Russian River Compunction

[DLD 08] Thanks Funky Brewster! Darker golden with not much of a head. Belgian yeast aroma with sour tart fruits. Intense flavor! Very tart and sweet yet still manages to maintain some of the freshness of the fruits. Vinegar and lactic acid. Lemons, ginger, grapes and berries... this stuff was delicious and completely overshadowed the 05 Panil I brought. Fantastic palate.

Another review from DLD 2008: I was really looking forward to trying this, it was my first Russian River brew and I almost missed the opportunity thanks to the general chaos that is Dark Lord Day... but a stranger pointed us in the right direction, so I am grateful for that. =) This beer has a huge sour fruit aroma and taste... I don’t know exactly how a pluot tastes or smells and how it works into a beer like this, but this really stands out among other sour ales I’ve had. Has a vinegary aroma & taste... very sour, lots of citrus. Russian River now tops my list of breweries to explore, this was awesome.

8oz pour at DLD 08. Highly anticipated beer. Pours cloudy dark yellow/orange with a small white head. Aroma is nice and funky. Acetic, vinegar-like qualities of a good Flemish sour balanced with a nice shot of brett, fresh peach and all around funky sourness. Really nice aroma. Taste is tart, sour, slight oak and white wine with a very dry, cidery finish. The sourness is significant but certainly not overly intense(though honestly I wouldn’t have minded if it was). This succeeds on a whole bunch of levels. Super flavorful and complex yet thirst quenching and even sessionable. This was better than I thought it’d be. I would give a lot to have access to this on a regular basis.

small pour at DLD 2K8; thanks to kajerm. terrific beer. big sour aroma, really balanced flavor. kajerm said it was super mouth puckering but i didn’t think it was the sourest thing ever. some light fruit, texture is perfect.

08 darklord tasting. Beer of the night for me. Hazy yellowish pour. Huge fruit and obvious sour notes. Flavor is just bursting with sour fruit goodness. I’ve honestly never had a pluot before, but I will be grabbing one to check it out. I get some apple and apricot in the flavor though, maybe some grapefruit and other sour citrus. Finishes all out sour. This was intense.

Real Ale at Dark Lord Day 08. Pours a cloudy blonde color. Smells like grapefruit. Tastes like an atomic sour candy in beer form. Has a sour aroma, sour taste (from the front to the back), and leaves a sour aftertaste. I love it!

This is my new favorite RR Sour. The others are complex and subtle with slight influences that you have to search for and wait as they develop. This one kicks you in the teeth like an explosion of flavor. No subtlety about it! First on the tip of your tongue, than the roof of your mouth, and finally the back of your tongue and throat. Like chewing a sweet tart, the flavors mix wonderfully of sour grapefruit and a Granny Smith like apple to sweet apricots and plums that carry to the finish. A warning, DO NOT try the Beatification immediately after this one. Like going from a hot tub to a cold shower. Trust me, I learned the hard way.

Drank this at the brewery. This is admittedly lower than many scores because the style just wasn’t working for me. It was an innovative brew with plenty of flavor and character but the astringent quality of that much sour wasn’t all that appealing for me. Kudos for the craftsmanship, but not to my taste.