Russian River Salvation

Brewed by Russian River Brewing
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Santa Rosa, California USA

Batch 5. Thanks yet again to Naka for sharing. Sticky sweet caramel in the nose. Dark fruits - figs, cherries, dates. Super sweet aroma. Amazing burgundy with a rocky off-white head. Sweet in the mouth - cherries, prunes, plums, raisins, sugary, and slightly cloying. Freaking superb. Now for my rant. Last night was my first experience with the super hyped Russian River. I love me some good Belgian beer, so I’ve been quite eager to give Vinnie’s work a shot. I was not disappointed. Here’s what I like about all their beers I tried - they’re authentic. If I were to taste any of them blind, there would be no way you could convince me it was brewed in the states. So often we see these American "takes" on Belgian styles - some are delicious, many fall short. But very rarely do we see true, authentic Belgian style ales being brewed in America. It breaks my heart, to be perfectly honest. But to know that places like Russian River, Jolly Pumpkin, and Ommegang exist... well, It helps me sleep at night.

corked and caged 750ml from Irishboy, thank you! Wow, the aroma is amazing. Ripe fruits such as plums, figs, apples, cherries, lots of malt, and loads of sweet caramel. Carbonation is very nice, and the flavour is out of the world! So much nice caramel/malty sweetness, laced with wondrful fruitiness. Wow. best belgian strong i have ever had, hands down.

1 pint, 9.4 fl oz. bottle purchased at Raja LLiquors in Livermore. The pour: deep dark color, but not translucent! The bouquet: raisins, subtle cloviness, cinnamon, allspice. The palate: definte roasted malts, a nice smokiness to it. nice sharpness in the immediate finish. The finish: toasty.. that’s all I can say. A high quality brew, kudos to Russian River Brewing!

Bottled (thanks omhper!). Deep amber colour with mediumsized creamy beige head. Aroma is caramel, fudge, nuts, tropical fruit some licorice and vanilla. Flavour is quite much the same with some spices and dried fruits added. Marvellous brew!

Bottle, courtesy Tony at Oldsmar Tap House. Dark ruby brownish pour. Thick creamy white head, and a huge amount of lacing. Big apple cider tang in the nose, with a hazy, wheaty clove touch, and some slight chalky grain. Very rich flavors, full of thick, hearty fruits and banana, clove. Nice spicy, full bright finish. Very well-balanced, alcohol is nowhere to be found, and it’s very drinkable. Don’t think I’ll be having too many beers from Russian River that aren’t amazing.

Bottle from Immy @ thr Throwdown. Batch 4. Caramel and toffee predominate the libation. A little sweetness. Very good.

750 ml bottle. Batch 003. Deep amber/orange colour approaching brown, but not quite there yet. White head. Great nose with a strong brandyish aroma, prunes, burnt sugar, toffee and a heavy toasted maltiness. Herbal notes, rum and brown sugar, light woodiness/plummy sweetness. Quite vineous. Warming brings out some orange citrus and a lovely ginger/cardamon spiciness. It’s a fantastic yeast they’ve got here. Flavour really shows off the allspice, ginger and clove along with the lightly burnt sugar. Rum and banana as well. Cooling mint and alcohol on the finish. Herbal hops and ginger retronasally. Another killer brew from the folks at Russian River.

Tap at RR. Pours a deeper brownish copper with a medium creamy off white head that left great lacing. Aroma of molasses, toasted malt, dark fruits, Belgian yeast esters and toffee. Flavor of various spices, brown sugar, earthy, doughy, toffee, dark fruits, dry and biscuit.