Russian River Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian, traveler, officer, and writer. Although not considered his most important work, Pliny and his contemporaries created the botanical name for hops, "lupus Salictarius", meaning wolf among scrubs." Hops at that time grew wild among willows, much like a wolf in the forest. Later the current botanical name, humulus Lupulus, was adopted. Pliny died in 79 AD while observing 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 he observed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Pliny the Elder, the beer, is brewed with 40% more malt and over twice the amount of hops as compared to our already hoppy IPA.
4.3
2807 reviews
Santa Rosa, United States
Community reviews
Tap at Troubles End. Rated before at Toronado in San Diego but backlogged. Hops are grassy, resinous, bright, soapy. Sort of a different experience than most IIPA, old school and proud. Big, full bodied, layers of hop bitterness. Not really my favorite, but certainly respectable and historically relevant.
Very clear golden yellow. Extremely hoppy even for an IPA. Too much hop for my taste but otherwise a fine beer.
500 ml bottle from City Beer Store, San Francisco. Three weeks old! Pours an impressive gold, but the head only came when I hard poured. Aroma not as impressive as I expected - just the usual lemon, orange and passionfruit. Taste of honey malt, slight esters and a ton of resinous dank hops. To me that stuck out like a sore thumb and I didn't quite like it. Heavy carbonation but pretty OK mouthfeel. Wouldn't rate it as highly as the other hopheads here.
Draft Hops & Pie 8-13-16
Prev 4.4
bottle. Finally got one! A dear friend brought one back from Cali for me. Very good DIPA - classic West Coast Imperial - big hops, balanced, so good.
Gold to amber hue with touch of redness. Ale is surprisingly hazy to the point of translucency. Head is off white, medium fine structure with some bubbles. There were few carbonation tails. It left wonderfully fine and evenly distributed glass lace. Crisp aroma of floral and perfumy hops, with hints of tropical fruit. Definitely ale esters. High ABV nose makes malt hard to pull through. First taste is rich and full with ample dry malt to balance the hops. The hops come through midway with resiny notes that keep the richness of the malt at bay. This is correct for an IPA; hops should be strong and clear per the style. End taste is extraordinarily clean with no residual bitterness. Feel is definitely firm and smooth, but not chewy. As expected, there is limited carbonation activity in the mouth. Completely World Class. One of the top beers that I have ever enjoyed, in one of my favorite styles.
(Bottle) clear, bright yellow amber colour with a tall white head; aroma of tropical fruit; creamy palate; rich, sublimely balanced flavour with a long, medium bitter finish
Thought I had rated this before. Found in the mountains in CO. Probably awhile since brewed. This was good. Not too bitter the hops enhanced the taste
Bottle. Pours a clear golden yellow with medium white head. Aroma of wildflowers and a hint of citrus. Flavor is pretty well-balanced. Somewhat sweet with fine resin-y and citrus-y hop bitterness. I really enjoyed it!
slightly opalescent pale yellow colour, medium sized dense head; aroma of piney, marmalade, peachy-sweet fruity, grassy and grape peel notes; perfectly balanced bittersweet taste with the same notes as can be felt in the aroma, as well as with some honeydew melon; great IIPA! Thank you so much for sharing, kapusil!
0.51l bottle thanks to Cristobal37. Clear golden body with a white head. Nice honey notes in the aroma with huge pine notes with honeydew melon and blackberries. Taste of honey, grass, pine, honeydew melon, grape seed, grapefruit and blackberries. Very tasty, bomb DIPA.
Good DIPA, this is the second time I have tried this. Bottle purchased in San Diego on 6/17/21, made on 5/20/21. I do like this one better than my previous trip when I brought it home (DC area) and consumed weeks later. Much fresher. Surprisingly crisp, with lemon front notes, slightly dank aroma. Good carbonation (fresh), though I had this on draft on a trip up to LA, this bottle version is actually better. Solid beer, not sure it is worth the markup though (paid $6.99). I enjoy the local versions of West Coast IPA's from San Diego breweries, like Modern Times, Mike Hess, or my personal favorite "The Hop Concept Dank and Sticky" (seasonal around Feb-Apr).
Best IPA I've ever tasted. So balanced and flavorful. Each taste demands another. When on tap, I find myself waiving down the bartender before my glass is empty. Sooo good!!!
