Russian River Pliny the Elder
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Rated 4.085 by BeerPals
Brewed by Russian River Brewing
Santa Rosa, CA, United States
Style: Imperial IPA
8% Alcohol by Volume
Availability of this beer is unknown
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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. Gold Medal, 2006 World Beer Cup (Double IPA Category) Gold Medal, 2005 GABF (Double IPA Category) Bronze Medal, 2004 GABF (Double IPA Category) Available year round in the pub, for distribution, and in 500mL bottles.
ID: 8184 Last updated 2 weeks ago Added to database 22 years agoKey Stats
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Drunk51
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Statistics
| Overall Rank | 62 |
| Overall Percentile | 99.9 |
| Style Rank | 7 of 2645 |
| Style Percentile | 99.7 |
| Lowest Score | 2.9 |
| Highest Score | 4.9 |
| Average Score | 4.149 |
| Weighted Score | 4.085 |
| Standard Deviation | 0.492 |
Rating Distribution
Beer vs Style
51 Member Reviews
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Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8
Clear dark yellow, off-white lacing foam head. Nice hoppy aroma and strong bitter taste. Long lasting aftertaste. A through hoppy beer. (Houston 201705)
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Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8
What can be said that hasn't been? One of the finer examples of a West Coast IPA with more malt body than some. Well balanced with medium body. Nice colour, orange/crimson/amber. Citrus, Pine some light spiciness to the aroma and flavour. Fills the mouth and drops down so easy. Not overly bitter, not really complex, almost slightly sweet at times, but completely enjoyed.
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Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8
A nice dipa with lots of caramel and hops and a good alcohol burn. Not as complex as I would have thought based on other reviews. Seems fairly straight forward for the style, its no Hercules.
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Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7
Fun, finally able to try another Russian River thanks to Dave! Pours dark yellow, fluffy white head and tons of lacing. Aroma and flavors of pine predominate, along with a nice hop bite. All in all OK but am hoping for more from the remaining choices in the fridge.
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Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9
Bottle pour into a pint - bottle date 5/16/12 - so this is pretty fresh. The pour is orange hued with a sticky white head that caps nicely and laces the glass beautifully. Pine dominates the aroma, along with grapefruit and lemon notes. The mouthfeel is superb, as this is supremely drinkable with pleasant carbonation. This is a hop bomb. Notes of the aforementioned pine dominate, but citrus tones challenge and it finishes with a nice, sweet malt backbone. Certainly worthy of the praise, even with new comers that challenge its throne, Pliny is still in the top 2-3 in its style.
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Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9
Alrighty. Had this on tap at Russian River in Santa Rosa. A beautiful sunshiny day in California. Into my glass it pours beautifully. Deep orange, mystical. Head is generous with a huge floral nose. The flavors are incredibly fresh and tropical. Like a basket of mango, grapefruits and lemons right in your face. The hops are dank, dripping off the vine dank. Fresh cut grass and resiny. Little bit of wood.
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Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9
Strong, hoppy aroma has a strong overtone of grapefruit. Very grapefruit-y. It pours a clear amber with a respectable white head that leaves some good lacing. Flavor is - WOW! Very hoppy, mainly of grapefruit, hardly bitter with a hint of honey sweetness. Firm body is smooth and has plenty of fizz. No wonder this is so recherche.
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Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8
I was really excited to find these at a fairly unexpected source in Portland. Hard to find, these Plinys. Aroma: How to rate an epic beer with reasonable expectations... maybe I got a bad batch, maybe there's some radiation that destroys the hopmagic as soon as you cross the 49th parallel, but I've had way more aromatic beers. Above average. Flavour: Kinda watery, surprisingly limited in flavour. Hmm... I mean... It's Pliny the Elder! And yet.... Mouthfeel: So I wasn't blown away with the first one, and I hoped that drinking #2 at a leter date would be better. it isn't. This is a high expectation, but sadly disappointing review. I hope to amend this review some day.
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Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9
I really hate hype. I've been reading so much about this beer that by the time I got the chance to try it, I was expecting a mind blowing beer revelation. Don't get me wrong--this is definitely a world class beer--huge hop bomb but with a solid malt backbone to keep everything balanced. It does rank in the top 5 IPAs/DIPAs I've ever had but a part of me is still a little disappointed it wasn't better.
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Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9
Probably my favorite beer. Very floral, hoppy, and bitter, but with a nice sweet malt character and fruitiness to offset the bitterness. The flavor damces on your tongue.
