Russian River Supplication

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

Never a favored style but this is an interesting beer. Such a sour nose. Wood, cherries. Flavor to match with a ton of funkiness. So sour! This beer screams with personality.

Batch #3. Very distinct vanilla component comes through from the barrel aging over the funk and tartness and unifies the flavor beautifully.

12.7 oz bottle, batch 002. Foggy garnet and gold, light froth. Nose of cherry sourdough, funky orange peel and toffee. Tongue-twisting sour but balanced by fruits, malts. Sour cherry, caramel dipped slices of Granny Smith and lime sherbet. Oaky drying with cherry skins. Juicy with a tingle. Beauty.

12oz corked bottle from DarkElf, batch 001. Gusher! Pours a brilliant dark orange/light red fogginess with a frothy, smooth off white head. Sediment lingers around the glass bottom and miniscule bubbles meander their way towards the head. Leaves thick lacing along the glass. Nose has an ever so slight belgian funk to it, with great tartness and a wonderful cherryness. Taste is remarkable. A very smooth entry, cherry, tart and sour notes explode on the tongue and take your mouth hostage. The cherry is delicately placed in certain moments and explode on different taste buds, the tartness and sourness fill your mouth, a bitter finish ensues. The bitterness spreds back from your throat to the front of your mouth coating every inch of your palate. Just wonderful in every way.

Bottle @ RBESG2005. Sour and tart nose, with notes of cherries and some sweetness. Hazy dark orange body, small white head. Flavor is fresh sour cherries, quite tart and smooth. Reminds me of german sourkirchen.

Rating number 500! 375ml bottle, batch 3, at the Trappist in Oakland. Crystal clear amber-orange with a beige head. Sour lemon, white wine and subtle sour cherry aroma. The flavor is quite dry and sour, mostly citric sour, with a hint of vinegar. The cherries are quite subtle, but being sour cherries, they can be expected to blend in with the overall tartness of the beer, I guess. Light bodied and highly carbonated, with a dry, puckering finish. This is definitely my kind of sour, with emphasis on a fruity sourness. The complexities of the wine and cherry flavors are really nice. Props to the Trappist for serving this perfectly in a couple RR chalices.

Bottle from MRuesch. Thanks Matt! Hazy brown pour with a thick tan head. Bretty, vinegar, sour cherry, tart aroma. Tangy tart cherry taste with some vinegar tartness. Not much of a sour fan, but I thought this exceptionally well done.

3L bottle shared by drewbeerme at his wedding shower. Pours a clear glowing amber with a beige head. Nose of sour grapes, apples, oak, and brett. Whew that’s more sour than i expected. Grapes, pears, earthy, all around tart and oaky. The acidity is a little too much at times but this is a great beer. Big thanks to andrew for sharing this.