Russian River Benediction

Brewed by Russian River Brewing
Style: Belgian Ale
Santa Rosa, California USA

This is excellent and complex. It’s very dark ruby red with a medium off-white head that shrinks steadily to a foamy ring and wispy top with a little lace. The aroma is subdued but good. It’ssweet and fruity, dried figs, ripe plums, stewed pears, and toasty grain. The taste is excellent, restrained yet still fairly assertive, well-rounded and balanced with some complexity. Raisiny and a little spicey, it has stewed, caramelised pears, hint of dried fig, fruity grain, toastiness, hint of pepper, and a little light red wine. Sweetness is consistent and balanced with light bitterness and spicey warmth. Aftertaste is caramelised toast and fresh plums. All is well-integrated and well-rounded, smooth and drinkable.

In my quick notes from the sample plate, I noted that this seemed very similar to Perdition, but slightly darker. There’s a slight bit more caramel and fruit to this beer, but overall it shared a majority of the amber ale profile that Perdition displays.

This was a draft pour at the brewpub. It came a cloudy copper color with an off-white head and good lacing. Nose is very Belgian, with ripe fruit, pine, spices and other tantalizing aromas. Mouthfeel is smooth and medium. The flavor is complex and quite bitter for a Belgian Ale, but somehow it all hangs together in good balance. Bitter finish. Excellent brew and a joy to drink.

Tap at the brewpub: Rich clear golden with a dense off white head that laces. Nice fruity Belgian aroma- light apricot, fig, rounded amber malt base. Creamy body with a balanced flavor of apricot, restrained plum (mild), and a later herbal finish. Solid and not overly sweet like many American interpretations of dark Belgian ales.

O’Briens TION night. Pours murky brown with lots of carbonation and a thick off-white head. Good lacing. Beautiful sweet brown sugar, candied sugar, and yeast aroma with a subtle fruity background. Very smooth, velvety mouthfeel. Lighter tasting than expected; nice change from the typical syrupy sweet and thick dubbels. Sugared fruit flavors; dates, plums, apples. Solid helping of spice, nutmeg and clove taking the forefront. Big yeasty finish. Tastes almost like a strong dunkelweizen with Belgian characteristics.

Draught at the brewery. Dark amber with a white head. Lightly yeasty aroma with caramel, and light bubble-gum going on as well. The flavor has a lightly sweet caramel and bready crust malt profile, with light yeasty flavors and a spicy, hoppy, bitter finish. Medium bodied with medium carbonation. The malt, yeast and hop mix is pretty tasty.

On tap at OBriens, cloudy dark mahogany hue, nose is light fruits, candy sugar, pine resin, and spices. Flavor is Belgian yeast, a range of subtly sweet fruits, high hop bitterness with Moderate pine hop flavor, some brown sugar and maple syrup, finishes sweet with a bitter lingering. A fairly decent belgian ale with a west coast hop profile.

Growler shared with Hophead22 and DuffmanSW at Hangar 24 courtesy of some friends up north. Pours a hazy coppery brown with very little head. Aroma is slightly spicy with some banana, piney hops and some herbal characteristics that essentially make it smell exactly like marijuana. Flavor is hoppy for the style as others have noted, dark dried fruits, grain, and some belgian spiciness. Slightly astringent, but we attributed that to the travel time. Medium bodied, low carb. Good stuff.