Russian River Deviation (Bottleworks IX)

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

75cl bottle, thanks Bob! Pours a swirling deep orange, hazy with a pretty large, slowly-receding head. Awesome aroma, bursting with brett, pineapple, some cherries. Strikingly similar to Allagash Interlude at this point. First sip is a punch of sourness, salty almost, really intensified by the high carbonation level. This is not soft at all -- it’s hard, really sour and complex. Very little residual sweetness, in fact this is surprisingly close to tasting spontaneously-fermented. There is a really pretty oak, fruit presence in there, behind the bright, tart acidity. Balanced and delicous. As this warms it develops an awesome character, just a full-on explosion of flavor.

Poured a hazy golden with no head. Tart citrus and funk nose along with flavor. Smooth palate and very easy drinking. Not a ton of acidity. I was expecting a huge nose and flavor, and this was really just mellow and smooth.

Bottled for #2000. It’s been a long journey. Back when I was new here, I looked at people with 2000 ratings in awe, thinking how impossible it must be to drink that much beer. And, sitting at a bar today, I eyed their 60 taps, and thought if they poured 30 pints from every one of those taps, it STILL wouldn’t match the total amount of beer I’ve consumed. Beer would fill up the entire bar area and overflow into the seating area.

And I peed that all out.


Anyway, on to the beer. This is a solid effort for sure, complex and inviting, nicely drinkable, but doesn’t exhibit quite the level of sourness and grace I was hoping for (a la La Folie, among others). The aroma is tart, loaded with lemongrass, cinnamon and pickles. The mouthfeel is full, with very loose car

Bottle and Draft, Bottle about six months old. I liked it a little better out of the bottle. Starts out dry tasting then hits super sour, my palate is blown but this beer would make most people pucker up. Strong lingering sourness that almost numbs the tounge. Strong oak character of the beer makes this one hard to put down. Well blended, if you really focus you can pick up notes from each beer in the blend. Somewhat light and refreshing, I wish it was a higher ABV like 9 or 10%, but still a great beer and possible one of the best sours around.

Oh what a treat. 2x Draft at Brouwers as part of Big Wood 08. Such a pretty pour.. bright copper-bronze with a stark white head. Body is slightly translucent. Rich, woody sour. Big and right to the edge of perfection. Citrus and very complex grapefruit. Sinuous and the flavors string together wonderfully. Gets sweeter as it warms. so refined, so interesting. a pleasure.

Simply the most complex, and best sour Ive ever tasted. There were at least seven identifiable fruits, along with the requisite funk, barnyard, and horseblanket, and they were so skillfully interwoven that their esters could be identified singly for fleeting moments, and then they would melt back into a seamless whole. The sour was quite pronounced, yet at the same time, quite elegant. In fact, that elegance is what set it apart for me, and made me long for each successive sip, and for another bottle after the first one had been blissfully consumed.

Bottle shared by Crosling, thanks dude. Poured a hazy, deep rusty orange color with a moderate beige head that faded to a thin layer and left some decent lacing. Aroma of funky, tart barnyard yeast, some sharp citric fruit (lemon, ripe orange, tart grapefruit, and sour peach), and a nice oak character. Smooth, lightly tart entry with some undertones of soft citrus (tangerine and peach) that transitions into a funky, sour brett yeastiness with a full on acedic citric hit with hints of lemon. Finishes moderately tart with some barnyard yeast and some dry oak. Soft carbonation, smooth on the palate.

Gorgeous looking beer, an orange color with a well lasting and well developed creamy white foam. Fairly subtle aromatics with oak derived nuances of vanilla and toasted wood along with fruits, funk and brett. Nicely balanced and soft. Lemon, vanilla, creme, wood. Very nice sour/wild ale.