Russian River Supplication

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

375mL bottle. Murky brown orange with a small offwhite creamy head. Phenol plastic tones, with sour and funk aromatics. Tart cherry tannins, heavy plastic notes, along with a dank mustiness that joins more tannic flavors in the finish. Sour flavors exlode on the palate but disappear quickly. Mouthfeel is medium, suprisingly full yet still quenching.

Bottle from nbutler11s SS haul. Beautiful color of ruby red and gold with a white head that starts full and fades. Aroma of sweet sourdough and burning cherry. Flavor is very much like a kriek at the outset, with a nicely balanced cherry presence. Wood only comes through as balance not as flavor. I detected no Pinot here from start to finish. As it warms, turns very decidedly to Bing and Rainier cherry flavors.

Batch 002. Sampled 7-6-07. Pours a clouded reddish amber. Nose is a beautiful antiseptic funk. Flavor is outstanding. Crisp woody cahracter with wild, barrel aged goodness. Outstanding. Feel is smooth on liquid. Great level of carbonation. for f**ks sake is this drinkable. Obviously a work of art.

Gushed...Cloudy orange/brown with a rocky tan head. Musty nose with some oxidized red wine notes. Flavor had just the right sour/funk balance. Finished like a freshly opened Chianti. Lovin’ the sours!!

375 ml bottle from lb4lb. Pours an amber color with a medium creamy off-white head that has good retention. The aroma is rich and complex with grapes, cherries and oak. The taste has flavors similar to the aroma, with the cherries being extra tart, the grapes are funky and the oak is a bit acidic. The mouthfeel is smooth with moderately high acidity, and the carbonation is lively and prickly.The finish is long and sour with lingering sour cherries. Overall: A truly great sour ale. Thanks Deniz.

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.

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.

Thanks to Immy. 375ml bottle batch 002. Pours amber in color with white head. Aroma sweet cherries. Taste of sweet and tart cherries.