Russian River Pliny the Younger

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

I acquired a growler of the infamous Younger from vacax (thanks mate)! Served it in a Bruery tulip glass. I poured 3 glasses of RR brews and compared them. Blind Pig, Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger. A - A beautiful orange/copper tone with minimal head but amazing lacing that lasted the whole glass. A darker orange color than that of it’s uncle. S - Chocked full of piney aroma! Compared with the Elder it was far more hop aroma, grapefruit, citrus and pine just fills your nose! Absolutely beautiful smell! T - Grapefruit, pine and citrus; just as the scent would allude to! Bitter! But, not over the top (believe it or not). It was a well balanced bitterness, no funny facial expressions after taking a sip of this beer. Insanely flavorful and potent! Some beers you’ll need a few sips to get the flavor, this one is not that! If you’re offered a sip of the Younger, take it and you’ll know how it tastes! No new flavors come through near the end! M - Medium bodied, nice carbonation that creates a little dance party on your tongue. The finish sticks around too, which I really enjoy in good beers. It’s a shame when they go away quickly, the Younger does not do this! D - 2 friends came over and we had the growler gone in less than an hour! 11% so be careful! This is no harder to drink than Blind Pig or Pliny the Elder! Amazing for such a big beer! I would say I was blessed to have been able to finally get this beer. I would love to get some every year! For anybody that’s wondering if they should try to pile into a small bar to try get this on tap, I would say DO IT!

Multiple draught and growler samples over the past weekend. First sip last friday at the release day which was supposed to be the start of a release week, though things didn’t exactly work out that way. Walking into the Russian River brewpub, the aroma hits you at once. Yes, you heard correctly; I just rated the aroma by entering the room. Elder is probably my favorite DIPA, so a side-by-side was necessary to really get a feel for its larger nephew. The color is a deep gold, going a touch darker than Elder. The head is small, with some sticky white foam lingering in a slick. Oddly enough, at first, Elder has a much more expressive aroma, leaning on more pine and pungent dankness. I do a double take on Younger: there is a touch of alcohol and orange showing but it seems pretty closed. Temperature is definitely key with this beer. Many larger DIPAs (or TIPAs in this case) seem to benefit from a cooler serving temperature that lets the hops keep the upper hand over the malt sweetness. Younger breaks that mold because it is about as dry as you can get and still maintain balance in a beer this big. I have heard that it has been sweeter in past years, but can’t say firsthand how this years release compares. All that I can say is that the sweetness never becomes at all bothersome. Sure, it is evident when compared right next to Elder, which elegantly shows how dry the style can be, but it works perfectly with the massive hop load. Let the temperature come up a few degrees, and the hops become incredibly juicy and expressive, showing all kinds of orange, mango, and grapefruit. There is a similar resiny dank touch as you get in elder, but it is overall rounder, fruitier, and juicier, probably helped in part be the additional perception of sweetness. The flavor is just crazy hoppy without being at all abrasive. This is one amazingly smooth beer, with just a hint of alcohol in the finish to remind you that it is nearly eleven percent full of it. Bitterness is almost mild to start, only building to full strength toward the back of the tongue. Mildly malty and sweet, but it’s pretty damn had to pick out much definable malt character over all the hops. Medium-full body with smooth carbonation. Just about the perfect consistency for a beer like this, with the hop oils contributing as much mouthfeel as anything else. Younger has a surprising amount of subtlety and balance for a beer this big and hoppy. It definitely has more nuance than most big DIPAs, and may even be a touch understated. In the end, it works perfectly just like Elder works perfectly, just from a different approach.

On tap at Russian River Brewing Company. A very nice citrus aroma as you inhale, and a smooth intiial flavor as the beer hits the tastebuds. The color is a light orange with a small white head. This is one of the smoothest Triple IPAs I have ever sampled. The balance of malt and hops is right on. Only drawback is limited availablity.

On Tap at Capones. Well balanced for a hop heavy beer. The pour was a nice orange/amber. Aroma was intoxicating. Incredible flavor of sweetness with a touch of sweetness and floral. The younger has great body and is perfect on the tongue. You can’t ask for much more in a beer. One of the best beers I’ve ever had.

Tap at RR. Appears a rich deep orange, tiny thin ivory head. Aroma is not as vibrant as I expected. It’s pleasant though; oranges and of course a healthy dose of piney hops being prevalant. Flavor was as robust as anticipated, however. The sheer concentrated force of the hops really does blast your palate. Probably the hoppiest thing I’ve ever tasted. The hoppiness is so concentrated that it becomes spicy-hot because of the resins left about the palate. Medium-sweet, pleasant malt background. Grapefruits and other citrus are present beneath the resinous hop assault. Smooth mouthfeel, thicker viscosity, creamy mouthfeel actually. Dry finish too. I would have again over and over if available and bottled, or if released more often, even at a premium price. RR are you listening? Overall, excellent.

Draught @ Brouwer’s Café:   Vibrant golden, moderate to large frothy white head, mild carbonation, nice lacing.   Piney nose, hoppy, a little resiny.   Fairly piney on the nose, hoppy, some resin and citrus peel.   Hop sided for sure.   Very resiny on the tongue but luckily not alcoholic.   Moderate malt base.   Backside is very piney and resiny.   Comes across as a hop sided but clean IIPA.   Could use a tad more more malts in my opinion.   Otherwise its a moderate to full body and mouthfeel.   Good stuff, a little hop-sided but very respectable.

Served on tap at O’brien’s TION night in a 10oz taster. One of the first pours of 2009, I almost didn’t want to drink it. The first keg blew in 7 minutes... Color is a hazy, glowing orange, white head, aroma of floral hops, pine, citrus (more citrus in the nose than elder). Taste is similar to smell, full of grapefruit, pine, slightly sweeter than elder, but maybe a bit more in bitterness up front. The 11% is very well hidden, and the brew is balanced to perfection. It’s a shame it’s so rare. I’ll be going out of my way to get a few pints when it hits beachwood/hollingshead next week...

Tried this last spring and this is indee a good beer. Tons of floral hops just popping out but plenty potent without being overly bitter. Yum!!