Pliny The Younger
Russian River Brewing Company

 

Good god man! Holy shit this is a really good beer. Having been blessed with national travel for work and fly fishing trips - and the expendable budget to have had the opportunity to try many of the top beers on beer advocate and those celebrated by fellow beer lovers. I’ve had many many IPAs from Vermont to Colorado and New York to California - but my brother and his gang of beer connoisseurs demanded that I join them in Boulder Colorado for the tapping of a 2023 Pliny the Younger at the annual celebration at Backcountry Pizza & Taphouse… and I couldn’t be more delighted that they did - might be best beer that have ever crossed this unrefined pallet. Perfect all around and holy shit drinkable …

 

 

 

Outstanding IPA! Definitely among the best. Piney in character, hoppy, and a nice finish. This beer is dangerously drinkable! It’s worth the hype

Dangerously drinkable, bigger version of elder but in many ways easier to drink.

My rating isnt goi gnro sway you to get this but if available obviously you should.


On tap at Novare Res, portland maine

Had at Novare Res

The first thing that stands out is how ordinary this looks. It's a bright light amber color with a modest white head. Served in a clear half pint glass from a tap in Philadelphia, at first glance, one would wonder about all the fuss. The aroma is mildly piney, again there's no reason to get too excited. Then, to taste it and realize what all the acclaim is about. It is dry hop dominate, but there is a substantial malt backbone. It manages to provide a nice malt counterbalance without becoming too sweet, nor earthy. The substantial hop bite is piney, but dry and incredibly clean. There's little lacing inside the glass and there's even less notice of the 10.25% ABV. This deserves its reputation as among the best.

 

 

2023 version on tap at Monk's. Great clean golden color. Very mild for a triple, no booziness with mild and pleasant tropical fruits; yields into a piney and floral taste with little to no bitterness. I actually prefer my westies a little more bitter, but this beer does indeed work fantastically. Overall, a great beer and glad I finally got to taste it. It lives up to the hype if you're a person that still likes these kinds of IPAs (I very much do).

 

Appearance: Pours a brilliant rich golden color, with a soft white foam head.

Aroma: Sweet earthy piney notes, mild and pleasant tropical fruits and pine resin. Rich Bready malts.

Taste: citrus and tropical fruit, makes way for a balance of pine, herbal, and floral hops. Slightly boozie toward the end. Some sweetness balanced with a good, strong bitter finish gives it best of both worlds.

Overall opinion: this is an amazing beer. It lives up to the hype. Very hoppy, but it isn't all up in your face about it. It's like a smooth sailing Hoppy adventure on your pallet. Both the aroma and the taste has some incredible complexity. I give it 5 out of 5. Hands down one of the best IPA experiences I've had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.