Russian River Pliny the Elder

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

Great Beer! I could drink this all the time, very smooth. The aroma and the flavor are something to cherish and for others to aspire to. I only wish I could find a more reliable source, as it is hard to come by around here.

I love everything about this beer except for the completely over the top hopping. It’s true that they did it right by balancing things with a hefty malt backbone to support and offset the hops, and at least being advertised as an imperial IPA forewarns, but I don’t think getting cottonmouth from a beer is necessarily pleasant. I love hops, but there’s such a thing as "too much"

500 ml bottle, bottled on 8/19/2009. Pours a beautiful yellow-gold. The medium head is thick, creamy and laces well on the glass. The aroma alone is reason enough to buy this beer. Huge, fresh pine is the first note, followed by layers of citrus. Just when I think it can’t get any better … I take a sip and am rewarded with a wonderful balance of citrus and resiny, piney hops. So many bold tastes and sensations going on that it could easily overwhelm and miss the mark, but instead it takes me to the zenith and holds me there. I’ve had the great fortune of enjoying this beer a number of times before, and every time I do it’s like falling in love all over again. Russian River has brewed an epic masterpiece in every way.

500-mL bottle. Pours yellow-golden with a large, lasting white head and plenty of lacing. Nice, strong pine-hop aroma. Flavor is a well-blended mix of woody bitterness, hop resin, and slightly sweet malt backing. Bit of tropical fruit and grass mixed in there. Excellent DIPA.

A crisp, clean, and incredibly refreshing IIPA, this is mind-blowingly aromatic and delicious. Beautiful citrus hops make a wonderful fresh pine forest and juniper aroma. Tastes of hops, pine and juniper. Incredible lacing. Shared with Hobbersr and courtesy of savvy1982, thanks for sharing this second bottle with me.

Location: 500 ml bottle via trade with NickD717, 9/8/09
I have been looking forward to this one since it arrived in the mail, and it lived up to the expectations.

Aroma: Wonderful aroma of citrus hops, peach, pine hops, hops, some mild caramel thanks to the nose, right off the bat I can tell this beer is going to be wonderful.
Appearance: Pours a nice hazy bright orange color, with a wispy white head, and retains some nice, almost uniform, spotty lace on the glass.
Flavor: I thought that nose would be hard to live up to, well it does, great hoppy flavor, some nice peach, pine, and just a little caramel/bread malts for "balance."
Palate: Really nice palate as well, smooth and easy to drink. Giving this a 5 over a 4 purely because of the absurd drinkability, I could drink this constantly.
Overall Impression: I’m jealous of everyone who gets to drink this stuff regularly, I kind of want to move to the West Coast just so I can drink more Pliny! I can’t even imagine how good the Younger must be. Seriously Nick, you are one lucky bastard for living so close to these guys, color me jealous! I could probably rant about this beer for hours, and I can see why people call Russian River the best IPA brewery (after having only this and Blind Pig, I might be inclined to agree). Wow, I have certainly found a new beer to add to my favorite list, that is for sure. Here’s the ultimate compliment: my glass is almost empty, and it is actually making me sad that I can’t just pop another one of these. I look forward to seeing "Ben has a new Top 10 beer..." next to my rating for the next few days, with regards to this beer.

Pours a cloudy gold. Aroma is of citrus hops. Flavor matches the aroma with some malts. Very smooth and not overpowering. I like this one.

Pours an amber color with a white head. Nice citrus and pine hop aroma with some caramel, and some fruits. Flavor has plenty of hops to it but is balanced well with the caramel malts. Nice bitter finish that lingers with almost no alcohol warming.