Russian River Deviation (Bottleworks IX)

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

Draught @ Brouwer’s Café for rating #2500:   Huge rocky white head, good retention, nice lacing, hazy amber, very fiery.   Looks fantastic!   Big bouguet on the nose.   Farmish, very wild, tart Peach and Apricot skin.   Certainly musty and basement like.   Sour on the tongue, dry but its not overly acidic.   Very pale fruitiness, much like unripened Peache or Apricot skin.   I like this one because it is not overly done.   Very palatable without being harsh.   Could stand to be a bit more bubbley on the tongue as it does flatten out a bit as it warms.   Does start out prickly though.   Moderate to full body and mouthfeel otherwise.   Sour to start out, becomes more tart like near the finish.   Moderate dryness.   Noticed that it seems more aggressive on draught than in the bottle.   Good stuff!

Lots of sour on the nose with some grape and a tad bit of yeasty fruit. For a quick second, there is a bit of fruit up front but then a lot of sourness sets in making it a bit difficult to pick out some of the nice subtleties that are peeking out. Finishes with a dry wine like feel with grape and a strange chewing of raw ingredients kind of feel. I really like this, big sour with a nice balance.

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.

Bottle shared at jjpm’s gathering. Poured a cloudy golden with a fizzy white head. Aroma of some tart sour funkiness, that wonderful indescribable combination of sweatsock and sour cheese... actually, the only thing indescribable about it is how it actually becomes a desirable, thirst-enticing aroma. Flavor follows with quite a bit lemony citrusy tartness, some light cherry, some dry toffee. Finish is a bit tart but fading into some light dryness. Very easy-drinking, and an overall quite palatable sour beer. However, I take exception to what they call this beer. For Russian River, this is anything but a "deviation". It is, rather, a "continuation" of precisely what they do. It was a pleasant beer, but having had other sour offerings from Russian River, this didn’t blow me away as anything particularly unique or special... just good.

Sampled at the Carolina Crew gathering in Greenville. Big thanks to Turdferguson for sharing! Very oaky and lightly sour funky aroma. Nicely sour and tart flavor. Dry finish. Very easy to drink for a sour ale - a style that I don’t have much experience with and I haven’t enjoyed much in the past. Really enjoyable beer! Thanks, Sam!

Pours a hazy pale copper color with a white head. Aroma is funky, horse blanket, barn yard, acidic, tart fruit, and oak. Flavor is brett, barn yard, funk, oak, fruit, and a bitter funky tart finish.

Thanks turdferguson for sharing at the Carolina gathering. Pours a hazy amber with a thin white head. The nose is sour and tart, grapes, vinous, muscadine, some cherry pit, and a little funk. The flavor is very tart and sour, fruity, acidic, phenolic, muscadines. Very tart and acidic palate with a vinous dry finish.

750ml bottle consumed on 5/25/08 with a huge thanks to drewbeerme for sharing this gem. Pours a clear orange with an off white soapy head. Sour cheesey and bretty aromas that are very inviting. Fizzy palate. Sour tart cheesey leathery flavors dominate with lemons, oranges, and oak. Finishes dry and tart. This is so drinkable and delicious. I’d love a couple cases of this stuff.