Russian River Pliny the Elder

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

Holy buckets is this beer hoppy. The first sip knocks you down but afterwards is wonderful experience of drinking pureed hops. Nothing compares for IPAs.

In bottle from Monument Wine and Spirits Concord. Floral, multi-layered hop aroma. Lots of citrus and pine in the taste. Bright and crisp.

Golden in color with a large off white head with good lacing. The aroma is very hoppy with notes of caramel and citrus with a hint of spice. The flavor has a strong overtone of hops but isn’t overwhelming with a citrus backbone and a hint of pine. The texture is syrupy. Id say its a first class double IPA...HOPS CITY!!!

Sweet, sticky, floral hop aroma - almost minty. Taste is dominated by grapefruit with a solid caramel malt backbone. Not insanely hoppy and bitter, just a well-made, enjoyable IPA. Moderate carbonation with a full-bodied mouthfeel. Long tasty finish. Awesome.

oct. 09 bottle. Shared with some friends. pours a orange-yellow color little head. smells great lots of hops. taste was amazing. lots of hops. very smooth. a great ipa. very enjoyable.

Bottle from La Bodega.. Bottled on 04/07/2009... Can you say FRESH...Pours a dark gold with a fluffy white head...Sweet smelling pine and citrus hops, floral hops as well in the nose..... Nice sweet lingering hop bite that makes me wanna drink some more...Hail to the Hops!!!!

Appearance – This is definitely one of the best looking DIPAs I have ever seen. Pours a yellowish orange color with a large billowing white head that only has small traces of tan in it. As the head slowly recedes it leaves lacing that every DIPA should strive for; absolutely beautiful. Smell – Hops, hops, hops, and hops. This smells like if there were any malt in it, the hops already took the malt out back and beat the crap out of it. Good job hops! Very piney and floral with just a hint of citrus. The malt gives a little bit of a caramel scent rounding it out at the end, but in no way dominates this hop bomb in any way, shape, or form. Taste – This has a hop zing to it that isn’t overbearing but it lasts the test of time. It lets you know that the hops in this sucker are here to stay and will kick your ass just like they did the malt. It has a very strong piney taste to it. After the pine settles down a little bit the tangerines and grapefruit come out to play and they do it well. After all is said and done the malt is still struggling to make an appearance, but those hops are just relentless. Mouthfeel – This alone makes me want to take gulp after gulp of this amazing DIPA. Thick and resinous with lasting appealing. It feels like it envelopes your tongue like it just took it hostage. Drinkability – I would drink this daily if I could. Russian River really knows what they are doing when it comes to just about any style. Well played RR, well played.

Bottle from Bottleworks. Hops...bang! The aroma hits with the force of a wrecking ball, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Pours an attractive gold, but with some yeast floaties. Nice white bubbly head with decent lacing.This is one incredibly hoppy beer that is balanced well with two incredibly unique tastes. First, you get a citrus sweetness on the tongue, but that quickly fades as the bitter hops linger on the palate. This has lived up to the hype and I’m glad I had the chance to try it. incredibly drinkable. Nice work, RR!