Beer – #1,119 – Russian River Brewing Company – Pliny The Elder

In what seems to be the most unlikely of events I’ve been gifted some Pliny the Elder beer. Now for a New Zealand this is akin to mythical, a unicorn beer, proper, a bucket list beer. Bottled 11/20/24 at 13:56 🙂

Russian River Brewing Company make the Pliny The Elder in California, United States, it is of course an Imperial IPA, with an ABV of 8%, in New Zealand that’s about 3.2 standard drink units.

 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!

Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian and author. In his writings he refers to “Lupus Salictarius”, meaning “wolf among scrubs”, likely an early reference to hop vines growing wild among willows. Pliny the Elder died in 79 AD while saving people during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. He was immortalized by his nephew and adopted son, Pliny the Younger. Pliny the Elder, the beer, is a full-bodied, hop forward Double IPA. Keep refrigerated and consume fresh to best enjoy this beer’s intense hop character.

I’m pretty sure that for most craft beer drinkers Pliny the Elder is a known, and revered beer, even if there’s a large portion of the same people that have not had, and are unlikely to get their hands on one. I wish I was exaggerating.

So, What could possibly go wrong?

Well here goes, another cap into the jar (that I desperately need to upgrade to a bigger version or throw out, and you know I can’t throw them out). This really is quite an exciting moment for me.

I opened the cap, no ribbons, balloons or klaxons went off, a beer with. lovely malty rich aroma.

I was genuinely taken aback about just how straw yellow this beer is, I don’t know what I was expecting, but this is as mentioned, yellow straw with a slight haze about it. And a brilliance of white head.

The taste, well it isn’t aggressively bitter, it’s almost soft, but there is a sawing edge of grassiness in there, a real raw fresh edge. The hops in this, in this combination in this glass is amazing, they’re all pulling their weight and not fighting with each other for a dominance there is no one single note or pen, its all very calm.

What seems to creep up is a lingering dryness, in a good way a lovely lingering bitterness. This really is a balanced and way to easy to drink beer.

it ends with an empty glass that has lovely lacing. Outstanding.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 10 of its things from the thing. Has to be, a dangerously easy drinking beer that has gentle bitterness with a lovely blanched ride brought the supp with a lovely delicious lingering bit.

The double dip review

• Where did I get it? The was a gifted beer, and I’m so chfffed.
• Am I enjoying it? It is really really very good.
• Would I have another? I would love another, time will tell.
• Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I have one, single, and as much as I want to share it I want it all. However should I get some more I would be happy to hare that love.

Music for this:  The Eminem Song, ‘Lose Yourself’, sprang to mind, “you only get one shot”….. I know it’s an over-reach and a bit syrupy

Imperial IPA

We have west coast American brewers to thank for this somewhat reactionary style. Take an India Pale Ale and feed it steroids, and you’ll end up with a Double or Imperial IPA. Although generally recognizable alongside its sister styles in the IPA family, you should expect something more robust, malty, and alcoholic with a characteristically intense hop profile in both taste and aroma. In short, these are boldly flavored, medium-bodied beers that range in color from deep gold to medium amber. The “imperial” usage comes from Russian Imperial Stout, a style of strong Stout originally brewed in England during the late 1700s for the Russian imperial court. Today Double IPA is often the preferred name in the United States.