Russian River Pliny the Elder

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

This is way more than all hops for me. An involved zymurgistic sketch. This is a hoary ancient Russian River beast who smells exactly like that -- dusty dog, earwax, ivy, wet earth in a cave. Big hop flavors thinning over a bone dry body to an evening mineral, dusty finish. A monster, yes.

Hand bottled sample from Sean. Thanks. Pours out a dark brown color without much of a head on it at all (I think this is due to the hand bottle). Smell is heavy of grapefruits, citrus fruits, pine, and sugars. Taste is sweet and bitter at first, and then the hops really kick in and take over, leaving nothing but a huge hop bomb in your mouth. I can still taste it, and I havent drank any of it in 3-4 minutes. Really good stuff, not as good as the younger, but this is certainly an awesome IPA. Thanks for this one Sean, it is well appreciated.

On tap at Toronado, San Francisco, with Phyllis, 24th Mar 09. Clear amber with a lacy white head. Lots of varied hop flavours - citrus, grass in particular - but restrained and smooth as it goes down. A lovely hoppy beer.

Amber with a nice lasting head. Aroma was rich of hops, citrus, pine and herbs. Flavour was rich with a great balance of malts to match the zealous hops. Full and flavourful with a nice hop and dry finish.

++++ Re Rate 29 Sept 2009 ++++
500 ml bottle purchased at Argonaut Liquors in Denver, Colorado. Bottled on 083109 marked on the label. Pour is hazed golden orange with a perfectly formed two inch slightly off white head that falls slowly with think patchy lacing. Wonderfully inviting beer. Aroma is present on pour, big dank resin pine citrus hops. Very natural, soft, rounded and inviting. The malt is present as well, earthy hay and toasty. Nice balance. Taste is big resin hop right away, really grabs the taste buds and goes. The mango pineapple citrus and pine follow shortly after, in concert with the toasty mineral earthy malt. The balance and transition of flavors is just superb. Palate is medium bodied with a nice carbonation, which dries the mouth with a slight bitterness. Such a clean and drinkable beer - no wonder I keep buying it at every opportunity. (9,5,9,4,18 - 4.5)

++++ Original Rating 22 Aug 2008 ++++
500 ml bottle generously shared by mreusch. Bottled 7/10/08. Pour is hazed golden with a two inch white head. Great lacing as it settles. Aroma is really fresh resin citrus hops. Some orange peel in there as well. Great nose. Taste is big hops, resin, pine, some bitter citrus grapefruit notes. There is some malty sweetness near the middle, then quickly drys out to a bitter hop finish. Palate is nicely mouth coating, lingering hop biterness and resin. Wow, this is a nice one. Thanks for sharing this one Matt! (9,4,8,4,17 - 4.2)

At Oregon Brewers Festival 2008 Pours out a copper topped with a tall cream head. Aroma of sweet floral and citrus hops. All most has my mouth watering just thinking about the aroma. Tast was great fresh hops and nice bitterness. A nice sweet blend. Top dawg at the Oregon Brewers Fest.

This was on-draft in a 16 oz glass from the Russian River Brewpub in Santa Rosa. I have heard a lot about this, so was looking forward to seeing if it lived up to its reputation. The brews were all listed in various color chalks on a board behind the bar, and according to it this one checked in at 92 BU’s and 8% ABV. When it was set in front of me I could smell the hops from two feet away. This one is potent! The odor just leaps out of the glass with piney and floral hops. You don’t need to take a big sniff to get what is going on here. Besides the hops, there are also some wonderful rich malts, nuts toffee, caramel, and fruit. I cannot imagine a beer smelling any better than this. As a pub pour it came without any head, but after drinking off the first inch, and almost swooning in the process, I swirled it and got a nice fat off-white head that left lots of fat chunks of lacing on the sides of the glass. A beautiful light orange, this is a feast for the eyes and as the head slowly settles down you are so taken by its overall beauty you almost hate to disturb it. The flavor is similar to the nose, and while the malts and the hops dominate, there is a serious bitter finish worthy of a DIPA. The mouthfeel was excellent, very rich and creamy and simply glides across the teeth and tongue. It tastes just as good going down the pipe as it did at first sip. The brew is simply incredible. It has that wonderful bitterness that all great DIPAs should have, and hides the alcohol very well. It is too bad this is only available on tap, because I would love to share this with my friends so they can appreciate it also. I have been saving a second 4.8 for just a brew like this. Ranks with the best beer I have every had the pleasure of drinking. Maybe Pliny the Younger will be that perfect 5.0 if I ever get to taste it

Great honey hop aroma. Decidedly unbalanced hop. Punched me in the face. Lightly syruppy. Just didn’t think this lived up to the hype. Not well balanced.