Russian River Brewing Blind Pig IPA And Pliny The Elder IPA

A Much Wanted Beer

Russian River Brewing Company does not distribute it’s beers in Georgia.  That’s been frustrating because I have wanted to try their beers, especially the Blind Pig IPA, Pliny The Elder IPA, and Pliny The Younger IPA.  I had resigned myself to the idea that I would just have to wait until I took a trip out West in order to try them.

Twitter To The Rescue

Well, last Thursday night I was keeping an eye on Twitter while watching the Giro D’Italia on my DVR when I saw a “tweet” from a riding buddy of mine, Randy, saying he was enjoying the sunset in San Francisco while drinking some wine.  WINE ! I thought, why isn’t he drinking a great beer, like say Russian River?  I immediately tweeted him back saying he needed to procure some Russian River Beers if at all possible, especially Pliny The Elder.  Randy’s son Chris tweeted pretty much the same thing.  That was all it took.  Randy realized his error of drinking wine and instead set off to find some good craft beer.  He ended up at a Whole Foods near his hotel and was able to get a couple of bottles.  SCORE!!!  Twitter saves the day!  So, for all you people who say Twitter has no meaning, I say Bull!!

The Tasting

Two days later, on a beautiful Saturday here in Atlanta, Pam and I joined Randy and his wife, along with their son Chris, at their house to taste the spoils.  We started with the Blind Pig IPA.  Here’s the review:

Appearance: A slightly cloudy light orange color greets you when you pour the beer.  The head is a nice bright white with small creamy bubbles.  Lacing was pretty good in my tulip glass.

Smell: The smell is very “sweet” pine and citrus.  The pine was more forward but it wasn’t resiny at all.

Taste: The taste was more citrus forward (grapefruit, orange) than pine.  We all got the citrus pretty much right away.  The aftertaste as well was citrus and then sweet pine.  There’s some bitterness, but not overwhelming

Drinkability: The 6.0% ABV makes this a very drinkable beer.  There is a nice crisp finish with a good mix of citrus and hops.  This is a great Summer beer for IPA lovers.

Blind Pig is a very good IPA.  All three of us agreed that It has a great taste and smell.  The citrus and hops mix very well.  There’s a great “pine forest” component to the beer that is very nice.  It’s sufficiently bitter but not harsh at all.  It’s very easy to drink and is perfect for a warm Summer day.  This is one of the better IPA’s I’ve had for sure.

Here’s the score:

1. Appearance- 8 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 7 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 17 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 9 points (out of 10)

Total 41 (out of 50) Points -4 Mugs

On To Pliny

After the great experience with Blind Pig, we opened our Pliny The Elder to see how it matched up:

Appearance: The beer is a bit darker than Blind Pig but not a whole lot.  We thought that it would be darker than it was for some reason, but the slight color difference made the beer look more appealing to me.   The head was the same creamy white and the lacing was excellent.

Smell:The smell had a more prominent pine and less citrus.  The pine is close to resiny but not quite.  There was a bit of sweetness as well.

Taste: The taste is where the Pliny showed the differences.  There was definitely more sweetness and more pine.  This is what an IPA should taste like.  There was some bitterness but no harshness.  People who like IPA’s will most likely enjoy this beer a lot.  The aftertaste was a little less crisp than Blind Pig.  It was a great balanced taste that left us wondering a bit about how they did it, in a good way.

Drinkability: Even with the higher 8.0% ABV the Pliny drank very well.  The alcohol was well hidden.  There’s some bitterness but it isn’t overwhelming at all. I wouldn’t chug this beer but sipping it on a warm evening would be no problem.

We all were extremely impressed with this beer.  There was a uniqueness to the taste that we were still talking about long after the beer was gone.  Even the non-beer drinking spouses agreed that Pliny was “better” than Blind Pig (although Blind Pig is a great beer).  The balance of hops and malt was great.  We think it was the extra malt that made the difference.  I really liked it and preferred it a little more than Blind Pig.  This is the best American IPA I’ve had so far coming in just above the Hop Stoopid.  Pliny The Younger is supposed to be very good as well, but unfortunately it is only available on tap at a few locations in California, so we have tasked Randy with trying some the next time he is in California and giving us a full review!

Here’s the score:

1. Appearance- 9 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 9 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 18 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 9 points (out of 10)

Total 45 (out of 50) Points -4 Mugs

Postscript

I had been wanting to try the Russian River IPA’s for a while.  Thanks to Randy’s Sa Francisco business trip, we were able to sample these fine beers.  There is a lot of “hype” surrounding the beers, especially Pliny The Elder.  I think for the most part that the hype is justified.  It is a very good beer with a great aroma, and taste.  I know I will be looking to try some more as soon as I can, or as soon as Randy goes to California again .  I recommend this beer, along with the Blind Pig IPA, wholeheartedly.  Try it if you can!