Russian River Consecration

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

Deep copper with tan head and lace. Sour berriness, bread, and brown sugar. Sour/sweet cherry, with good dry finish. Medium bodied with aggressive carbonation. A very smooth drinking beer.

Ok, not my normal "go-to", but a darn fine nightcap. This one has been aging for over a year. It pours spot-on for a cola, with an initial fizzy brown head that quickly reduces to nothing. The color is of deep ruby, differentiating it ONLY from the pour of a Coca-Cola product to the eye. The nose is of deep warehouse-stored Bazooka bubble gum, aerated sugars, currants and sour dark cherries. The sour cherries shine forth in the flavor, accompanied by a traditional Flemish accent of white wine vinegar. Sours truly dominate this, but are integrated very well into the overall pull. The finish is a curt Chardonnay fruity close, with a breathy aftereffect of a tannin-laden Cabernet. The mouthfeel is lively and perky, with subtle soda-grade carbonation. The body is full of fruity complexities, and will leave any Sour Ale fan (especially Flemish) in wanting. As the initial 6-month aging begins at the brewery, in Cab-Sav oak containers, I can definitely see the hues of aged Cabernet Sauvignon storage containers, and think that as the brew warms, it only stands to enhance the complex palate.

Dark reddish brown; light beige head. Funky aroma. Medium carbonation, quite lively. Medium bitterness. Oak. Sour, buggy, a lot of things going on and working together. Very delicious, red fruit, wine barrel, sour. A very sophisticated beer.

Bottle at an impromptu tasting at lithy’s. 001x2. Pours cloudy rusty red with big beige head. The aroma is chocolate, currant, cherries, cedar, leather, and mellow general sourness. The flavor is currant, oak, leathery brett, and a very even sourness. Red wine notes linger in the background. I’m really digging all the dry berry notes in this beer. Not enough to make it overly fruity, but enough to give it tremendous depth. The finish has a musty funk to it and leaves a cheese and currant aftertaste. This is a delicious brew.

Sampled at Darkness Day. Pours an opaque red brown with minimal head that comes back with swirling. Aroma is wonderfully complex: citrus hops, red currants, black cherries, oak and caramel malts. Some funk in there as well. Flavor is tart/sour. Palate is a little thin, but smooth and nice. Overall, its good but not what I was hoping for.

What a great beer. Pours dark mahogany with a sudsy tan head that leaves fairly quickly. The aroma has lots of red wine traits, some oak, berries (currants?) and dark malt lingering in the back. It has a medium clean crisp body with a low amount of carbonation & that works very well for the beer. The flavor starts with the aroma traits with a heavy emphasis on the wine tastes, but there is s spiciness, and some taking off the bite. This seems more sour / tart in a wine way than most sour ales. The finish is clean, tart and has some warming alcohol. As the beer warms there are blackberry, currant, pepper and tobacco traits that come out. Excellent beer.

On tap at Capone’s. Pours a nice red/pink with no head. Not much nose but a tiny bit of fruit/cherries. Taste is very sour, as it should be. Mild alcohol from the 10?% but not too noticable. Fruit is very present. This is a sipper for sure. Very powerful sour in every sense of the word. No aftertaste. An excellent beer. I had a 9 oz snifter and that was enough for me. I couldn’t possibly finish a bottle of this.

Bottle brought back from California thanks to Pizza Port Carlsbad beer store. Did not travel well, even though I waited several weeks to open. Upon popping the top, immediate foam barreled out - foam tasted great didn’t want to waist any of it. Surprisingly did not take much away from this amazing beer -previously had it on tap and fell in love. Pours a beautiful reddish dark brown with thin off white head, the color of an aged port. Aroma is oak wine barrel, sour dark cherries, yeast, a mix of champagne and heavily oaked red wine. Taste is for a split second sweet fruit but then switches to an amazing tartness - sour grapes, red wine, dark cherries, oak in the background. Stays sour and bitter on the tongue in the finish - leaves you wanting more. Great beer that has opened my eyes to the style.