Russian River Deviation (Bottleworks IX)

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

750ml bottle election style. nice golden orange color, healthy head that creeps out of the bottle, awesome. Smells sour, fruit, mmmm. It tastes excellent, complex sour lemons, cherries, supplication, some funk, hint of wood. This is one of the best sours I have ever tasted, my friend only wanted a taste and I drank the whole bottle, wow! Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 11-05-2008 05:28:53 update 09/19/09 not as good as it was almost a year ago, the complexity was muddled by an overpowering sour pucker.

Notes from Hair of the Dog Dave Tasting. Pour is golden copper with small white head. Yeasty aroma with some sour funk and fruit notes too. Sour taste but not overpowering. Nicely carbonated and lasting finish.

#300 Courtesy Oakes and Beershine. This one pours a nice looking dark orange with a small, fizzt white head. The aroma shows sour apples, tart citrus fruits, and some funky oak to balance things out. The flavor is nice and sour of lemons, sour apples and other citrus, but balanced out perfectly by the funky oak and brett. The funky oak and brett add depth and smooth out the acidity from being mouth puckering sour. Medium-full bodied with soft carbonation and a creamy mouthfeel that goes down so smooth. The flavor was almost perfect and balanced throughout with a slight sour finish. A great example of the style and an awesome beer all the way around.

750ml bottle. Thanks to miketd for sharing. Aroma: Cherries (both fruit and pits), grapes, cheese, slight barnyard, lemon, oak, and floral. Tartness in the aroma a sign of things to come. Appearance: Golden/orange in color and slightly hazed. White head was small and foamy with good retention. Fair lacing. Flavor: Light malt sweetness gives way to funk and tart. Really tart. Lemon, orange, cherries, green grapes, slight cheese, dusty/barnyardy, oak, and floral. Really dry finish with a mineral note in the aftertaste. Palate: Medium bodied. Medium carbonation. Overall: I drank this and Isabelle Proximus in the same night, and I can’t pick a favorite from the two. They’re both delicious.

750 ml bottle generously shared by Justin for the 7/18 tasting in OC. Nose of peppery spice and lemon zest... Flavor seems to be dominated by the sonambic component...very grainy, spicy, peppery, a touch of oak in the late finish. For whatever reason, this beer comes off all too harsh for me and quite unenjoyable. Definitely not in the group of better sours for me. To each his own...

I love sours and this was outstanding with a dark greenish pour and a nice tart yet bitter taste,it also had a nice and yet dry finish overall a good beer.CHEERS!

Nose is strong with apple peels and a deep earthiness. Pours a lucid light amber. Taste is sour, nice light hay, slightly spicy, musky, turns tart on the back end and finishes with a sour apple taste. Very dynamic flavor profile.

Pours a rich and inviting copper color. Aroma is bright and lively, wood, funk, citrus, hay, earth, sourness. The flavor is an extension of the aroma, with the wood notes leading the charge. The sour notes come on through, but are never out of balance. An absolutely astounding beer.