Russian River Pliny the Elder

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

16.9 oz bottle from mreusch, bottled on 02/03/09: lighter amber w/ a lasting off white medium sized head! Fantastic lacing! Lightly hazed, but still a good looking beer! Great hop aroma! Grapefruity, pineapple, grassy, and slighlty floral! Toasty malt, light caramel, but mostly hops! Fantastic hop combo! Very light fruitiness, mostly from hops! Very clean! Well balanced throughout start to finish! Clean hop flavor is citrusy and grassy, green/recently harvested if you will. Toasty malt takes a back seat, but it’s there and well represented. Caramel is also there, but in the background. Finish is on the dry side and most definitely clean, grassy and citrusy hop flavored. Medium bodied, smooth m/f, dry @ the finish, but very clean palate. I can see why this is highly rated! Very clean, very hoppy, but complex with hop varietals and very well balanced between hop bitterness and malt sweetness. Very nice beer with a big hop presence and well balanced flavor.

Wow...some nice guy had a growler of Pliny the Elder at Dark Lord Day. Poured amber with a nice white head. Great aroma. Incredibly bitter and very oily aftertaste. Very well done though, I wish I could get it in Illinois.

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.

Bottle via trade with hophead22. Pours a nice murky dark golden color with a soapy white head. Aroma of hops, pine, malt, grass, grapefruit. Flavor is piney citrusy hoppy goodness along with some floral notes and a bitter grapefruity finish. Very well balanced and amazing oily slick mouthfeel, not to mention super easy to drink. Great IPA.

First of all, thanks to my buddy Shane for sending me this gem. 500 ml bottle. Poured out a hazy pale ale golden yellow color, with a massive, sticky, tan colored head. Aromas are strictly hops. Massive hop aroma, followed by malts, way off in left field. Flavors are hops controlled, with a smattering of malts thrown in for luck. Sticky, gooey body, chewy mouthfeel. It’s all about the hops in this brew. Thanks Shane, and Vinnie for sending me this sparkling example of a true American classic.

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.

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.

On tap@O’brien’s: Orange amber color with an off white (yellowish) head. Sweet slightly grassy aroma. Flavor starts sweet citrus followed by sharp grapefruit and a lingering dry grapefruit rind aftertaste. Balance is on the bitter side, but a damn good IIPA.