Russian River Supplication

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

Cherry filled with vinous, oak, and funky qualities. The dark amber explodes with a medium based sour and tart flavor within a wild sensibilty of aging on many liquid layers.

Update, fresh batch 003. Courtesy SoLan. Not significantly different from batch 002, except to say that this beer is slightly better when fresh. Striking sourness is balanced by a lactic creaminess that just makes this brew so incredibly easy to drink. Both batches were excellent. Russian River kicks ass.

Batch 002. Pours a cloudy, blood red color. A minimal, foamy tan head slowly dissipates, leaving just a thin ring behind. The aroma features pure, fresh, sour cherries as the backbone. Soft oak and moderate lactic funk emerge, as do hints of Concord grape juice. The flavor is again based on sour cherries, but the grape element really surprises. The use of Pinot Noir barrels (my favorite red grape) is nothing short of genius. The softness of the Pinot lends itself perfectly to a sour ale, and the oak is subtle enough to impart its signature vanilla note without overpowering things. Slightly more substantial than an average sour, the mouthfeel is highly carbonated, yet smooth and silky. Finishes bone dry, with the mouth begging for the next sip. As I stare at my empty glass, I am saddened, and that is the sign of a fantastic brew. Russian River is simply incredible.

Batch 002. Deep amber. Thin layer of off white foam dissipates to a ring. Nose of oak, sour cherries, bretty funk, subtle vinegar, cotton candy, and a toasted malt background. Flavor adds some complex fruity esters- past ripe, floral, berry-like, and more of the same oaky, sour goodness from the aroma. Medium body, juicy yet highly carbonated, very dry finish. Excellent.

2-24-08 bottle shared at tasting thanks to ChadSpivey
Clear pinkish amber in color with no head. Smells just like pixie sticks. Sour with a nice well balanced sweetness in the flavor. Overall, a very mild sour that doesn’t feel alien or foreign on the palate. Oaked flavor with a dry finish that leaves you wanting more.

375ml bottle thanks to chadspivey Reddish amber color with decent spotty head for the style. Intense Sweet Tart aroma. Sour candy. Generic fruit. Really extreme tartness, not as sweet as the nose. Generic sweet & sour fruity candy flavors ala Spree or Sweet Tarts, maybe cherry stands out a bt. Nice and refreshing. Great example of RR wild ale.

Rerate 3/16/08 - I’m raising my score to this to a perfect 5, the only one I’ve given so far.....if I could only drink one beer until the end of time, this would be it. It’s so good....once it hits your lips. This is crack in beer form, seriously. I think I could drink this for eternity. Tar cherries, some bretty action, acidic. Light head that quickly dissipates, leading way for the crack binge to begin. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Bottle shared by chadspivey
Pours a rosey amber color with no head. More pleasant nose than most any of the other sours I sampled on the same evening. Nose of sourness, like funk and some dark fruitines. Taste is very tart, mild sweetness, and some fruitiness. Very oaky flavor and some dry, sour cherries as well. Quite tart indeed, yet still pretty drinkable. I can see this being really good, if Sours were my thing.

Poured a nice reddish brown with a very creamy soft off white head that stuck around for the entirety of the beer. Nice presence of oak, sour cherries, brett and lacto in the nose. A great funky bretty aroma with the cherries melding perfectly. The flavor profile is lots of tart acetic cherries with a soft undertone of wood tannins behind the tartness of the cherries. All the littles bugs and critters in this beer make such a wonderful compliment to this beer. The brettanomyces, lactobacillus, and pedioccus all play a part and make their presence known. The beer finishes very dry and clean. Fantastic brew!