Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Russian River - Pliny the Elder

A perpetually highly-rated and well-loved beer, this 8% ABV Imperial/DIPA is one of my favorites indeed.




Appearance: Clear, golden orange, pours about twofingers of head. Head recedes, leaving plenty of lacing on the glass and thin layer of foam at top. Carbonation immediately visible.

Smell: Fruit (mainly citrus to my nose, but many get tropical as well), pine, hops

Taste: First taste impression is sweet citrus, with pine/earth. In the middle body I get some mild spice, which transitions through to classic IPA hoppy bitterness comes through at end. The flavor profile is strong, but well-balanced.

Mouthfeel: It feels medium bodied, with a nice carbonated texture. It's a great texture/weight balance to the heavy flavor.

Overall: There is a lot of praise over this beer, and I can see why. Though a lot of the flavors present here are present in other IPAs (namely citrus), the particular balance present here is pretty special.  Considering that it's a double IPA, the hoppiness/bitterness isn't overpowering - it packs a punch, but it's so nicely melded with the other flavors that it's potentially the type of IPA that even non-IPA people would love. And if you are IPA people, like me? Well it's just great. It just is!

5/5

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