Russian River Pliny the Elder

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

Brought by friend Dennis
My first Russian River
Beautiful copper color, medium head. It has an intense hoppy aroma, fruity (bitter oranges and light mango) and with pine needles; persistent. The body is lean, with a strong caramel and toffee flavor, dry; the bitterness is strong but not excessive, well balanced, with good resins and bitter orange peels. Very good, but my expectations were very high, for something more astonishing.

Clear golden pour with smallish white head. Aroma is riddled with pine, spruce, and citrus. Its like I sent an entire evergreen forest through a chipper. Floral nectar and spice and earthy tones as well. Some caramel malt comes through subtly as she warms. Flavor is surprisingly subdued- perhaps in part because of the quantity of sweet caramel malt. Lots of bitter orange rinde and sticky resin. Palate is medium for the style, finishing quite dry.

On tap, served in a shaker glass. Lightly hazed light amber with a big sticky off-white head. The nose was somewhat simple with just some pine and citrus coming through. The flavor stepped in and made up for that though with a huge hop presence. Dense resinous pine, grapefruit,and a bit of floral. Deep bitterness is kept in check by a ribbon of underlying sweetness. Very easy to drink, dangerous. I was super excited to finally get to try Pliny and while it was very good and extremely well crafted the hype was a little too much. There are several other DIPAs that are just as good and much more easily obtainable such as Great Divide’s Hercules.

Brewed in the USA...... On tap at Monk’s Cafe in Philly. Pours a hazy orange color with a large foamy white head. Aroma of pine, hops, oranges and pineapples. Taste is also of citrus fruits with some hops, malts for balance and some floral notes. The mouthfeel was full in body with some dryness and a slight bitter finish. This double IPA was on my wish list for appx a year now. It was extremely good and worth the wait.

On tap in NYC: This is one damn good beer. So light and refreshing- and the perfect balance of hops. The 8% abv is only noticablable by it’s warming effect. This finish is the best I’ve ever had. Dangerously drinkable times ten.

On tap @ the brewpub. I swear this has got to be my 5th time entering this rating, but hell, I dunno. I blame Joe! Clear dark honey with a one finger off-white head, pretty good retention. Luckily, this batch was put on tap within the last week, and the dank herbal notes are still intact. Pine and citrus rinds also abound, though not a lot of malts--but that isn’t expected. The flavor does add some caramel sweetness, but still can’t hold up to the hop bitterness onslaught. Dry herbal finish with bitterness peaking around a 7, alcohol slightly warming the belly. Burps pine. Moderate carbonation with a medium-full body. So deliciously awesome, I can’t put in words--once this has been on tap a couple weeks it does lose some of its luster, but fresh, I may even prefer it to the overly expensive, undated Dreadnaught.

50cl bottle from trade with Cgarvieuk. First off, and it is a big first off, thanks to Cgarvieuk for trading this for me. Cheers Craig, without you, I wouldn’t have had this beer. Craig is becoming one of the best traders in the UK. The beer is gold orange with a lasting white head, that keeps its condition. Very piney hops on the aroma. Some almost meaty pate. Piney leafy grapefruit. Great aroma, but not the best ever so a 9 I think here, because the piney hops are good, but maybe not quite fresh leafy enough for a 10. God this is hard, as I’ve had some delicious flavours in my mouth so far today. Almost salty resiny piney in the mouth. God the finish is huge. I mean huge. What an assault of hops. Glad I’m sat down or would have fallen down. Aroma and finish are amazing, but the middle does go a bit walkabout. Some toffee, but not a huge amount of malt to back up the hops. Drinkable, but I think a little lacking in structure in the mouth. I mean I am being really picky here. Most beers I wouldn’t worry about, but this deserves my full concentration. Start and finish are brilliant, straight off one of the best beers I’ve had. And it’ll get a very very good score. But this is going up against some of my favourite beers, and this is where it’s going, so I’m now comparing this to the top 20 beers I’ve had. Yes, I love it, but it doesn’t quite stir the passion of some others. Mind you that, finish does reach down to my groin and rips my balls back up through my throat. Now it just comes down to a holistic feel about the beer. And this is where it becomes difficult, splitting the reputation, the difficulty in getting it, from the beer itself. What if I’d never heard of it and just drank it? Well, as a beer it is still incredibly good. The aroma of piney hops, the drinkability in the mouth and the finish is just about the best I’ve had. Maybe just a bit too soft in the mouth. But this really is gorgeous. The very top echelon? Not quite. But pretty damn close. Thanks again to Ratebeer for letting me know this beer existed and thanks to Craig for letting me try it.

Let’s not beat around the bush, this beer kicks some serious a$$. Had on draft at the Falling Rock in Denver, CO, and I nearly fell over when I saw it on the list. The owner thinks that this is the farthest east that RR has come. Wow, what a brew! Floral and fruity on the nose, huge hop presence, big citrus hops with a big backbone of malt and even some spice. A huge, tasty beer. A hop head’s dream. Big hops, huge body and a lot of fresh citrus. As it warms, the flavor somehow improves...just magic. This is what an Imperial IPA is supposed to taste like!