Russian River Pliny the Elder

We had a really great time at a 30th Bday party tamale bash.  I have to thank our friends for picking this up for me. They also brought a couple other ones I'll review later. The Bruery Saison de Rue, North Coast Pranqster which I've reviewed before, and a cider that I didn't get to try but it looked good.

Ok so obviously BIG expectations going into this one right? It's ranked pretty high on a lot of lists in general but it's definitely way up there on IPA's to try. Aside from Pliny the Younger I can't think of too many IPA's that get this much hype.


Starting off, BIG fluffy head, very sticky, but I was surprised at the minimal aroma coming off my glass. There was pine of course but it wasn't the nuclear pinecone I was expecting. A little tropical fruit maybe, a little freshcut grass a possibility but the aroma was underwhelming. This was totally opposite from what others have said about PTE.

All in all the flavors were pretty typical of a DIPA. The last few DIPA's I've had have had muted bitterness(I'm starting to think I have developed a tolerance). I love DIPA's for being smooth and PTE was definitely that. Nice thick body, a little oily stickiness, the lacing hung around forever. I really enjoyed this beer I just think that the lead up to it was overblown. Beer Advocate seems to have acolytes devoted to it and don't get them started on Pliny the YOUNGER.

All in all I definitely would not pass up the chance to drink this if it was given to me but I'm not going to go out of my way to find it either. Fantastic beer but it didn't change my life or the way I view beer. The best thing about the entire day though was the company.