops and honey along with some floral notes. The flavor is huge in body, sweetness and alcohol with a whop of dry hops and bitterness. Cuts through the heat in my mouth fairly well! Long and grassy finish. I waited until the burning went away to enjoy the rest of this beer.

(Draft. 2/2006). The Younger is a nice, pale brew. Orange in color with a relatively quickly dissipating head. An aroma of HOPS that can be picked-up half-a-mile away and for hours after drinking it. Big, malty backbone and resiny hops dominate the flavor profile.

Pliny the Younger made the journey across the country in a 22 oz. bomber, bottled from a 5 liter keg using a counterpressure filler by BA RedwoodGeorge. While the bottling was unofficial, the beer coming out of bomber was in a very good shape. The head was one finger thick, which is a little small for the style, but it did stay put for a good little while. The underlying body was clear pale orange, and well carbonated. The looks were classic DIPA, while aroma took the style up a few notches. The smell was enticingly grapefruity, and peppery, with a very sweet smelling malt backbone. The juiciness of the smell was certainly mouth watering, and the taste did not disappoint. Quite citric and pungent, the hop laden flavor was cut by a lot of malt sweetness. The low perceived bitterness and well hidden alcohol made for an easy to drink brew. The mouthfeel was sticky, minerally, and thick, with a peppercorn zest in the aftertaste. With so much to enjoy in each sip, there was nothing to complain about the time that I had draining my imperial pint. The alcohol only became evident as the beer came near room temperature, but never did it feel like an obtrusive spoilsport. This drank much easier than the 10.5% strength it possessed would have suggested. A craft brewing masterpiece that deserves all the hype it gets. This beer was big, but still in a very delicate state of balance. Muscular, clean, and beautiful, there was none of the sloppy flab in here found in so many big beers. A Charlize Theron among beers.

Handbottle Aroma is fuming blast of acidic fresh spritizing strong and sour citrus of grapefruit, fresh spruce and a hint of perfumy essence. Pour is a oranged yellow rimmed clear pour, with a lacy spotted sheets on the class of clean white. Flavor is a sweet fresh grapefruit, lime and cilantro. Savory and gushing with a gentle sweet maltness that superbly comforts and carries the hops as a delicate and sumptumous hop elixir. A true ambrosia. If the malt lent a little more character, and the hops were a little more transformed into that mouth warming bready goodness, this would be a top 10. Nonetheless, it’s an astoundingly drinkable high alcohol brew, with all those flavors carried perfectly, yet not leaving a harsh impression on the palate. Finishes actually quite sweet and floral, as opposed to typical dry grass, instead with lemongrass and a sweet cinnamon candy.

Very tasty beer that is the most subtle and deceiving of any 11% beer i have had. Good solid bitterness and hop flavor, with balancing maltiness. This is the best strong IPA i have had.