Russian River Deviation (Bottleworks IX)

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

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!

The body is a cloudy, glowing golden-orange color. A large, frothy, eggshell colored head shows excellent retention, leaving sticky lacing all the way down the glass. Backlit by the Florida sun, it looks like a magical elixir capable of curing the direst of illnesses. Aromas are heavy on funky oak, with a lambic-like mustiness that rivals the best that the likes of Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen have to offer. Sour apricots tantalize the nose, while an earthy, dusty note keeps things grounded. Oaky vanilla is so well integrated, it’s almost scary. The flavor is damn near perfect. Sour apricots, grapefruits, and lemons are intensely tart, but they never get out of control. A touch of soft peach lends just the right amount of sweetness to the sharp, citric fruits. Funky, funky oak and brett impart lambic must and earth throughout. Mouth puckering sourness is somehow softened by a lactic creaminess on the finish. Medium-full bodied and very finely carbonated, it is substantial feeling in the mouth and silky smooth on the swallow. This is an absolutely masterful creation. Nearly perfect.

750ml bottle. pours clear amber with foamy white head. nose is sour, vinegar, lactic, very oaky, some apricot and citrus notes as well. flavors are pretty musty, vanilla, sour, okay, vinegar, apricot, orange, grapefruit, lemony. a bit lactic finish. lively full mouth feel. wow this was really good.

Thanks to Dr. Bill for sharing. This poured a dark orange color. The flavor was sour with lots of fruity notes.

finally, a Bottleworks anniversary beer that was not only palatable, but downright spectacular!!! Hazy orange sour grapefruit aroma. Mouth puckering sour grapefruit body with a sour finish. A faint oakiness in there as well. Sampled at Dr. Bill’s tasting.

Kudos to xmarcnolanx for sharing this rare goodie. Pours brown / copper with a small white head. The aroma has lots of sourness, green onion funk, some tart citrus and weird malt. Medium / light body with subtle light carbonation. The flavor starts with good sourness, citric acid, grain, oakiness, tartness and and overall sharpness to everything. The finish has nice graininess, sourness and some green onion. Very nice beer, but it didn’t meet my expectation.

Funky, cheesey, grape-like nose coming off the cloudy orange color. Flavors were very sour and really funking cheesey. SOUR FUNKIN’ CHEEEESE!!!!!

750ml bottle. Pours a mostly clear orange with a slight ruby hue, small off white ring. Nose was tart citrus, brett, cherries, oak.......wow, there is a lot going on here! Flavor was very complex with good amounts of oak, tart cherries and citrus. On the palate this beer seems perfectly balanced, I don’t think it gets much better than this!