Russian River Supplication

Several 2oz samples at the Savor Craft beer event in Washington D.C. Deep amber, purpley color with a thick, lacing white head and nice, tight, small bubbles. Aroma is stunning, citrus, candy, musty funk, sour grapes, and grass. Flavor is just as good, cherries, grapes, sour ripe fruits, and some slight acid. Funny thing is, even with all that going on you can still taste distinct brown malts and a nice grain backing. Finish is sour, but smooth and extremely drinkable. This was getting raves throughout the crowd and was the class of the tasting.

Wonderful ruddy brown pour. Heavy white crown of head. Lots of lacing. Sour cherry aromas, sour apricot, and something rich and sharp -- like a blue cheese -- works to really expand this beer’s range from the very first sniff. The fruit and funk on the nose still don’t prepare you for what’s coming. The beer is crisp and sour from the get-go. Lots of fruit, from raisin to cherry to lemon, and an acidic bite from the bacteria. There’s harmony throughout the palate and a long finish to enjoy the best, most careworn American sour ale in production. Wonderful stuff.

This beer is, in a word, divine. If you believe sour is at the top of the beer-flavor hierarchy, as I do, than this beer is for you. If you don’t believe this, well chances are this beer is still for you. It offers a rich amber color, abundant head, delicious aroma, and even better taste. Aroma is citrus-y, sour, candy-sweet, yet somehow (despite what I’ve already said) balanced and distinctly beer-like. Flavor is distinctly sour, although I’ve certainly had beers sourer. It has a musty, sweet-tart, clove, complex and delicious. Mouthfeel is excellent. This is not a beer that is not easy for most of us to get our hands on. However, if you’ve not had it, you should travel, trade, or attend a festival to get it.

Bottle batch 003. Pours a cloudy dark amber color with a thick white head. Smells musty and sour. Has a medium mouthfeel. Taste is very complex and has many flavors including: oak, sour, fruit, tartness, pepper spice, and some acidic spiciness. Overall this is not a punch you in the mouth sour like some of the other sours out there. Its more subtle. Its more drinkable. My drinking buddy commented its like eating a piece and candy and wanting more. That’s what its like between sips. Overall a great brew.

Batch # 003 Pours a rich dark almost golden color with a haziness tinge to it. Smell is oak and wine, alcohol and the nice sourness that the cherries bring to the table, a interesting mixture. Taste is very winey, dry and quick finish with a real hint of the oak and cherries. The tartness is almost more reminiscent of cranberries that cherry for how sour it is. Very nice.

Bottle, batch 003. Aroma is very cherry, sweet, funky, slightly sour... I like to say sometimes that things smell creamy but it’s hard to describe what exactly creamy means in terms of aroma. It all just comes together really well perhaps is another way of saying it. Taste - wow - mouth-puckeringly sour, first hits the tip of your tongue and then moves on back and you feel the muscles of your face squinching together way back around the jaw’s hinge. The aroma reminded me of Jolly Pumpkin so I guess I was not expecting the sour shock, unlike anything else I’ve ever had. I love sour beers and this is definitely a favorite.

Batch 003. Pours lighter than I expected, for a supposed brown ale. A cloudy orangish color with a small but very well retained white head. The head never goes down. Looks fairly carbonated with a continuous stream of bubbles ascending. Impressive sheets of lace coat the entire glass. Aroma is mild peppery funk, soft and subtle, reminiscent of a lambic. Slight cherry aromas akin to a Kriek are also apparent, though they don’t pop out. Warmer temperatures do this beer good, bringing out some acetic qualities that add a pleasant dimension and increase overall complexity. This is the same quality I enjoyed in Compunction, the only other Russian River sour beer I’ve had to this point. Some light vinegar notes are buried deep down that remind me of a more traditional Flemish Sour though they are quite subtle. Warmer temperatures also increase the cherry aroma, thankfully. Can’t detect any wine characteristics in the aroma. Taste is immediately tart, wow, yeah, with some sourness mid-palate coupled with intense ripe fruit notes then finished with an even more acidic sourness. While the aroma is quite subtle and soft the taste is really full blown on this one. The huge cherry taste is really remarkable. It makes the tartness much more tasty and multi-dimensional than just straight-forward sourness, though this is plenty sour. Very dry finish, the beer seems to evaporate from your mouth though the lingering tartness and fruit notes can still be detected on the tongue. I’m certainly a fan.

big thanks to tom for letting me in this wonderous tasting, - pours cloudy golden brown, very beautiful creamy head nose is sour milk, slightly spicy, and biscuit. raisins are abound as well. taste is gorgeous, full berry fruits, sour, but not overpoweringly so. sour cherry, brown sugar very full bodied, grapefruit rind slight lemon, rasberries- a beer to sit, sip and think about. grapefruit and spice on the finish.