The First Beer: Pliny the Elder

Allow me first to provide some background information on where this beer comes from. Pliny the Elder is brewed by Russian River Brewing Company, based out of Santa Rosa, California (http://www.russianriverbrewing.com/). This brewing co focuses mainly on: "traditional aggressively hopped California style ales, Belgian style ales, and barrel aged beers." This brewing co distributes almost exclusively to the west coast of the United States, with Colorado and Pennsylvania being the only non-west coast states currently selling beer from Russian River. This brewer is well-known to produce top-notch, unique and rare beers. Oh and also, If you're curious to know who and why Russian River named a beer after this guy, Pliny the Elder, a good resource for some basic reading is wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder) and now for the beer...


Upon opening the bottle of Pliny the Elder, I take a whiff of the aroma, and it smells of sweet pine and lots of big delicious hops.

It pours a clear golden yellow to pale orange. The head is fluffy and off-white yellowish in color. Swirling the glass, deeper aromas come to the surface and I'm getting a much sweeter, dole pineapple, thick and heavy hop aromas. I can't wait for the first sip.

Upon sipping for the first time I let it slide over my palette. Initially I detect a spicy and sweet, slightly fizzy carbonation. Not too heavy on the carb, not too light, just the right amount.

The mouthfeel airs more on the medium side. Not heavy or thick like a lot of Double/Imperial IPA's. A slight bitterness comes to the tip of my tongue midway through, but the full extent of the hops and bitterness aren't apparent until the finish, even then it's subtle. A very refreshing, very drinkable, hoppy medium bodied beer!