Russian River Deviation (Bottleworks IX)

Formerly brewed at Russian River Brewing
Style: Sour Ale
Santa Rosa, California USA

Backlog. Yellow orange pour with an off white head. Aroma of sour fruits, brett, horse blanket, bit of vinegar and malt. Flavor was cheesy malt, sour, bretty, oaky, barnyard notes. Light body with a sour finish.

750mL Bottle, received in a trade with brigadier. A beer for celebrating the end of the month, the coming of Christmas chaos, and some time for reflection. With a furious pop, this long-awaited liquor glushes into my tulip. A brilliant clear pale maple syrup fills the glass, building a lacy, silky off-white head as it grows. The aroma is delectably funky. All the chewy gueze, barrel, white grapes, and pickled lemon peel anyone could ask for. Vibrant, yet soft, tickled, and bright. Flavors are quick and electric. A strong hand of citric acid moves forward immediately, bringing oak and aged cheese rind. Rising. The clean lactic and citric acids would be abrasive if it weren’t for the presence of a very clean, sweet refined sugar in the beer, that pulls the whole thing together for balance, allowing the complexity of the funk to persist. A stunning American sour that digs deeper on every sip. My only regret is not having a bloomed-rind goat’s cheese to pair with.

From the Bottle at the Falling Rock Tap House, Denver 26/09/2009 Sour aroma. Golden amber coloured hazy in appearance fruity and sour with a little dryness in a crisp malt finish.

light brown pour. Aroma is funky, bretty, overripe fruit, cheese and wood. Flavor is woody and cheesy with some tropical fruit. This is good, but not quite the beast i expected it to be.

A lot of hype behind this one, and I have to say while this is a worthy drink indeed, it rides on the shoulders of it’s rarity rather than it’s own merits as I feel that this isn’t even as strong a beer as some of Russian Rivers regular rotating sour lineup. That negative aside, this is still a damn good drink. While the taste is very nice and sour with a character I have never tasted before, palate is a little bit of a weakness as it needs more carbonation. Look is rather average as well. I know this review comes off as nitpicky but don’t get me wrong I love this beer.

Pours a hazy, medium brown with orange highlights. Medium-thick, very fine, creamy, off-white head with some larger bubbles frackled throughout. Bright sourness up fron in the aroma supported by a subtle dark malt aspect with leather, ripe plums, and a soft hint of toast. Tartness is present throughout the nose interspersed with fruits and a grainy astringency. Light, but full aroma at this age with touches of darkness and creaminess. Onto the flavor... Sharp tartness on the attack with a great zinging bolt of bitterness. Sour flavors with a grainy edge, subtle dark fruit, and a whisper of spicy blue cheese in the finish--all this while being simultaneously incredibly fresh tasting. Thee is a huge presence in the mouth with incredible dimension; multi-textured and stimulatin on many levels. This is a hugely interesting, intellectual, and dramatic effort.

Big thanks to Wetherel and StFun for the bottles. 750ml corked and caged brown bottle poured into a GLBC snifter. Review #600 A: Pours a golden, orangish, glowing amber. Decent sized, nearly pearl white, head on the pour with decent retention. Nice, somewhat spotty lacing. S: Nice, clean funkiness with plenty of sour and tart fruit notes. The funk big enough to be somewhat cheesy but not near the level of Girardin Black Label. T/M: Yowza, big time tartness with plenty of sourness and more of the funkiness. Tart and sourness is big on lemon along with a bit of mango in the back. The funk is cheesy but not heavy and with some of the barnyard, dustiness, and wet hay. Some light, earthy oak in the back. Body is meidum to medium light with good carbonation. Very drying that lends some leathery notes. D: Good ABV and very tasty. You definitely have to be slow and savor it

Huge thanks to largadeer on BA for picking up this awesome rarity! Nice hazy copper color with just a small amount of white foam and great lacing. Aroma is bretty funk, honey, wild tartness, and oak. Flavor is fairly tart, but not overly so, with dry white wine, oak, lemon, and brown sugar. Incredibly well-balanced and tasty. Great sharp yet smooth palate with long finish and an biting acidic sensation lingering on the palate. This is another awesome sour beer from Vinnie at RR.