Russian River Supplication

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

Update, fresh batch 003. Courtesy SoLan. Not significantly different from batch 002, except to say that this beer is slightly better when fresh. Striking sourness is balanced by a lactic creaminess that just makes this brew so incredibly easy to drink. Both batches were excellent. Russian River kicks ass.

Batch 002. Pours a cloudy, blood red color. A minimal, foamy tan head slowly dissipates, leaving just a thin ring behind. The aroma features pure, fresh, sour cherries as the backbone. Soft oak and moderate lactic funk emerge, as do hints of Concord grape juice. The flavor is again based on sour cherries, but the grape element really surprises. The use of Pinot Noir barrels (my favorite red grape) is nothing short of genius. The softness of the Pinot lends itself perfectly to a sour ale, and the oak is subtle enough to impart its signature vanilla note without overpowering things. Slightly more substantial than an average sour, the mouthfeel is highly carbonated, yet smooth and silky. Finishes bone dry, with the mouth begging for the next sip. As I stare at my empty glass, I am saddened, and that is the sign of a fantastic brew. Russian River is simply incredible.

Pours a slightly cloudy golden amber with thin fizzy white foam head. Wonderful aroma of tart oakiness and dark fruit. Puckering but not too acidic with lots of oak sourness and dark fruit flavor especially sour cherries. Nice balance of sweet and tart with dry finish.

Hazy deep orange color. Wonderfully tart aroma of sour cherry and funk. Sour cherry flavors and slight oakiness come out as it warms. Sour finish that lingers on the tongue. Love it!

5L (i think??) bottle poured by Vinnie at NHC pro brewer night. Poured a deep yellow color. Nose is a fruity sourness, some wood, and a ton of cherries. Flavor is sour cherry, some wine, acidic vinegary notes. Nicely carbonated, dry and sour! Beauty!

Bottle at Monk’s: Poured an orangish color with not much head. The aroma was sour fruit and oak. The flavor was red wine, oak, cherry, sour and funk. Overall, another excellent beer from R.R.

Ok I was going to save Veritas 006 for #1300, and then I had this at the Bistro Barrel Aged Fest, and it seemed even more worthy, so here goes. Pours a brilliant reddish amber with slight haze and a half-inch of creamy off-white foam. Aroma is amazing with sour cherry, bretty and lactic notes, leather, oak, and some sweet malt. Flavor is tart, with brett, lacto, pedio, funk, and some sweet caramel malt, sour cherries, oak, and spice. Complex and just amazingly good flavor. Sour but not overly so like Beatification can be. Medium body with a sharp, acidic palate and a long finish. Went back for this two more times despite all the other great barrel aged beers there. Great beer, Vinnie! Worth the long wait.

She poured from her majestic shapely bottle into my chalice with grace and aplomb. Soft hazy brown with a demure head of scattered bubbles that seem far more comfortable lazing about the sides of my glass. She swirls with no lace, but in doing so I release a gorgeous beast of a nose that threatens to swallow me whole, not that I am complaining. She is beautiful. Sour cherries with pits included and bright, tart, freshly harvested cranberries dance in a forest of earth, wood, and bark while a wisp of lavender floats in the breeze. More earthen tones of leather and saddlebags ground her tart cherry and cranberry presence. Wow. Did I mention she was beautiful? I am wholly at her mercy, and as she invites me into her precious depths, I willfully oblige. Mouth-puckering, lip-curling, tastebud tingling tart and sour delights explode in a cacophony of flavors. Crisp, crunchy sour cherries with their skins adding some extra acidity while her pits add dry earthen notes. Light in body, she only leaves a thin film of sour esters while cranberries, bright and juicy and tart step up to the plate. Ever bitten into a perfectly picked cranberry fresh from a farmers market? Acting as back-up, soft moisture absorbing wood and leather help to mellow her palate so that the sourness isn’t overwhelming. A tingle lingers on the tip of my tongue while lavender and cherries tinge my breath. For all her rich, tart, woodsy, and leathery complexity, her palate is overall rather delicate, subtle, and intricately woven so that each taste experience melds perfectly into the next. I make sure to savor my last sip before I take more than a few minutes to revel in the moment.

If greatness could be bottled, the Russian River Supplication Brown ale aged in Oak Barrels for 15 months with cherries added would be it. Nuff said. No questions asked. Taste and you will know. I can’t speak for the other batches seeing as this is Batch 002, but should you be so lucky as to come across a bottle or know someone who can “gift” you with a few, it will be one of the most memorable moments of your life. Viva flavor. Viva variety. Viva life.

Thank to MrBunn, I got some of this. Oh thats good....strong aromas of sour cherries, and some wood. pours orangey red with a nice little head. Taste is beautiful...Sour and tart cherries, some oakieness, just damn tasty.