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Pliny The Younger
Russian River Brewing Company
- From:
- Russian River Brewing Company
- California, United States
- Style:
- Imperial IPA
Ranked #2 - ABV:
- 10.25%
- Score:
- 100
Ranked #16 - Avg:
- 4.69 | pDev: 7.25%
- Reviews:
- 1,037
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Mar 06, 2024
- Added:
- Jan 27, 2005
- Wants:
- 6,804
- Gots:
- 608
Pliny the Younger, the man, was Pliny the Elder’s nephew and adopted son. They lived nearly 2,000 years ago! Pliny the Elder is our Double IPA, so we felt it was fitting to name our Triple IPA after his son. It is almost a true Triple IPA with triple the amount of hops as a regular I.P.A. That said, it is extremely difficult, time and space consuming, and very expensive to make. And that is why we don’t make it more often! This beer is very full-bodied with tons of hop character in the nose and throughout. It is also deceptively well-balanced and smooth.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by jzeilinger:
Reviewed by jzeilinger from Pennsylvania
4.72/5 rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
4.72/5 rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
Someone from the East Coast with an opportunity to try and review this highly sought after beer, what an opportunity. I was beginning to compare this beer to the legend of Bigfoot (Sasquatch, not the Barleywine from Sierra), some people have seen it but it's so rare that it's more of a myth than an actual beer. (tongue in cheek, of course)
Pours a copper orange color, tight bubbled carbonation with a thin white head across the top.
Has a sweet pungent, oily hop aroma with pineapple, loads of citrus orange and grapefruit, and some pine. This beer is incredibly aromatic and I spent as much time with my nose in the glass enjoying the smell as much as I did the taste.
Taste is absolutely unreal, it's definitely the King of the IPA's. I've had many IPA's where the smell was outrageously good but the taste didn't measure up, and vice versa; the Younger has both characteristics. It's very bold and strong in flavor with huge amounts of grapefruit bitterness that dominates throughout the entire sip, has some sweet malt undertone to keep things a little bit in check but gets extremely beaten down by hop bitterness. Starts sweet for a brief second with some peppery sweetness on the side of the tongue. Malts re-appear at the very end for a brief moment before being slapped into submission by an army of hop bitterness. Finishes with strong grapefruit puckering, pepper, and orange rind that lingers for a LONG time after the sip. The back of the throat is coated with peppery grapefruit bitterness, and orange coats the mouth, almost metallic-like in nature. There's an ABV burn after the sip but that's the only indication of it's presence. As I work through the glass, the booziness becomes more apparent.
Mouthfeel is the smoothest I've ever experienced with an IPA. Drinkability is very good, you have to be a hop head to enjoy this, otherwise, forget it.
I only had one glass and I was begging for more but the bartender was the Pliny Natzi - One Younger for you! This is a world class beer, wish Vinnie would brew this more often and make it more accessible. Glad I had the opportunity to finally try this beer.
Mar 03, 2010Pours a copper orange color, tight bubbled carbonation with a thin white head across the top.
Has a sweet pungent, oily hop aroma with pineapple, loads of citrus orange and grapefruit, and some pine. This beer is incredibly aromatic and I spent as much time with my nose in the glass enjoying the smell as much as I did the taste.
Taste is absolutely unreal, it's definitely the King of the IPA's. I've had many IPA's where the smell was outrageously good but the taste didn't measure up, and vice versa; the Younger has both characteristics. It's very bold and strong in flavor with huge amounts of grapefruit bitterness that dominates throughout the entire sip, has some sweet malt undertone to keep things a little bit in check but gets extremely beaten down by hop bitterness. Starts sweet for a brief second with some peppery sweetness on the side of the tongue. Malts re-appear at the very end for a brief moment before being slapped into submission by an army of hop bitterness. Finishes with strong grapefruit puckering, pepper, and orange rind that lingers for a LONG time after the sip. The back of the throat is coated with peppery grapefruit bitterness, and orange coats the mouth, almost metallic-like in nature. There's an ABV burn after the sip but that's the only indication of it's presence. As I work through the glass, the booziness becomes more apparent.
Mouthfeel is the smoothest I've ever experienced with an IPA. Drinkability is very good, you have to be a hop head to enjoy this, otherwise, forget it.
I only had one glass and I was begging for more but the bartender was the Pliny Natzi - One Younger for you! This is a world class beer, wish Vinnie would brew this more often and make it more accessible. Glad I had the opportunity to finally try this beer.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by flagmantho from Washington
4.15/5 rDev -11.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.15/5 rDev -11.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
I had this beer on-tap in a tulip glass at Special Brews in Lynnwood, WA.
Appearance: medium-light golden hue with just the tiniest wisp of haze and practically no head.
Smell: a light, sweet, almost tropical fruitiness with some piney hop character atop a pretty pronounced malt aroma. Nice.
Taste: richly malty and a bit sweet, but with lots of bitterness backing it up. There’s a little fruity character here, I’m thinking from fermentation, along with some piney/grassy notes from the hops. It’s interesting — a rich flavorful beer, but neither as cloying nor as harsh as TIPAs often are. Worth the hype? Maybe. But certainly a good beer.
Mouthfeel: medium body with a good level of carbonation and creaminess.
Overall: I like this beer a lot, and I bet if I’d tried it 15 years ago it would have blown my mind (and my palate). In today’s IPA climate, competition is tough and we as consumers are spoiled. That said, this remains a really tasty beer.
Feb 24, 2024Appearance: medium-light golden hue with just the tiniest wisp of haze and practically no head.
Smell: a light, sweet, almost tropical fruitiness with some piney hop character atop a pretty pronounced malt aroma. Nice.
Taste: richly malty and a bit sweet, but with lots of bitterness backing it up. There’s a little fruity character here, I’m thinking from fermentation, along with some piney/grassy notes from the hops. It’s interesting — a rich flavorful beer, but neither as cloying nor as harsh as TIPAs often are. Worth the hype? Maybe. But certainly a good beer.
Mouthfeel: medium body with a good level of carbonation and creaminess.
Overall: I like this beer a lot, and I bet if I’d tried it 15 years ago it would have blown my mind (and my palate). In today’s IPA climate, competition is tough and we as consumers are spoiled. That said, this remains a really tasty beer.
Reviewed by Hayesbro from Pennsylvania
4.8/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
4.8/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Not sure what else needs to be said about this beer, it's pretty close to perfection for the style. A little on the light side, piney and bitter with a touch of sweetness. Intense flavors and very very smooth.
Feb 23, 2024Reviewed by NeilSilber1 from California
5/5 rDev +6.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
5/5 rDev +6.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Pours golden yellow with slight white lacing crown on special edition (once a year) draught at Malibu Wine & Beer. Notes of honey and crisp perfect hops, slightly sweet with a perfect hop punch. This limited batch hard to get pour drinks like a single IPA but checked in at hefty 10.25% ABV putting it into triple IPA category. CHEERS to Russian River and the perfect IPA.
Feb 21, 2024Reviewed by TheIPAHunter from California
4.71/5 rDev +0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
4.71/5 rDev +0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Intense gummy bear nose. Taste is soft stone fruit, green pear, grapefruit rind, and an absolute blast of pine resin. Prickly mouthfeel. Dry, bitter finish. Phenomenal.
Sep 19, 2023
Pliny The Younger from Russian River Brewing Company
Beer rating:
100 out of
100 with
3560 ratings
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