Russian River Supplication

This beer is batch 002 and consumed on 3/15/07. When I popped the cork, the beer rocketed out. The beer is dark amber in color with little yeasties floating in suspension. Floating yeast is to be expected from a bottle conditioned beer. The head fell quickly, although I did leave the bottle for a bit after it ran over. The aroma has a strong brett presence with a cidery aroma in there as well. The tart cherry taste, brett, and carbonation make the glands in my neck tingle. The brett is very pronounced and seems to make the body seem lighter and thinner. Overall, the only disappointment is the lack of body.

Foamy out of the bottle but it is a quickly thinning head. Cloudy reddish brown beer. Super sour nose with notes of cherries. Sour brown start moves to huge sour. I like it like a college prank that is fun for it’s own sake. So dry my tongue shrivels up. Very fizzy sour body. Amazing how similar this style of beer can be to a particular style of sour candy with a fizzy baking soda characteristic. Offers up sour shivers. Sourness runs roughshod over the malt and cherries. Admirable more for artistry than flavour.

Jesus, this beer is alive! Pours with a foamy head that quickly turns into nothingness. Beer is dark orange and brown like a really dehydrated piss. Aroma can best be described as brown: subdued cherry, a slight sourness, and funk. Taste is sourness and cherry with a lot of off flavors. Oh man, I think I got an infected bottle! Okay, seriously... The yeasts and bacteria compete for dominance in this beer with the sour cherry adding another layer to the beer- as if it really needs to be any more complex. The only detraction I could see is that the mouthfeel is a little oily. Very decent. 748316 ---re-rate--- batch 3 8/21/2009 Aroma is lactic sourness, vinegar, cherries, lots of Cantillon-esque flavors. Wow. Aroma is beautiful. Oak, cherries, lambic sourness. Taste is very, very dry. Barnyard- horse, cat, et cetera.... Dried cherries, lactic sourness. Yum Mouthfeel is very dry, but filled with a ton of the aforementioned flavors. Wow. Great. 949417

bottle. pours red/brown with a dark tan head. Cellar funk, cherries, yeast aroma. Taste is sour cherries and sweet grape. oak finish. Nice.

Corked and caged bottle from JCB - thanks! 375 mL from Batch 002. Superb, robust sour cherry aroma, leathery with some nice funky brett (still young, though). Tart and brings liquid to the eyes. Letting it sit for a while brings out the wood. Cloudy brown-red particulate body, pretty classic with a short, noisy beige head. Powerfully sour taste, tart and acidic, assertive without being industrial. Dark sour cherry and a buttload of brett. Woodiness isn’t readily identified as oak and is more of a minor player here. The blend, however, is rather fine - complex and unified, sprinkled here and there with spice and pittless skins. More drinkable than just about any sour not named Rodenbach, way too flavorful even for 7% and not dominated by its potent acidity. Full body is effervescent and puckering, a little harsh on the throat but not off-putting. Dry, slightly balsamic aftertaste. Teeth brushed by cherry stones and walnut hides, dry tannic leather and refreshing boldness. One of the best sours in the world, let alone the Left Coast.

Side note: Is anyone else annoyed that the label defines supplication, a noun, as if it were a verb?

Batch 1 - fresh, at 6 months and 1 year. After 1 year Batch 1 started to lose its lustre, and batch 2 never was anywhere nearly as exciting. Deep amber pour with varying red highlighting and a cloudy swirling center. A bold, frothy head is beige and recedes quickly. The nose is spectacular! Grapes, brown sugar, twisted funkiness, vinous qualities everywhere, tart cherries, light must, vibrant yeast including loads of brettanomyces, horseblanket, ginger and a formidable blast of old oak. Alcohol is almost undetected. The flavor is astonishing! This completely destroys just about all of its sour brethren, concerning taste, drinkability and mouthfeel. Sparkling carbonation evenly disperses malts and sourness to the farthest reaches of the mouth. Tart fruits and brazen acidity battle funk like it’s the last chance either will have to propagate their future. Sweetness is mild and soothing, cooling the fiery spice and complimenting the funk that gives this beer the feeling that it’s been brewed by dozens of dedicated generations. The finish is very tart and highly acidic, breaching into a refreshing sourness and leaving cherry and oak notes to dry out the tongue. I dream of the day a fresh batch of this is re-released that shares the assertiveness and glory of the first bottles of this I sampled. A profound, startling experience. Russian River is the best brewery in the United States.

GABF 2006-Tart cherries & oak aroma. Taste is tart at first with sour cherries followed by brett (horseblanket), finishes dry. 7/3/7/3/17

#002 Bottle. Thanks John. Wonderful tart cherry, wood, lacto, all in perfect harmony and just beautiful. Cherry, wood, vanilla, nice tartness and fruitiness. The flavor is well integrated, no flavors overpower any other. Score went up quite a bit.

Had at Logan’s Oceanside beer tasting with AlohaC, and Hair, and Matt, and Ken, Jeff, Colleen, Bill, and others. A real pleasure to try this gem. I’ve been very eager to get a hold of a bottle. I’ve seen it at two other tastings, but didn’t get to try it for one reason or another. Very small sample. Great, great sour cherry aroma. Sourness is mild. Light red color. Tempted to bring my rating up, but 4.5 is pretty high.