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Pliny The Elder
Russian River Brewing Company
- From:
- Russian River Brewing Company
- California, United States
- Style:
- Imperial IPA
Ranked #3 - ABV:
- 8%
- Score:
- 100
Ranked #37 - Avg:
- 4.64 | pDev: 7.76%
- Reviews:
- 3,973
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Yesterday at 09:20 PM
- Added:
- Aug 24, 2003
- Wants:
- 7,659
- Gots:
- 4,835
Pliny the Elder is brewed with Amarillo, Centennial, CTZ, and Simcoe hops. It is well-balanced with malt, hops, and alcohol, slightly bitter with a fresh hop aroma of floral, citrus, and pine. Best enjoyed FRESH! That is why we make it in such limited supply. Actual bottling date is printed on each bottle!
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Libationguy:
Reviewed by Libationguy from Nevada
4.77/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4.77/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Bottling Date: 06.25.13
Brilliant deep gold color with a bright white rocky head. Two fingers on the head with long retention. Brisk carbonation and delicate lacing visible in the glass.
Grapefruit zest, fresh pine needles in spring, fresh pine sap, delicate white flowers. Very clean on the nose and totally focused on hops.
Wonderfully clean on the entry. Vibrant hop notes all pine and sap. Very clean without much of a resinous quality on the palate. Firm but balanced bitterness all the way through with a long finish.
Full bodied beer with a rich warm mouthfeel. Alcohol is nicely balanced in the overall profile of the beer. Maybe just a touch too much carbonation makes the beer just a little edgy on the palate.
If you are looking for a West Coat DIPA, this beer is superb. Somehow they manage to get the beer to focus almost completely on hops without it being out of balance. If they could sneak in just a little bit of counterpoint and ease off the carbonation just a touch, the beer would be perfect. Definitely worth a special trip to get your hands on this beer. Kudos to the staff at Russian River on a truly great beer.
Aug 12, 2013Brilliant deep gold color with a bright white rocky head. Two fingers on the head with long retention. Brisk carbonation and delicate lacing visible in the glass.
Grapefruit zest, fresh pine needles in spring, fresh pine sap, delicate white flowers. Very clean on the nose and totally focused on hops.
Wonderfully clean on the entry. Vibrant hop notes all pine and sap. Very clean without much of a resinous quality on the palate. Firm but balanced bitterness all the way through with a long finish.
Full bodied beer with a rich warm mouthfeel. Alcohol is nicely balanced in the overall profile of the beer. Maybe just a touch too much carbonation makes the beer just a little edgy on the palate.
If you are looking for a West Coat DIPA, this beer is superb. Somehow they manage to get the beer to focus almost completely on hops without it being out of balance. If they could sneak in just a little bit of counterpoint and ease off the carbonation just a touch, the beer would be perfect. Definitely worth a special trip to get your hands on this beer. Kudos to the staff at Russian River on a truly great beer.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by Gthig15 from Virginia
4.68/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
4.68/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Nice color, aroma of citrus, hoppy flavor with nice malt finish intermingled with bitterness. Great beer. Lighter than I expected in both color and flavor for an imperial IPA.
Mar 06, 2024Reviewed by Lexluthor33 from New York
4.61/5 rDev -0.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4.61/5 rDev -0.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Golden orange with a small head and light, bubbly lace.
aroma of mango, pine, hops and fruits.
taste is hoppy, fruit flavors followed by intense hops.
great balance overall.
Some malts in background.
Feb 27, 2024aroma of mango, pine, hops and fruits.
taste is hoppy, fruit flavors followed by intense hops.
great balance overall.
Some malts in background.
Reviewed by AdmiralOzone from Minnesota
4.64/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.64/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Pours clear honey gold with a thick white head that leaves generous lacing as it slowly fades. Aroma is bold, fresh citrus and tropical fruit with some pine. Flavor follows the nose, slightly sweet fruit up front with a real punch of bitterness in the finish. Feel is light bodied with ample carbonation. Overall, a real fine beer.
Feb 21, 2024Rated by The_Dean from Illinois
4.85/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
4.85/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
World class, poured from the bottle into a plastic hotel room cup in San Jose. Paired with In-N-Out DD. Wonderful.
Feb 13, 2024Reviewed by MalteredBeast
4.01/5 rDev -13.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
4.01/5 rDev -13.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
The quintessential west coast ipa. Hoppy and bitter which lingers. Had both on tap and in bottle. So much has been said about this one already. To be honest, as much as I liked it, I guess with its massive reputation, I was expecting a bit more. This one suffered from too high of expectations.
Dec 21, 2023Reviewed by george_pond from Maine
4.2/5 rDev -9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.2/5 rDev -9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
I found this at Nocturnem Draft Haus in Bangor, Maine. It was very good but maybe the hype caused my expectations to be set too high. I have yet to find a beer that equals the robust flavor of Eldridge Pope’s original Thomas Hardy’s ale.
The color was bright and clear; the flavor crisp and balanced. I’m sure I won’t get too many arguments if I say it is an excellent beer.
Dec 11, 2023The color was bright and clear; the flavor crisp and balanced. I’m sure I won’t get too many arguments if I say it is an excellent beer.
Reviewed by JacobusFavier23 from Texas
4.36/5 rDev -6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
4.36/5 rDev -6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Had on tap for the first time ever at a bar in Denver.
L-Golden colored beer with lively carbonation. Lacy thin head that stays around for a while.
S-Strong notes of floral, and fruity notes. Lots of apple and some strawberry, pineapple and blueberry. Fresh hop, earthy and piney resin, slight sweetness that follows.
T-Minimal yet bitter bite, slight crisp sweetness. Grainy and floral flavor throughout. Peppery bite. Some strawberry, blueberry and apple as well. Fresh.
F-Crisp, light and bubbly mouthfeel. Very light. Refreshing.
O-A damn good and perfectly crafted ipa. I can see how this is world class. Incredibly fresh and refreshing from end to end. Articulate flavor profile. Rewarding to drink. It started it all, and everyone is trying to recreate it’s greatness. It did it first. Glad I got to try it.
Dec 02, 2023L-Golden colored beer with lively carbonation. Lacy thin head that stays around for a while.
S-Strong notes of floral, and fruity notes. Lots of apple and some strawberry, pineapple and blueberry. Fresh hop, earthy and piney resin, slight sweetness that follows.
T-Minimal yet bitter bite, slight crisp sweetness. Grainy and floral flavor throughout. Peppery bite. Some strawberry, blueberry and apple as well. Fresh.
F-Crisp, light and bubbly mouthfeel. Very light. Refreshing.
O-A damn good and perfectly crafted ipa. I can see how this is world class. Incredibly fresh and refreshing from end to end. Articulate flavor profile. Rewarding to drink. It started it all, and everyone is trying to recreate it’s greatness. It did it first. Glad I got to try it.
Pliny The Elder from Russian River Brewing Company
Beer rating:
100 out of
100 with
15691 ratings
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