Russian River Supplication

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

Bottle - corked and caged. Batch 001. Muddled amber with a small whitish head. WOW! Nose is Brett, cherries, and FUNK! I love it! I’m also smelling sour grapes out the ying-yang. This could almost be mistaken as a Cantillon product, from what I’m smelling right now (still rather cool, temperature-wise, and no diacetyl as mentioned by others). There’s some lighter balsamic notes, and thinned woody aromas and a light earthiness as well. Fainter wine notes on this. I expected more considering it was aged in Pinot Noir barrels. At any rate, one of the best smelling beers I’ve experienced in a long time. Taste is a bit uneven. Big Brett notes, lighter nuttiness, some grainy parts, light cherry but more wine. The wine grapes come through here the most. Towards the back end of the gulp. Still not picking up on any diacetyl. I’ll let the rest warm to room temperature to explore that later. Right now, I’m really digging what’s in my glass. Body is light-medium with a pleasant dryness and minimal tartness. There’s note a lot of carbonation associated with this either. At times, this is almost still, like a wine. Finish is sour fruits, more Bretty notes, wood, light earth tones, and lighter wine notes. Very nice beer, even at the price. Recommended to all!

375 ml bottle purchased at the brewery. Batch 002. Poured a hazy sunset orange-red color. Head was two fingers high, fizzy, and off white. It reduced to a thin film after a minute or two. Aroma was of oak, sour cherry, and cereal grain. There was also a whiff of red wine vinegar. Effervescent on the tongue with assertive acidity. Tasted of sour berries, dry white wine, and vinegar. Sour throughout with a light fruity note hiding in the background at then end. Delicious.

Sampler, last bit of the barrel, kindly provided by the bartender at Russian River Brewing. Hazy dark golden color, thick head. Delicious tart aroma, some cherry, bit barnyard. Sour taste, sweet, fruity of cherries, slight oaky. Very strong but still subtle. Superb balance, while still complex. True craftsmanship.

Bottle, at various locations during the Zythos weekend, March 2006. Golden orange with a slight haze, thin off white head and good condition. Big barleywine malt and toffee sweetness with a gentle barnyardy tartness in the nose, quite thin and alcoholic in the mouth with a gentle fruity tartness that lingers long into the finish before becoming dry.

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.

Batch 2 Re-Rate. Purchased at the Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA. Pours amber with a think chunky white head. The aroma is devine, very guezey and lambic lke with a lots of sour notes. The cherry flavor comes through yet is somewhat hidden at the same time. This is a stellar beer, really damn amazing. bottle batch 001. Happily consumed at the Brickskeller in Washington DC on 11/25/06, first brew of the night. Pours cloudy straw with a small head. The scent is robust and fully of cherry and oak. The taste is much more like the description then the type, more like a dark ale heavily infused with cherries. The taste is wonderful it flows over the tongue and leaves a nice sweat aftertaste. My brother commented that it tasted sort of like a lambic, its certainly different from other flemish sours I have had, it was damn good I’ll say that much.

Shared by Milkmandan. Excellent and hard to get any better than this. Light brown color. Aroma has yeast and smells very sour. I can smell the cherries but not the wine. Flavor has sour cherry. This is very sour even for the style, and delicious. Light oak character in the finish. Excellent.

Hazy golden pour. Aroma is loaded with cherries and wood with some lactic tartness. Flavor is tart but not overly sour with a lot of wood and cherries. This was VERY good.