Russian River Supplication

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

Bottle shared by alexsdad06. Poured a hazy reddish brown color with an average frothy off-white head that mostly lasted with fair lacing. Moderate to heavy tart cherry, yeasty and wood aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and soft carbonation and small particles. Medium to heavy sour & sweet flavor with a medium to heavy sweet & sour finish of moderate to long duration. This is a standout beer for style. Thanks Brad.

Reddish amber colour with a white head. Sour vinous aroma. Malty flavor with some lambic-like hints. Also hints of cherries. Long sour aftertaste. Very nice.

Ruby-brown turbid pour with off-white head. Aroma of big oaky cherries, hopcit, some funk, brown sugar. The flavor is krieky, with a funky, oaky element, fruit, and malt. You just gotta love the funky krieky oaky thing that this beer has going on.

Amber with a lasting and lively white head. Subdued, but complex aroma with cherry, vanilla and fresh wood. Initially quite acidic, then a complex, elegant tartness with cherry and wood notes, and finishing with an even sweetish fruitiness. This was my first sour RR, and I’m very much looking forward to try some more!

Tasted at Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, July 16, 2005. Lightly hazed red amber ale with a thin white head. Light grainy maqlt with sour cherry notes. Slightly sour cherries in malt, with wonderful freshly grinded cherries. An excellent rendition of a flemmish sour. Mmmm...

Bottle. Head is initially small, fizzy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy medium/dark orange-brown, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately yeasty (barnyard, horseblanket, cobwebs), moderately malty (caramel, cookie, toasted grain), with notes of cherry, cask wood, baked apples, cinnamon, clove, currant, lemon zest, earth/moss, char/ashes, etc., etc. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, watery/velvety texture, lively/soft carbonation. Whoa...now THAT is an aroma! I haven’t given a 10 for aroma in quite a while, but man, this completely and utterly knocked me out. I was left sniffing the empty glass for half an hour after I was finished...if that doesn’t hint that this is a 10, I don’t know what will convince you. It’s beyond my ability to describe. This is sorta like equal parts fruit lambic (the really funky traditional kind, a la Hanssens Kriek, not the soda pop kind) and Flemish sour. Wood aging shows, and is definitely old wood (noticeable but very mellow, earthy, and antique, not like raw wood...oak chips just ain’t the same, sorry Great Divide and Avery), and the Brett shines through as well. But everything is so amazingly tied together and integrated...that’s something that just can’t be listed out with descriptors. Could stand to have a little more tartness and even a smidge more carbonation, but those are very minor quibbles...another 6 months (to 6 years!) of aging should improve both. You can keep your La Folie and your Cuvee de Tomme...as pleasant as those are, this is to me a far more enticing, balanced, and fully realized beer. No rough edges at all in any sense. This is one of the best Belgian style ales made in the United States (THE best? maybe), of that there is absolutely no question in my mind. It’s definitely expensive ($10/375ml), but unlike La Folie, I think it’s well worth the price tag. This is just crazy amazingly good beer, and I just know it’s going to be underrated here.

Sample from 375 ml bottle at RBSG. Hazy darkish amber, dirty and yeasty with flecks of foam...light sour, bready nose, bit of citrus and pineapple and light cherry...body quite sour, potent cherry liqueur mixing with sour apples, touch vinegary perhaps...clean body is perhaps a bit too light and domesticated. Though a bit disappointing with all the hype, it was an interesting experience and I look forward to a whole bottle soon.

37.5 cL bottle. Aroma of sour cherries. Sure, it’s more complicated than that, but reductio ad absurdum! How many ales can be inhaled rather than quaffed? Beautiful cherry amber color with a ring of tiny head bubbles. Medium bodied. Starts with woody sour cherries. Then it gets seriously sour. Tannic might apply. Like sucking fresh cut oak. The finish is simply sour. With cherry pits, wood, bark, all sorts of whatever. Would it be wrong to consider this infected ale? Where are the lines to be drawn? If anyone has used this as a marinade for lamb or beef, let me know how it turned out.