Pliny the Younger and Triple IPAs

Over the past few years, I've been fortunate enough to acquire tickets to try Russian River's much-hyped triple IPA, Pliny the Younger. Locally, The Bier Stein has hosted parties celebrating its release every year, often also having the Elder and a couple of the wild/sour beers on offer.

And since first trying it in 2012, my thoughts have essentially remained the same: Younger's a good beer. Not a great one, and certainly not the 4th-best in the world (as measured on both RateBeer and BeerAdvocate).

First, a bit of context. I think that triple IPAs are fundamentally flawed as a style. Here's why I say that: double IPAs are generally made to 80-100 IBUs, which is right around the bitterness saturation threshold for most folks (meaning that adding more hops at this point won't increase perceived bitterness. A beer with more than 100 IBUs listed is a marketing gimmick, not an accurate reflection of the beer's character). 

A triple IPA, by necessity, is going to have to contain more malt (to get it to the alcohol strength necessary for the style, usually 10%+). It's also going to contain more hops, but since double IPAs are already at the abovementioned bitterness threshold, adding additional hops won't actually make the beer taste more bitter. So since brewers are adding more malt and more hops, but only the sweet malt is having a notable effect, the overall result is the creation of a sweet, boozy, malt-forward beer. A barleywine, in essence. I've had several triple IPAs at this point, and they're all along these lines.

All that being said, here are my thoughts on Younger and Elder themselves.

Pliny the Elder is, in fact, a great beer deserving of being highly-ranked. It's a delicious, well-balanced double IPA that's neither too bitter nor too sweet, and it's rare enough on tap that it's worth seeking out a pint when it's in town. It's the apex of West Coast double IPA.

Younger, by contrast, is a much sweeter beer - the added malting to get it up to triple IPA strength overwhelms the hopping and makes it taste like a too-hoppy barleywine (to my palate, at least). It still tastes very good, mind you - the hops that are detectable are piney, citrusy, and well-blended, the beer's boozy without being hot, and it's a quite easy-drinking beer for its strength.

So, to sum up - Is Younger one of the best beers in the world? Absolutely not. It's not even one of the best beers by Russian River (though their standards are incredibly high). Is it worth the lines, the waiting, the ticketing, and all the associated hoopla? Nope, but it's a fun thing to do with friends. Is it a good beer, worth trying? Definitely.