Russian River Depuration

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

Bottle. Light gold color with a beautiful white head. Aroma is a very pronounced white wine. Taste is both tart and sweet with the most beautiful funkiness I’ve had in a beer. This is a real masterpiece and RR’s best Belgian ale yet. Palate is dry that leaves you wanting more. Bravo!!!

Hazy deep orange/amber body. A thin rim of creamy bubbles recedes to a ring around the edge of the glass, pure white. Asteady flow of microscopic bubbles flow gently and evenly up through the center of the thick body. Looks incredibly well crafted and gentle. Aroma is of mild, sweet yeast, tangible funk, hay, brettanomyces, benign sugars, soft grape notes and ashy oak barrels. It is unbelievable just how close these beers are to old school lambics from Belgium. The yeast character is remarkably complex. I find myself hoping the flavor is as rewarding, as bright. Flavor is as close to Drie Fonteinen as Vinnie has gotten thus far in his brief career. The aggressive explosion of velvety funk, brett and wild yeast and grape character is nothing short of startling. Oak taste is full and bracing. Moderately citrusy and teeming with acidity, this is both refreshing and tastebud-wrecking. Mastery of this style would be an understatement, as this flavor surely gives just about any authentic lambic a run for its money in the areas of enjoyability and drinkability. As the libation warms, tannic bite and grape juice sweetness extends the finish into a lengthy ordeal, crisp but penetrating. Palate runs the spectrum from light to full bodied, very tart and moderately to heavily acidic. Another profound experience courtesy of Russian River. The most impressive thing about this beer is the way the aroma and flavor are so seemlessly melded together for an overall satisfying sip at such a young age. Simply outstanding.

Rerate, nine month old sample:
My, my, how this had changed, niether for better nor worse, just a signifigant distortion of the fresh and memorable introduction. Still vibrant and generating a small and slowly but mostly diminishing white head. As funkiness has grown, the elegance and ingenuity that resulted in a True Belgian feel has left the premises. Acetity has strengthened to become a major component of the taste. Lemon is the primary illusionary fruit component. White wine burps rick the aftertaste with a delightful sweet and sour twang. The mouthfeel is still vibrant and sticky. A different beast, but still a tremendous delight to consume.

Bottle. Rich amber color with slight reddish notes and an off-white head. Great tart, slight malt aroma with some fruitiness. Tart flavor with lots of grape backing and some malt and oak. Lingering tart, fruity grape. Great balance. More oak and tannins and you drink.

Thanks to Krasuenjockey for this one. Pours out a golden color with a thin bubbly white head. Aroma is very strong and of some Brett, and of champagne. Taste is very complex and somewhat refreshing. Brett with some grape notes, slight citrus and earthy notes in the background. Dry finish, but a very unique and well done beer.

At columbus tasting. Poured with a yellowish color and a small head. Aroma was of a little sourness and citrusy. Flavor was pretty good and lightly sour. This was a good sour because the sour was not overpowering like some others.

Gold, peach color with no head. Aroma is heavy Brett, catching some of the white wine characters also, green apples. Taste isn’t is tart as the aroma, you can lightly taste the grapes, bit of the lactic properties show up also.

Bottle. Batch 1- The seemingly ridiculously short supply of this beer left me with only one bottle despite living within 100 miles of the brewery itself. Big thanks to Ed at Ledgers Liquors who knew I really wanted a bottle and held one for me! Bright copper color with a small but persistent white head. Carbonation rises actively within the beer and lines of bubbles spiral crazily off nucleation points. This is a really cool beer to watch. Very grapey aroma. Nose is very sour with lactic acid. Very buttery flavor with some fruit and oak as well. Lightly flavored and pleasant. Wow, did I mention lactic? Almost a bit much. Very dry finish.

Batch 1. Golden orange and honey colored body, with a slight chill haze appearance, and a filmy light colored head. Nose is phenomenal, there’s dried apricots dancing with lactobacillus notes, mandarin oranges, and white grapes, with a wonderful cedar plank sourness tickling the nose. Spritzy and tingly up front, mellowing out fairly quickly into a white grape and lactic flavor, dropping off at the finish somewhat, mellow and respectably light. Not a sour bomb by any means, even though the nose hints at that… but still a fantastic, delicate brew.