Pliny The Younger
Russian River Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extremely dry and extremely worth it. Outstanding in its own way, just like how Heady Topper is unique in it's own way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a slight dark gold with a light frost to the transparency. Head is a couple fingers of plush white foam.

Aroma is a pleasant quick hit of tropical fruits, citrus, and mild resin and grass. It melds together sugary hop notes seamlessly with sticky hops for a dramatic, dynamic, quick-hitting aroma. Light bready malts adorn the back of the aroma profile, but are faint in comparison to the hops. Hops are never loud, instead, they land at a mild volume of "six" on a scale of 1-10, ten being the highest. Instead of using volume, hops are overlapped to create complexity.

Flavor profile is light tropical fruits and citrus at the onset, sharing the spotlight with resiny, grassy, piney, and mild herbal and floral hops, before dipping back into tropical fruits at the finish. Pine notes build in intensity as the beer warms, but it refrains from crossing into overly sticky or heavy. It's never overtly sweet, nor does it carry a bitter bite at the end, as do some west coast IPAs. Instead, the end is marked by a light dryness that marks an end to hops. That dryness is accompanied by bready malts.

Mouth feel is medium-thick with a consistent, crisp texture driven by a mild effervescence. It's just thick enough to drink more like an experience, and less like a parking lot, tailgating IPA - though I would never turn down a pour / bottle of this in the latter situation.

Overall, this beer embodies wonderful balance, along with thoughtful nuance, to create a dreamy smooth IPA. Hops are pleasant, plump, and forward, without carrying the pedal-to-the-metal force of some other IPAs. This one is marked and adorned by simplicity and nuance.

Served in a 15.5oz Spiegelau tulip from a 500mL bottle.

 

On draft on March 25th and bottle today. In the past four trips up over a decade, Pliny would always have an unmistakable distinguished character to it. It was the Cadillac of Russian River. This time I called the server over. "Are you sure this is it? Not Happy Hops or something else?". Nope. This was Younger. More acidic and lacking the smooth richness and piney, sticky aftertaste, and gone was the once amazing nose of sap and sweet burnt sugar. With three to try on this visit, I had just one pour, and was, like my friend, stumped and disappointed. The vibe of visiting Windsor was pleasant, I took a self guided tour, the wait in the spring sunshine a mere three and a half hours, and the food there scrumptious. My friend and I shared a bottle of Refraction, a collab with Brooklyn Brewery, and that seemed to have more to offer. Still, I purchased two bottles of PtY to go to give it another shot at home. Pouring it now in a four ounce glass akin to what they served it in at Santa Rosa, I have the same vibes from it. I got a four pack of R&D #4 from the gift shop and enjoyed those more. Alas!

 

 

Appearance - The beer poured a clear golden color with visible carbonation and a white head.

Smell - The earthy pine notes were strong in the nose. By way of comparison, it smelled like in the amped up version of Elder.

Taste - Having sampled Pliny the elder first, I will use it as a means of comparison. Younger seemed like an amped up version of Elder. The green grass and hops was next level. The pine notes left a little room for sweetness, but there was somewhat of a backbone. The pain notes lingered in the finish.

Mouthfeel - The beer had the body of an imperial, with carbonation scrubbing away the sweetness and allowing the bitterness to linger.

Overall - Hype-worthy. Glad I got to try some, thanks @bret27

 

 

 

There's a reason it's rated as high as it is. PTY has loads of citrus aroma and flavor, but at 10.25% it's as smooth as they some.

 

 

Look - golden mostly clear with a nice white head and rimming
Smell - citrus tangerine slight pine
Taste - bitter citrus slight creamy a little caramel
Feel - full body with lighter carb
Overall - fantastic straight west coast

 

 

Welp, it’s been about 18 years or so on the hunt for this elusive brew. Ever since finding craft beer through Sam Adams in the early college days of the mid-2000s, this has been the ultimate Sasquatch beer. Spent most of my years on the east coast and college in Arizona but never took the trip to Northern California. Then finally, living in San Diego, they decide to send more kegs for 2022. Incredible find through a random Google search. Turns out the owner of Fathom Bistro & Bar knows Vinnie. I figured it would be similar to the best beers from HF/TH/Trillium but it’s so different. It’s the perfect West Coast hoppy beer but amplified. Super resinous, dry, and dank. Amazing finish. Feel and body are so smooth. Flavor is obviously off the charts. This is worth the hype!!!

Blind Donkey