If Pliny is the elder, there must be a younger. Today at 5 p.m., he arrives at Peaks & Pints: Russian River Brewing Company’s Pliny the Younger. This beer is an annual release, an 11 percent alcohol “triple IPA” that BeerAdvocate rated the best beer in the world in the past. Fans flocked to the Santa Rosa, California, brewery before release day every February to stake their place in line. The Younger sells out in a few frantic hours. Some fans bought growlers and sold them on eBay at more than $100 each, while pilgrims who arrived too late went home as bitter as the beer. In celebration, Peaks & Pints will offer an all-day triple IPA flight, which doesn’t include Pliny the Younger for apparent reasons. The triple IPA is a palate-smashing beast of an ale designed for when a hazy IPA won’t cut it. Yet, the style still isn’t recognized — and debate rages among the pimpliest beer nerds over whether it’s a style. Peaks & Pints believes the triple IPA is a massively hoppy beer with a minimum of 10 percent ABV and outrageous amounts of dry hops, hop flavor, malt flavor, alcohol, and bitterness. The triple IPA may be like a double IPA in hop character but is differentiated from the style by a thick, syrupy body accented by intense hop resins that make it a heavy-sipping beer. Great triples harness an artful assortment of hops, propping them up with a suitable quantity of the proper malts. Swing by Peaks & Pints for 10 ounces of the Younger at 5 p.m., followed by our five, 2.5-ounce tastes of triple IPAs we call Peaks and Pints Triple IPA Flight: Younger Postfunk.

Peaks and Pints Triple IPA Flight: Younger Postfunk

Bale Breaker Mount Saint Humulus

10% ABV

Bale Breaker’s Mount Saint Humulus triple IPA is a longtime fan-favorite and winner of the Washington Hop Mob in 2020. Originally brewed in 2015 as part of the Washington Hop Mob, it has become a February staple for the Yakima Valley brewery. This year’s batch is hopped with Warrior, Columbus, Mosaic, Ekuanot, Simcoe, and Citra for aromas of citrus, tropical, blueberry, apricot, and floral with a dangerously smooth bitterness.

Ladd & Lass Holographic Memory

10% ABV

Brewed with an absurd amount of Centennial, Citra Cryo, Sabro Cryo, and Ekuanot Lupomax hops, Ladd & Lass Brewing‘s annual triple IPA is saturated with tropical fruity hops balanced against a luscious malt body.

Trap Door Blown Up

10% ABV

A continuation of Trap Door Brewing’s Glowed Up hazy IPA and Juiced Up hazy double IPA, Blown Up takes the haze to triple-level alcohol by volume. It features thick and juicy Citra 702, Citra Cryo, Citra, Galaxy, and Nelson Sauvin hops backed up by an enormous body with 30 percent wheat and oats. Expect the aroma of fresh pineapple, a strong presence of clementines, and big, juicy navel oranges—all accented with lovely resinous notes.

Reuben’s Blimey That’s Bitter! (2025)

10.5% ABV

Blimey is a shortening of Gorblimey, a euphemism for “God blind me.” It’s mainly used by the British but occasionally used jocularly by Americans who put on a bad Cockney accent and pair it with words such as guvnor. Blimey, this Reuben’s Brews triple IPA has an intense citrus, pine, and tropical aroma followed by a smooth, medium-full mouthfeel. First brewed in early 2014, Reuben’s Blimey That’s Bitter! sees a ludicrous amount of hops in the whirlpool and a massive charge of Cryo hops in the dry hop for a delightfully bitter yet shockingly still balanced and drinkable brew.

Block 15 The Incredible

10.6% ABV

Block 15 Brewing calls its triple IPA an “Imperial Double IPA” brewed with Pale and Pilsner malts, dextrose, and a lot of Northwest-grown hops. This beer’s incredible aspect is the perfect balance between luscious hop characters, unobtrusive but supporting malt, and crisp water treatment.

LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory