Pliny for President 2020 - Brew Review

Pliny for President 2020

Background

Korbel Champagne Cellars founded Russian River Brewing Company in 1997 in Guerneville, CA. In addition, Korbel hired Vinnie Cilurzo as the brewery’s Brewmaster. For the next 6 years Vinnie brewed super hoppy and Belgian-inspired beers. Most importantly, Vinnie created Pliny the Elder in 1999. Pliny the Elder, one of the first commercially brewed Double or Imperial IPA’s, won numerous awards over the years and established Russian River’s fame for great beer. Pliny the Elder still reigns as Russian River’s most popular beer more than 20 years later.

In 2003, Korbel decided to get out of the beer business. Moreover, they transferred the rights to the Russian River Brewing Company name, all beer names and the recipes to Vinnie and his wife, Natalie. So Vinnie and Natalie wrote a business plan, found 2 managing partners and established various investors. And in April 2004, Vinnie and Natalie opened the doors to the next chapter of Russian River Brewing with a brewpub in downtown Santa Rosa, CA..

Under Vinnie and Natalie’s leadership, Russian River Brewing beers have won dozens of awards from the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) and World Beer Cup (WBC). In addition, Vinnie and the brewery were twice named “Brewery and Brewmaster of the Year” at both the GABF and WBC. In 2007, Vinnie was awarded the “Russell Scherrer Award for Innovation in Brewing”. And Vinnie and Natalie received the “Brewers Association Recognition Award” in 2017.

On October 11, 2018, Russian River Brewing opened the doors to a new brewpub in Windsor, CA. The new added location provides 85,000 square feet to support expanded beer production, a brewpub, an outdoor beer garden, a gift shop, a tasting room, and administrative offices.

Russian River Brewing Windsor Location – photograph courtesy of Russian River Brewing Company

Description

Election season is off to the races! And Pliny for President celebrates the Presidential election season. Further, the beer provides a 3rd party (the Keg Party) candidate to consider.

Russian River first released Pliny for President in 2004. The brewery releases a different version of Pliny for President every Presidential election year since that time. However, this year marks the first time that Pliny for President has been canned for distribution by mail.

The Russian River website describes the beer as follows. “Pliny for President is a double dry-hopped version of our flagship Pliny the Elder double IPA, including one or two new hop varieties.” So to understand Pliny for President requires knowing a little about Pliny the Elder.

Brewed with Amarillo, Centennial, CTZ, and Simcoe hops, Pliny the Elder provides fantastic West Coast DIPA flavors. The beer delivers a delightful drinking experience featuring fresh, well-balanced malt, hops, and alcohol. And Pliny the Elder finishes slightly bitter with a fresh hop aroma of floral, citrus, and pine.

When added online for purchase, both Pliny the Elder and Pliny for President sell out within a few hours. Fortunately I scored a few cans. As a result, this review describes my take on Pliny for President 2020. In other words, does Pliny for President 2020 get my vote or not?

Pliny for President 2020 Review

This beer poured a clear copper and gold color with a beautiful, fluffy white foam. The foam clung to the sides of my glass leaving remnants of Belgian lace. The double dry-hopping process produced dynamic and bright aromas of grapefruit and pine with complementary floral and herbal notes. The wonderful aromas immediately filled the area. My first sip of Pliny for President resulted in a pine resin taste with a supportive sweet malt bread base. Further sips brought forth tangerine, peach and melon notes and a slight booziness. The beer finished dry with an adhering bitterness. Pliny for President is medium to full-bodied and smooth. Overall the beer is outstanding and reminded me just how satisfying an “old school” West Coast DIPA can be. In short, Pliny for President gets my vote!!!!