Russian River Deviation (Bottleworks IX)

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

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: The aroma consists of light sour cherry, yeast, and wood. It pours a hazy dark amber with some sediment and a half inch off white head. The flavor starts with light sour cherry, yeast, and faint caramel. The finish has strong lemon tartness. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy, cruddy-looking, mahogan-hued body with a cottony white head. Smell: A sour-minded, fruity bouquet with notes of sliced apples, citrus, and salted peach pits along with plenty of toasted oak saplings and barnyard funk. Taste: A frothed blending of freshly-squeezed fruit juices - peaches, grapefruits, and apple (like a sorbet sampler platter). Dash of salt and even capsicum. A donkey’s kick of acidity and tartness. Barnyard funkiness all the while. Dry, lightly oaky finish with lingering, tongue-deadening tannins. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: A real joy to drink such a complex, yet well-balanced creation. This is seriously good. Excellent work, Russian River.

Thanks a bunch to whoever shared this. The beer pours to a hazy/murky straw amber body with a thin white head. The aroma is sour and La Folie like. Tart, oaky, acidic balsamic vinegar. Not as complex as La Folie, but really good. There are subtleties and other sourness things going on that are absolutely awesome. The flavor is tart, sour, acidic, but not overly done. It’s like a watery light La Folie (sampled side-by-side). Clean, tart, acidic. The palate is nice and tart. Super complex but balanced. The tartness isn’t overly sour.

Had at hellbilly’s tasting. A fermented sour aroma with an orange body and white head. A good sour flavor with some dryness on the palate. A good sour! Thanks Jason for sharing this one.

As I pour this brew I get a nice aroma of sour grapefruit and spicy oak. The beer is topped by a frothy, initially three-finger thick, light tan colored head that leaves some light lacing on the sides of my Tripel Karmeliet tulip as it slowly recedes. The beer is a ruddy, amber hue and shows a lightly hazy, copper color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite tart and lactic; a mix of sour grapefruit, sour-orange & slightly moldy lemon notes. Other than the tartness the nose has alight, underlying funkiness that reminds me of some light musty leather notes, some Brett influenced butyric acid, damp cellar aromas and even a touch of cat piss. Some fruit notes reminiscent of a mix of pears, tart plums, aromatic apples and some star-fruit are also found in the nose and add some needed, additional complexity. I really like the nice, bright acidity that is noticeable in the nose, it makes this quite appetizing.

Bracingly tart, as much or more so than many a Lambic. This tartness melds quite well with the light, yet substantial oak and a tannic, chewy body. Like the best Gueuzes, this beer is quite light and quaffable, yet still has a fair amount of heft to it; this heft seems to come from a tannic texture that in this beer is clearly barrel influenced. Lactic acid notes provide the bulk of the tartness, but there does seem to be a touch of acetic, hints of uriatic acid & some funky butyric acid notes. Oak flavors play a role here, but thankfully they form a part of the supporting cast; the oak provides a bit of spiciness to the flavor more than anything. The oak does provide some hot, oral-nasal notes that hit me as I am taking a sip, this provides a bit of warmth that is almost like that from Bourbon. Brett influenced notes play a supporting role here that provides a lot of subtle complexity; flavors of phenolic soaked cotton balls, light horse blanket and a soft general funk.

Fruit flavors provide a light touch of sour-plum, pear, some sour-cherry notes (this is accented by the tannins that evoke thoughts of tannic cherry skins), definite grapefruit (though more from the tartness than from Kloeckera) and apple essence, all without any accentuating sweetness. As the beer warms the tannins really start to contribute a texture / presence that coats the roof of my mouth and back of my teeth. A bit of hot alcohol also becomes a bit more noticeable in the nose as it warms up, but so does some toasty grain & soda-cracker malt aromatics. My second & last pour is a bit more hazy, but not enough to really effect the flavor. Biscuit malt and soda-cracker grain notes also provide some character to the finish of this brew.

I like that the oak plays a supporting role here; it really provides a nice texture and body to this brew as well as a touch of spiciness that works sort of like hops do (though there really is no sweet malt character to balance here). Actually the texture of this beer is quite divine, the tannins provide a satin-like texture without really interfering with the light, quaffability of this brew. This is much more sour than I was expecting, luckily I am a complete sour-head, and I really am quite happy about how tart this is. Makes me want to crack open one of the batch two Beatifications, that will be the next beer to go into the beer fridge.

750mL bottle, courtesy of after4ever. Thanks, Tom! Pours a murky, brownish-straw color; off-white head with patchy, mixed-bubbled lacing. Very pleasant, tart aroma, showing citrus (lemon, grapefruit), a reasonable degree of funk, toasted oak, and some red wine notes (nothing overtly tannic; mostly soft red fruits); nicely tart, developed, funky and dry. As with most Russian Rivers that I’ve had (and opposite to Pizza Ports / Lost Abbeys), things improve with the bottling yeast added. Swirl and dump; the nose, etc. is a bit duller without the dregs. Medium-to-full, puckering mouthfeel: good, prominent levels of tart citrus and cherries and funk; not overly tart, not jaw-clenching, but refined and focused and bretty; without the dregs, the core seems a little hollow, but adding them in provides an even clearer picture (please please please pour the dregs): toasted oak and wood, dark red fruits, a touch of peppery red wine; perfectly dry, dense, with just the right amount of tartness, viscosity and horseblanket. A very nice balance between a solid fruit character and bretty / funky / dry goodness, which means I will likely enjoy this a touch bit more than artusory, who is hopefully getting laid right now. Medium tart finish, showing residual citrus, funk, and a bit of lightly toasted oak. Tasty tasty stuff.

750ml bottle, caged and corked. Pours hazy, deep golden color. thick white head. Aroma of God like tart sourness. I’ve been drinking Imperial Stouts all night, this blows them all away. Tart flavor goes azll the way over the top!. Wow!