Skip to main content
Before 2005, there was nothing else like
Pliny the Younger. Russian River Brewing's triple IPA—with three times
as many hops as a normal IPA in a syrupy 11 percent ABV brew—became a
touchpoint for a generation of beer geeks. A decade later, Plinymania
continues, with most Portland beer bars tapping their kegs last week
with all the usual secrecy, tickets, tokens and crowds. The best part
wasn't the feature attraction, but the sideshow. Given the Younin's
scarcity and the fact that several Oregon breweries make better 3PAs,
these tappings have morphed into little triplefests with other beers
descended from Pliny on tap. Pliny is the reason for the season, but, at
Roscoe's in Montavilla, two colleagues who were in high school when it
debuted, preferred the Oregon analogs. Breakside's Safe Word, which
debuted last year, is admirably dry for the style, somehow managing to
remain balanced where IBU and ABV normally merge into hop jelly. The new
triple from Pfriem is a different take entirely, using funky fruitiness
to balance out those sugar-sopped hops. Personally, I like a triple
that's even more Pliny than Pliny: Boneyard's Notorious. The Bend
brewery's triple has the sticky-icky-ickyness I expect in the style—sour
apple Jolly Rancher, liquefied lemon curd and bong resin—and will
almost turn your teeth green. I only want a 3PA once or twice a year,
and these carnivals are the right time. Pliny is dead; long live Pliny.
WWeek 2015
