Russian River - Pliny the Elder

Russian River - Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder, named after the Roman who created the original botanical name for hops, is an 8% ABV Double IPA from Russian River out of Santa Rosa, CA.  A world class beer mainly available in California and Pennsylvania outside of trading.

Pliny pours a straw/light golden yellow with a good three finger beige white head and nice sticky lacing.  The head fades at a moderate pace, not too slow and not too fast.

There are nice aromas of pine/resin and grapefruit as is usually the case in many double/imperial IPAs.  Pliny also gives off some light caramel and tropical fruit aromas.

Pliny the Elder tastes of big grapefruit with juicy citrus notes.  Pine/resin and some biscuit notes are also there.  The finish is bitter and semi-dry with big floral hops.  Medium bodied and nice carbonation with light lingering flavors.

As Russian River's possibly most talked about beer, Pliny the Elder definitely lives up to the hype.  It's not an easy beer to find but if given the chance, make sure you snatch some up!  Definitely a top notch beer along with The Alchemist's Heady Topper and DC Brau's On The Wings Of Armageddon.

Score: 5/5 (Untappd Caps)

Untappd Check-in

Bottle Description:

"Pliny the Elder, born in 23 A.D., was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian, traveler, officer, and writer.  Pliny and his contemporaries, created the original botanical name for hops, "Lupus Salictarius" meaning "wolf among scrubs".  Hop vines, at that time, grew wild among willows, likened to wolves roaming wild in the forest.  Pliny the Elder died in 79 AD while saving people during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  He was immortalized by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who continued his uncle's legacy by documenting much of what his uncle experienced during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  This beer is an homage to the man who discovered hops and perished while being a humanitarian.

Unlike many of the Russian River Brewing Company beers which are ageable, the beer inside this bottle is meant to be consumed fresh.  Keep Pliny the Elder refrigerated and consume fresh to experience the explosive hop character."