Russian River Supplication

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

Date: January 27, 2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cask Eve, 2006
Appearance: opaque orange, thin whispy head
Aroma: sweet cherry aroma with a nice touch of funk
Flavor: huge tart cherry pit flavor approaching on sour, lots of nice funk

Date: December 25, 2007
Mode: bottle
Vintage: batch 002
Appearance: opaque burnt orange, big dense beige head, bits of lace
Aroma: big tart cherry aroma with lots of woody character
Flavor: lots of tart cherry flavor, balanced with strong oak, dry and tart, underlying chocolate malt provides a good base for the wood and tart fruit

Date: February 20, 2009
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: batch 003
Aroma: woody tart aroma, developing musty funk
Flavor: big tart flavor, puckering tartness, light sweet fruityness adds some balance to the big tartness, oak adds a touch of balancing bitterness

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

Poured a pale ruby color with a thin but sturty pinkish cap. The nose was complex with cherry, oak, vanilla and notes of vino. The taste starts with a sour cherry bite. The oak from the nose is next, but bearly noticableon the tongue. The end had a tart and slight merengue taste along with a musty pinot smack. The red wine influence and woody dryness really comes across in the finish. The feel was medium/light in body, quite dry and tart. This was a really nice, easy drinking Ameri-lambic. It’s a little pricy at $11, but well worth checking out. A gem of an ale from Russian River.

Pours a deep ruby red with a lastine off white head. Aroma of sour cherries, vanilla, grapes and slight malt vinegar. The body is med-dry for such a beer with a moderate amount of CO2, could be higher. The flavors are OMG this is sour! Some vanilla and grape skins. Some sour cherries and vanilla. Some OMG TART!. What a lovely and complex brew. God it is beautiful to see the art coming out of American breweries these days.

375ml Batch 002 bottle, with special thanks to adrian910ss! Pours a nice hazy copper color with a decent off-white fizzy head that dissipates to a whispy covering, minor lacing. Pleasant aroma of sour cherry, some candied apple, earthy funk and some slight oakiness. Flavor has a nice sour tart bite at the outset, with a lingering mild cherry sourness that gently drifts away. Palate is lively and slick, with medium body and mouthfeel. Another finely crafted beer from RR!

Poured a cloudy orange color with small head. Aroma was full of oak and cherries and funk. Flavor was very very sour lemons and cherries and that funk was a perfect blend. SOlid beer.

Batch 002, courtesy of Irishboy, thank you!!! pours an amber/orange color. nice finger of head. Aroma is very much like a lambic. Sour and funk, and barnyard with a tinge of cherry, and some flemish sour all combined in one. Flavour is sour, and tastes just like a good lambic, but its smooth, and the finish is big on the cherry. The finish is also very fresh, and the cherry lasts a long time. Wow, what an amazing beer!

bottle batch 002 courtesy of boboski. pours an orange cooper colour with a thin head. aroma of brett sourness, some oak and cherry and crabapple. flavour is fantastic of sourness and oak, wondeful cherry and apple.

Batch 002 The Russian River website indicates that this was brewed in Oct of 2005 and bottled on January 3rd 2007. "Longer barrel age, more acetobacter than previous. Overall compared to batch 001, batch 002 is more acidic & acetic. Cherries are a little more muted when compared to batch 001." Served up in a nice chalice. Pours a deep brownish-red color with a nice foamy light brown head. The bubbles soon settle a bit and leave a nice layer of lace covering the top of this brew. Little coat of lace is left down the sides of the glass in it’s wake. The smell of cherries is apparent the second you pop the cork from the cute little 12.7oz bottle. Give the chalice a swirl and take a sniff. Big sweet cherries fill the nose. Nice bit of malt sweetness manages to break through. Another swirl, take a quick sniff and then take a sip. A nice bitter and tart cherry flavor coats the tongue. Sweet and sour mingle and dance on the palate then give way to a bit more sweetness and a touch of malt body. The aftertaste comes in with a nice sweet cherry flavor and a smooth malty note. This wild brew is superbly crafted and may have gotten better with even a bit more age (although the 15 months they’ve already aged it plus the 3 or so months it sat in my closet in addition to the time it sat at the trader’s house (can’t recall who sent me this one) plus the time on the store shelves has been more then enough).