Russian River Compunction

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

Draft-3rd brew of Stone 1st Annual Sour Festival, July 22nd 2007. Shared this cool day very mellow day with bikesandbeer, wetherel, westsidethreat, padrefan, fordest, denverlogan and many others. Pours Yewllow gold with a 1 finger bright white head. Nose is sour, woody and very funky. The taste is vinous with a big sour punch, and also nicely balanced and sweet. This was really pretty damn awesome, probably second favorite of the day.

Draft. Rich amber with a nice whitish head. Light yeasty/tart aroma. Tart flavor that lingers and borders on sour. Some apricot fruitiness (much better than fou foune). Medium body. Nice tartness with tart appricots adding good rounding fruity flavors.

In short: An intense sour and acidic beer halfway between a blonde Sour Ale and a Gueuze
How: Tap at Dark-Lord-Day 2008
The look: Cloudy peach color body with a long lasting medium white head
In long: Nose is barnyard wild, very wild. As funky as the funkiest lambics. Less bretty but more tasty/intense as their Sanctification. As expected the taste is sour, acidic and tart as hell but never falling into the vinegary or lemon extract territory. This is tasty acidity and sourness. Moderately fruity although not specific fruits were coming out. Might be the pluots they use since I don’t know what they taste like (didn’t even know such a thing existed). Then comes the finish, dry and acidic like the most hardcore gueuzes (Cantillon or Hanssens on a good day). Despite its intensity the beer never cease to be refreshing and highly drinkable. This beer to me blends the best of what an intense Sour Ale and an intense Lambic Gueuze have to offer. I never understood why all those people were telling me that they couldn’t understand how could live the life I live without compunction… I understand now… I think.

Hand bottle from Hellomynameis. Very good bottle, still has full carbonation and doesn’t appear to have lost anything in transportation. Holy lord, this is delicious. Though the aroma is mild, horsey funk, carrot, a touch of fruit, the flavor is an onslaught of woody sour with just the faintest touch of fruit sweetness. Freaking amazing flavor. I must have more of this.

Growler, courtesy of my wife. Thanks, Ali! Pours a hazy, orange-apricot color; thin white head with patchy lacing. Loads of tartness, funk (cobwebs; horseblanket, but mostly cobwebby more than anything too earthy and spicy), tart apricots / peaches, and pleasantly acidic aroma; some white wine grapes and lively, spritzy grapefruit; just a great, intricate aroma. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: loads of tart, zesty grapefruit and citrus rind and apricot; gorgeous fruit character at the core of things, not overshadowed by the tart, funky edges; solid levels of carbonation, clenching tartness, biting acidity, and surprisingly developed funk and brett. Just an excellent balance of tart apricots and lambic-like funk, brettiness, and acidity. I could drink a lot of this, and I think I will. Lengthy finish, showing pluots (apricots, really; no plumminess coming through), tart cherries, and funk.

Sampled on tap at the First Annual Stone Sour Fest, July 2007
This beer has a hazy, copper-gold tint to it and it is topped by a wispy, barely there, white head. Green fruit aromatics greet my nostrils as I take my first draught of the aroma; I get flavors of star fruit, not-quite ripe honeydew or perhaps it is a not-ripe cantaloupe aroma. The plum notes become quite noticeable as I dig around in the nose. Actually the fruit character really starts to open up after a little bit; Pluots indeed. I can’t seem to shake a sharp, green note here though; perhaps it is contributed by the sour bugs. At times I actually get some notes reminiscent of sweet cherry skins; it is fleeting, but when noticed adds a really nice note to the aroma.

Upfront this beer tastes crisp, tart and dry; it really hits that quaffable character that I like in sour beer. There is a noticeable green fruit note here as well as a touch of vegetal character in the background. The dominant note is a tartness, but I really think (at least it seems so) that the pluots contribute a roundness & extra complexity to the sour notes that are in this beer. As I expected, the fruit character is much more apparent in the nose (which is typical of softer fruits like apricots, peaches and plums). When my palate gets used to the initial flavors, I am able to pick out notes of sourdough (a mix of the funk and some malt notes) at times as well as a grassy grain flavor. Lactic acid is the most apparent acidic quality here, but like I said, there is a persistent, fruity acidity here that is really quite nice.

While the beer is light, it is not austere or bony, there is some body here, which seams wrapped up in the fruit presence / contribution. This is quite complex, though it is not necessarily on the surface and you do have to work at it. I find that I am starting to take Vinnie’s artistry for granted; this beer is so well integrated, so well made. I almost don’t think about it, b/c despite this being perhaps the most balanced, multi-layered, eminently crafted beer at the festival, I almost felt like it was overlooked.

25April07 on tap @ Russian River. very light yellow color. aroma of fresh plums. flavor of a flemish sour! VERY TART. acid, sour, tart, and vinegary. light bodied

On tap at Russian River. Aroma of sour fruit, white wine, and oak. Pleasant sour taste, but not over powering. Nice bright palate.