Russian River Deviation (Bottleworks IX)

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

750 ml bottle courtesy of after4ever. Pour is golden ruby orange, with an off white head that falls fast. Aroma is sour tart and a lot of the Bretty yeastiness. The tartness is very fruity, cherries, pineapples, acidic for sure. Much complexity in the nose. Taste is like drinking an entire cherry - fruit, sour, pit, stems, dirt. All is well blended and melded together. Really nice sour character to it. The aftertaste features a lot of natural earthiness. Palate is solid, light enough to feature the sour - bulky enough to carry the big earth and funkiness. Drying finish. Some of the oak woodiness is present in the aftertaste, I hadn’t noticed much of the wood prior to that. Huge thanks for this one Tom!

Bottle shared by BOLTZ7555 at hellbilly’s holiday tasting. Hazy amber color pour with a small head. Aroma of sweet malt, yeast and lemon. Flavor of sour unripe fruit, vinegar, yeast and lemon. Delicious! Thanks Jason!

I got this in a trade from old mr crow, thanks. Pours golden orange with a nice off white head. Aroma of tartness and citrusness, trart light fruit, grapefruit, grapes, even sour apples. Flavor was tart end sweet, I guess you could say it was like a sweetart.

big thanks to jason for letting us have a crack at this! hazy burnt orange color with a fleeting white head. it smells a lot sweeter than i was expecting... along with cement, tart orange, cinnamon, malty richness and flowers. the palate is incredibly dry yet not overly sour... very tannic, bitter and dry with a big ol’ dose of maltiness thrown in... orange, spice, flowers, a bunch of stink and tart unripened grapes. prickly sharp feeling cuts through a lux body. 8/4/8/4/18/4.2

Sampled compliments of Pepsican. Pours a cloudy golden color with some floaties. The aroma is interesting it’s got a great funky barnyard character but there is a soapiness that I almost never find in sours, it’s not a bad thing it just caught me right off guard. The flavor is wonderfully sour with notes of oak an some citrus that works with the sourness to give some great lemon flavors. Notes of cherry and good yeast, pretty acidic but an absolute pleasure. Thanks Andy.

750ml bottle shared by BOLTZ7555 at hellbilly’s holiday tasting. Pours hazy amber with a thin white head that fades quickly. The nose is malt, honey and sweet vinegar. The taste is tart apple, balsamic vinegar, lemon and malt. Medium mouthfeel. Very good – not an in your face sour, a nice enjoyable sipper. Thanks Jason!

So I finally get another one of these to try and guess who pops it and drinks most of it before I even notice? Thanks Irina, at least you left me a few ounces to rate. Orange pour with a nice sized white head. Oak and lemon aroma. Flavor has lots of oak, sour citrus all over this (orange, apple, lemon) and some dust/funk. Sour finish.

A- Pours a beautiful cloudy peach color with a small, white head. S- Smell is definite barnyard funk, peach, light fruits, sourness. T- Taste is incredibly complex. Sour all the way through, very earthy, tart, light fruits. M- Light and crisp with a good amount of carbonation. Very dry. D- This is a great sipper. Russian River’s sour lineup is incredible but I think this is the most balanced one that i’ve had of the bunch. Seek this one out, you won’t regret it.