Russian River Empirical 7

Brewed by Russian River Brewing
Style: Saison
Santa Rosa, California USA

Cask Stillage from the Jug at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center 26/09/2009 Slightly sour aroma. Small white head. Golden coloured hoppy and sour with a little earthy flavour. A little dryness in a crisp and bitter finish.

About 20 samples at GABF 09, one of my favorites of the fest that I kept going back to when in the Cali/NY aisle. Pours a nice hazy blond with a massive white head that never went away and left crazy lacing in the pitchers it was poured from. Aroma was nice earthy leathery horse-like brett, very spicy from phenolic yeast, and green and hoppy. Flavor is doughy crisp clean, light pils and pale malts, toast, dry earth, leather,and nice big funky dryness from the brett- bone dry and very refreshing- modestly bitter as well. Nice stuff.

GABF 2009. Pours hazy yellow with a small, fizzy white head, mostly diminishing with spare lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (hay, straw, cereal, meal), light hop (flowers), heavy yeast (horse blanket, barnyard, earth) with notes of coriander and ginger. Medium bodied, thin texture, average carbonation, and a chalky finish. Long duration, light sweetness, acidity, and bitterness. Heavy Brettanomyces character.

Draft. Slightly hazy amber beer with an off-white head. Nice citrus hop aroma with a bit of brettiness underneath. Good balance int he flavor between brett and citrusy hops. Medium bodied. Good brettiness. Citrusy hops linger with the brett and finishes dry.

GABF2009 - this is one super bitter, super dry, super biscuity/flinty saison - man, that’s almost everything I love in the style, with a distinct, potent american hop kick that works really well with the lean, dry malts - a bit of sweaty, earthy, wild character far in the back makes things even more interesting - love it!

Draft @ Russian River. Pours a slightly hazy, honey-yellow color; thin off-white head with patchy retention and lacing. Nicely dry, bretty aroma showing some kaffir lime leaves, citrus, and some sweet honey notes; sweet, juicy core notes with some mineral bitterness. Medium mouthfeel: honey and bretty lime / citrus shows prominently upfront; relaxed carbonation; slightly flabby edges, but the core is a dense honey and Belgian sugar combination (with mineral bitterness) that stays dry enough overall. Medium finish of bread and honey notes, still dry.

Clear golden with a fizzy white head. Fruit perhaps pineapple aroma. Nice crisp citrus taste with some sparkling quality to the palate and a great brisk Brett flavor.

Draft @ Russian River: Hazy canary peach. Pasty and frothy stark-white head. Estery and phenolic nose consists of floral hops, aniseed, sherbet, hay, honeydew melon, glazed lemon zest, and peach. Faint mineral and sulfur notes. Soft pricks of velvety carbonation. Pillow-soft malt caresses the palate as lemon zest fuses with a sharply herbal hop character. Brett-induced band-aid phenolic snap coarsely clutches the palate. Hops are remarkably polished and flavorsome. Snappy hints of white pepper mesh with the feisty phenols. Wonderfully-rounded peach tartness contributes sufficient weight to pillar the airy-light toasted cracker and honey-drizzled hay Pils malt. Squeaky-clean malt deposits a starchy, powdery texture on the tongue as well as a delicate toastiness and light vanilla-cake sweetness. Bubblegum flashes trace sweetness at the center while crisp minerals and snappy sulfur generate staunch dryness to bolster the quenching nature of the beer. Finishes assertively bitter with lemon zest and herbal-tinged hops as aniseed, peppery phenols, and slicker notes of honeydew linger. Brett delivers savory aniseed and Band-Aid burps in the afterimage. Few brewers possess the knack for creating such nuanced and sophisticated beer as Vinnie does. Absolutely captivating.