Russian River Damnation

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

Pint – Eastside Club Tavern – Olympia, WA
Aroma: Big Belgian aroma with lots of yeast esters. Very fruity in the nose also.
Appearance: Straw golden in color, hazy with a thin head.
Flavor: Nice Belgian flavor with a big alcohol taste. This had good spicy flavors added.
Palate: Dry Strong finish, with a Good Mouthfeel.
Overall: Big Belgian beer this was slightly weak from what I could tell. I felt it was a tad under fermented and needed more malts added to give it a bigger Belgian boost.

Tap. Decent beer, flavor is alright, alcohol doesn’t jump out at you but could be more enjoyable.

750 mL purchased some time ago from Bon Vivant (Batch 12, bottled June 2006). Pours pale orange with a thin white head. Funky aroma of citrus, pineapple, yeast, banana, clove, and sweetness. While very good, the taste is not as interesting as the aroma. Still, the taste is exceptional with some sweet and sour flavors detectable. Having tasted earlier bottles of this same batch I would recommend less aging than the 3 years that the side of the bottle allows. This was best at about 1 year of aging. A very good beer but of course not as interesting as the other Russian River brews.

Yellow pour with a big white head. Very crisp tasting. Aroma of yeast, citrus, and sweetness. Had a nice light fruity taste with malt and sweetness. Laced the glass nicely.

Large bottle purchased from West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago. Pours golden color, with frothy white head. Aroma of sweet yeasty bread, coriander, candi sugar, and citrusy lemon. Taste of sweet bread and lemon. Very crisp and tasty!! Great beer.

Bottle (in NZ). Pours a pale gold with a large rocky head. Chef Chad says yeasty and bready, and it is had to disagree. But it is much more complex in the mouth, dry and hoppy with a apple cider crispness. Plenty other flavours lingering that are difficult to relate. The only criticism is that that 7.75% is to the fore, with a spirit-like mouthfeel.

Smells Yeasty and bready.. Citrus with heavy orange and a bit o spice.. Pours a dark lazy clear yellow with massive amounts of head.... almost annoying.. Damn thing keeps jumping out of the White wine Glass.... Crisp.. Crisp... Crisp.... Ample carbonation with a bubbly palate and quite smooth.. I am going to do something very rare here..... this gets a 10 on flavor.... I adored the taste of the refreshing brew... Orange... spice ... sugar.... Yeast...a slight bitter finish and a warming effect... This was Fantastic... I have no idea what batch I am drinking... To be honest I don’t care... I can’t wait to buy my next bottle!!

On tap at the Russian River Brewpub. Pours a clear, golden yellow body with a fluffy, two-finger width, white head that dissipates slowly and leaves lots of lacing. Aroma is sweet and malty with lots of banana and Belgian yeasty fruits, honey, a bit bready, and some alcohol induced peaches. Flavor is similar and sweet and obviously well cared for. Very delicate malts and much more noticeable, soft spicing in the flavor. Still has a very sweet malted body with some banana and yeast, peaches, and a light, tart bitterness. Not a lot of bitterness, but just enough to balance the sweetness and soft spices. Finishes with a light tart bitterness and soft, dry spices. Lingers with lots of sweet, delicate malts along with the spices. Palate is light bodied, clean, and even. Overall, a really nice Belgian Strong Ale. Complex and delicate. They clearly have worked on this one.