Aroma: Citrus, floral, very good. Appearance: The date is already very fresh, No. 3.21. It has been a month since the bottle was opened. The wine is golden and clear. The taste: the citrus and pine flavors brought by the hops, as well as the sweetness of the fruit. The bitterness of the hops is very balanced in the whole. For the first time that night, I learned that drinking IPA doesn’t need too much ice, is that it? ! Finally I drank the long-awaited PTE. I hope I will have a chance to drink PTY in the United States in March next time! ! I feel that the level of tasting is limited, and I can't say many professional and gorgeous words to describe this wine. I drank this wine in the middle of the wine bureau, and the refreshing feeling, the taste impact brought by the hops repeated on the tip of the tongue. This wine is like a sweeping monk, low-key conquered everyone
On tap at Pete’s as always...can’t believe I’ve never rated. Poured perfect...slightly cloudy amber. What is there to add?....previously had a “hazy” and a “New England” and some other “West Coast” IPA then went to the Pliny to finish out my night on a perfect note!
Solid IPA,not as good as hype.Some tropical citrus,strong pine dominant
Fantastic IPA but I don't think it's worthy of the hype per se. Thick foam, tropical and oily hops, a little heavy on the finish.
Pours clear golden w thick fluffy white head with excellent lacing. Balanced light pine and citrus on the nose. Bread malt, citrus, and pine on the palate. The hops leave a nice oil coating on the tongue with a balanced, medium body and a dry finish.
Thanks to dad for flying this back from California. Pours a clear straw-golden with a thick, foamy white head and furious carbonation throughout the beer. Aroma of Amarillo, Simcoe, pine. Taste has lemony resin, pine, a slight must reminiscent of Nelson hops, extremely fully bodied with a hoppy oil that coats the mouth following the malt base. Palate has a refreshing but dry malt, intense and diverse array of hop oils that are bitter, but not overwhelming. Some light floral elements accent the piney finish. It really does meet the hype.
A classic.
Had a very light beer week, just one 2 days ago, but I have my stag do tomorrow, so I need to do some training to avoid fainting after my first glass. And I want to do this training starting with the best beast in my fridge. A quite fresh (July 24) Pliny the Elder, arguably the best DIPA in the world. I believe it deserves its reputation as, it's basically perfect!
Pours clear golden, visible CO2, a fluffy, eternal head with perfect lacing, handmade and imported from Bruges.
Aroma, perfect fresh, delicate, pine, citrus and mango. Exactly what a classic Californian DIPA should smell like!
Tastes sublimely bitter, with a good malty backbone of caramel. Then pine, grapefruit and mango. Long, eternal (as its head, which is still there as this point of the writing), bitter finish!
On the palate super smooth and medium bodied, but also quite crisp, nicely carbonated and yeah that lovely bitter finish.
What to add, everybody knows it already. It's just perfect!
Deserves its reputation. No one particular thing about it stands out as exceptional, it's simply top-notch across the board. If you were to build a no-nonsense, by-the-book DIPA that would distinguish itself more-or-less only by the excellence of its execution, this would be it (at least, I'm confident saying that until I'm lucky enough to have tried the Younger!). It won't win over anybody who doesn't care for IPAs, but hey; you're probably not drinking this without having an idea what you're getting into, right?
Found the legendary beer @ Bristol's Market San Diego CA....just stopped in my tracks seeing 4 bottles in the cooler....never thought I could get this, esp after seeing lines around the block @ Russian River! Never have had anything to compare this to. Moderate head, beautiful piney/citrusy aroma, staggering taste. The beer gods blessed us this day.
Exquisitely balanced.
Slight Grapefruit note, very refreshing, delicious
Good beer but not worth the hype!
Similar to lagunitas with a little more fruit
Get it!!!!!!!!!!!
500ml bottle @ monthly tasting, Chez Sophie FEB 20 during the 2020 flooding of Shrewsbury. Many thanks to Jeremy for this! Big chewy piney resin hit going on here, big robust bitterness.. DIPA as it used to be back in the olden days, and brings back fond memories of getting wowed by Mikkeller 1000IBU, Brewdog Hardcore IPA and the likes.. Brilliant stuff.
Excellent brew. But, seriously, you have to mix it up to appreciate what you have.