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Russian River Pliny the Elder

Russian River Pliny the Elder - Imperial/Double IPA

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 Percentile 
100
overall
Brewed by Russian River Brewing
Style: Imperial/Double IPA

Santa Rosa, California USA

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution
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 Ratings  Average  Score  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in 
10364.23/5.04.22/5.08%99.6Snifter, Tulip
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Commercial Description:
Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian, traveler, officer, and writer. Although not considered his most important work, Pliny and his contemporaries created the botanical name for hops, "lupus Salictarius", meaning wolf among scrubs." Hops at that time grew wild among willows, much like a wolf in the forest. Later the current botanical name, humulus Lupulus, was adopted. Pliny died in 79 AD while observing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He was immortalized by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who continued his uncle's legacy by documenting much of what he observed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Pliny the Elder, the beer, is brewed with 40% more malt and over twice the amount of hops as compared to our already hoppy IPA.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 elihapa (1033), Honolulu, California, USA
4.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/104/59/104/519/20
Mar 31, 2009  
Bottle from Alex, thanks a ton! Pours clear gold with serious lacing and a nice tight head. Aroma is hugely citrusy and piney, with fresh pineapple, grapefruit, and sweet tangerine. The flavor here is actually substantially more subdued than the aroma, but no less special. Some nice upfront lemonade flavors, fragrant soap, and mild honey. Middle flavors bring on more hop characteristics, perhaps even of floral varietals. Finish lingers teasingly, with tart/acidic notes, full of grapefruit, still well balanced. Palate is light on the tongue, just dancing around with flavor. Finish is appropriately dry. This review is starting to sound like the product of free association, so I’d better cut it short. Just a beautiful beer, you really get the sense you are drinking something special.


sundevil27 (45), , New Jersey, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/104/516/20
Mar 30, 2009  
Ordered a bottle of this at a restaurant out in SF. Really nice aroma with and a very smooth taste for what I was expecting to be a super hoppy taste. Overall very nice.


fallingleaves (13), Colorado, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/58/104/518/20
Mar 30, 2009  
On Tap at the Catalyst, beautiful copper-orange color, with a persistent carbonation. Mixture of both citrus and pine upon first hit of lips, taste moves back and forth between citrus and hops as the beer lingers on your taste buds. One of my favourites.


 italianjohn (338), Bensalem, Pennsylvania, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/518/20
Mar 29, 2009    Updated: Jul 23, 2009
Perfect piney citrusy hop aroma nice amount of creamy amber colored head had just loads of floral hops and a spice that tickles your tongue going down. It is very smooth and highly drinkable ... there is not one bad thing about this brew if this is on the menu order it!


 alobar (1006), Harleysville, Pennsylvania, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/59/104/518/20
Mar 29, 2009  
On tap at Capone’s. Clear golden amber hue with a soapy white head. Impressive lacing clings to the side of the glass. Aroma of pine, hops, grapefruit, malt. Lots of nose on this one. On the palate is a smooth amalgamation of hops, pine, grapefruit and malt. Just delicious.


tpd975 (95), Riverview, Florida, USA
4.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/104/510/104/519/20
Mar 29, 2009  
A: Pours a nice bright clear golden hue with a nice fluffy two finger head. The retention is great and it takes quite sometime to die to a simple collar. Nice big thick chunks of lace are left all the way down the glass. S: Wow do I love the aroma of Pliny. Bold citrus hops just rush from the glass. Tons of fresh cut grass and spicey hops round things out. This one is not lacking in the aroma department. T: Ah, Just as good as I remember. This one put the hop in hop bomb. Tons of fresh citrus bites at the tongue. Green grass and hop cones take over in the middle. Spicey hops with a big blast of bitter round things out. This one is a masterpiece no matter how you drink it. M: Medium to full bodied, nice and smooth with good carbonation. D: Wonderful, still my favorite. I rated slightly lower than the growlered version as it was just a tad prettier in the glass. That being said what really matters taste and aroma are spot on. Wonderful brew... Russian River, I bow down to you!


 Suttree (2701), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/59/104/518/20
Mar 29, 2009  
Cloudy orange, huge whte head. Really nice aroma - like a grapefruit with a lot of brown sugar on it. Great smell floral, hoppy and citrus. Flavor is surprisingly sweet, with a lot of brown sugar and molasses, plus a tone of grapefruit bitterness. Fabulous stuff here. Thanks to robertjm for the trade. Brewed on 02/24/09, consumed on 03/28/09.


 pnista (1008), Bloomington, Indiana, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20
Mar 28, 2009  
Pours a clear amber orange with a thin white head. Big fruity hop nose. Tropical fruit. Fuller malt, a bit of resin, and some alcohol. Lighter body and lower carbonation, but still substantial. Big hoppy bite. alcohol. Fruity hops. Pine resin. Lingering bitterness. This is rather reminiscent of fresh Hop slam, not a bad beer!



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