Russian River Deviation (Bottleworks IX)

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

Finally getting to try this at a point where I can take notes. Pours gold with a white head. Smells dry, bretty, grassy, sweet, peppery, some tartness. Taste lives up to the nose. Nice!

Bottle shared by beastiefan2k... many thanks. Pale blonde cloudy beer. Opalescent appearance. Aroma is awesome with rich pale malt and a light funky vanillaish character. A bit of lovely grapey sweetness. Very soft flavour with a rich tapioca/rice pudding vanilla sweetness. As it warms up the soft funkiness really picks up with a great wild horseyness over the rich clean pale malt. Some mint and a fantastic pale malt character. Lingering apricot fruitiness. This beer is delicious... a great way to end a fantastic tasting.

Pouring a dark copper orange out of the bottle, topped by a finely bubbled frothy white head, it just looks perfect. Halfway through the pour I can smell the oak, the cedar, the brett, the sourness and the bugs wafting up towards my nose. First taste is lively, exciting, prickly, quickly turning sour and acidic, held up by a rich and frothy body, a creaminess in the yeast that I just love more and more in every Russian River I drink. The lightness of the beer itself contrasts with the thickness of the yeast, with a spicy, prickly barnyard, vine and wood character that is just phenomenal. For those times when the acidity of a La Folie was too much, this is what I wished for. This is perfect.

Another bottle ala 5000 a a rich reward for supplying some meager brews for Hard Liver. Thanks Andre for the efforts, they are much appreciated. Lightly hazed bronze to copper color. Moderate beige head. Nice effervescent look. Sweet sour aromas. Tart apples, mild cherry tobacco, leather, dark cherries, peaches vanilla and light oak. The more I sniff, the more I like. Sweet cherry and light caramel start. The bitterness of the cherry pit comes in the middle along with tart apples. LIght oak come is the finish. Linger has a light bite and touch of apricot sweetness. Not quite the sourness of Cantillion, but this one is reaching close. There are times I’m sucking on grapes a weeks or two prior to the time they are ready of picking, then there are others where a dark cherry is coated in rich caramel. Just another brew I wish was readily available.

Bottle. Pours a hazy orange color with a small white head. Has a sour tart barnyard aroma with some hints of citrus. Sweetish malty but tasrt sour citrus flavor with some fruity hints. Sweetish tasrt sour citrus finish.

Poured a hazy copper color with a thin off-white head. Bretty yeast aroma with a mild sweetness. Light leather notes. Citrus and tart flavor with a mild acidity. Bretty bitter finish. Light body with a dry finish. Very nice beer that I hope will keep evolving.

Many thanks to sprinkle for sharing at DLD! Poured apple-juicy golden with a light, looser cap of white head. The aroma was to die for.. building vinegar and light fruity tartness (a little pear and some white grapes).. dry oak finish to it.. lovely! The flavor found sour fruit skins upfront (grapes and apples) with bracing vinegar acidity around the edges.. bone dry at the finish, and well-balanced throughout. Sour, strong, and effervescent on the palate, yet the components all seemed to complement each other.. most excellent stuff!

#30 Bottle [Sk8viking great American blind tasting] Average fin bubbled white head that mostly diminished. Fair display of lacework. Cloudy golden copper color. Aroma of fresh apple, mild barnyard, light Bratt, soap, vinegar and light fruit notes. Over the palate came quite complex notes. Medium to full bodied with a soft carbonation and dry texture. Moderated to heavy sour flavor with light sweetness. Lingering sour and fresh apple like finish. Excellent and quite complex. 8 / 4 / 8 / 4 / 17 = 4.0