Russian River Consecration

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

This one was a little too tart and pungent for me. Very tasty, nonetheless, I was hoping to get a lot more fruit out of it than I did. A little bit disappointing, but quite good nonetheless.

Batch 001. This is an incredible beer. Full of flavor with a great aroma. Light red color, with an aroma that is full of yeast and acid. Very sour. Delicious, full flavor. Full oak, which lends dryness. Fruit, sugar, cognac, and red wine tannins. It is rare for me to give a beer such a high score for flavor, but this one deserves it.

Bottle Pours out a dark amber topped with a off white head. Aroma was nice lots of fruit, berries, and some citrus. Tast was very good. More of the fruit, Berries and apples. Some oak and a nice tart. A tasty treat I got to enjoy 2X. Thanks to Sam and Toby.

On tap at the brewpub on 6/30/09. Poured a beautiful dark burgundy with a cream head. Mild aroma with hints of berries. There is a mild sweet flavor, but ultimately the sour brett and currants take over. This has great flavor, with touches of sweetness, then a very well balanced bitter finish. The hype is worth it.

On tap at RR in Santa Rosa. Poured in a short glass to a cloudy brownish-ornage with medium thick off-white head that lingers well and leaves okay lacing. Nose is sour red fruit and hops, mouthfeel thick and tangy-sweet and the taste a perrfect follow to the scents in the nose, with some alcohol added in at mid-glass. Like a good Flemish Sour, the finish was long and a rush of tangy fruit, quickly followed by a warming sugar sweetness. Not quite the Duchesse, but a damn good Sour.

Bottle 75 cl. Courtesy of KimJohansen. Pours ever so slightly hazy orangey brown with a tall and lively beige head leaving a neat lacework. Intensely sour and tart woody aroma. Medium body, lots of wood, overripe fruit, acetone and brown sugar. Astringently dry finish with a somewhat subdued sourness. 010509

Shared by rlcnmeyer (BA). Pour is a murky brown with some reddish/ruby tints in there. I had no head on mine at all. Aroma is very tart berry (nondescript berry, I would not have guessed currants). Otherwise very earthy with a muddy tartness throughout. The berry and tartness pop out the most. Taste has more of a zing to it, particularly with a spiky, zingy mouthfeel (umm, yeah, zing, take it as it is). There are lots of musty and musky berry flavors, even a bit of cherry. Aftertaste has a bit of the alcohol coming though but its really covered up by the tart and berry flavors. There are malts behind this beer and it isn’t in your face sour or anything, again refreshing compared to some recent sour beers.
750mL cork&cage, batch 001x4, tasting glass.

Favorite RR sour. Great balance of tart and sweet as well as carbonation and smoothness. Tart fruits, berries, little bit of oak. Loved this bottle. Unfortunately, now the other RR brews have quite a standard to live up to.