Russian River Supplication

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

Simply put, one of the best sour beers I’ve ever had. Low acidity, but very nicely sour. i love this brown ale. Yummy! Go Vinny!

Samples provided by knweaver and Beerdrenched at The Brickskeller. Slightly hazy, amber body with a tiny, off-white head. The aroma is cheese, horseblanket, cobwebs, some cherry and caramel. The flavor is sour cherry pie and caramel, with bright acidity and fairly dry. Medium body with soft carbonation and crisp tartness on the finish. Amazingly good.

Reddish-orange, hazy; good pinkish fine and dense head. Cherries and old wine just JUMPING out of the glass, unbelievably inviting, bit of yoghurt, lots of old vintage-year Bourgogne (Burgundy). Sour, cherries, vanilla, velvety Bretts as in the best of gueuzes with an retronasal flavour of, once more, aged Bourgogne. Point of lactic acid, fruit acids and oak (see the vanilla). Velvety, rich, fiery and yoghurt MF. One word. WAA-UUWW. This is the closest to real lambic-based beer I’ve ever tasted from abroad, and actually it can rank amongst the best of the Belgian ones. BIG THANKS to Logan Perkins for sending me this gem.

Draft, at Monk’s cafe RR dinner 1/23/07. I’ve had this a few times before, so i was excited to get a chance to try it again last night. Wow! Ruby colored, barely any head (sample was poured into my glass from a pitcher). Beautiful funky sour aroma, with cherries fairly evident. I could smell this beer all day. Tart cherrry flavor. Delicious beer; I’d love to have a few cases in my cellar. Matched beautifully with an apple glazed duck breast.

Lots and lots of samples at the GABF 06. This thing wreeks of funk and tart cherries. I love it. Golden straw color with lively carbonation with a spritzy white head. The cherries come through very nicely. Oat and then the bugs. Awesome stuff. Next time they are selling the barrel stuff online, I’m pulling the trigger.

Rerate: Batch 002. This is one of the most balanced, finest examples of an American wild ale there can be. Masterful in the bod, the balanced sourness and sweetness, the amount of brett is just right (makes you sweat a little bit on the brow). Unbelievable beer. Let it settle before drinking and get a clear pour first! Then mix in the dregs of the bottle later. Wow. A masterpiece. Rerate - Batch 001: Had a bottle all to myself, with a very clear initial pour. The fruitiness here, earthy and wet and fresh, is undeniable. The leathery tannin quality is superb, and balanced by just the right acidity. This beer is a masterpiece, as is Temptation. Total score rises from 4.3 to this, mostly on the strength of the aroma. Original - Batch 001: The sourness was subdued and wonderful soft wood (not harshly oak) flavors compete here for your attention. Very smooth, and it is absolutely true that there is no easily distinguishable sweet/sour border. Lush in the mouth. Peppery flavors too. Aroma more subtle than expected. Great, great beer. Thanks to JSturm for opening this up a b-day beer (my own are on the way!).

A Mes rate: Bottle opened to celebrate Manchester United winning the Premiership, City getting battered 8-1 and Bolton sticking the knife in with an injury time equalizer. What a day!
Apologies in advance to anyone who has to scroll past the ensuing gushing drivel but this was insanely good. This is going to be a long one.
Looks: Stunning amber colour with a thin beige rim and superb condition.
Sniff and sniff and sniff and sniff: Oh my GOD what a smell. An incredible combination of bretty sourness, lovely lovely hoppage, utterly amazing cherry and strawberry fruity notes, barnyardy and barrelly (such gorgeous Russian River wooden notes), red wine vinegar, candi sugar and slightly balsamic. Damn I could go on for days. Such complexity but all in 100% perfect balance. An utterly outstanding smell.
Well spank my arse and call me Gertrude if this isn’t one of the best tasting beers of all time: F**KING HELL this is special. All that is glorious about the aroma is present in equal abundance but the cherry comes right to the front. The bretty notes are huge. The sandalwood / sourness mix is beyond description. There are sherbert sweets being catapulted at you at high velocity giving it a show stopping blend of dry and juicy. My whole palate is covered initially with audacious sourness which is washed away with wave upon wave of cherry, wood and citrus. This is one of those beers that sends you on a journey with each sip and you just don’t want it to end. i really don’t think I have had a better balanced beer. There is such an astonishing amount happening but it’s all in perfect harmony. The finish is nothing short of sublime. The immediate tart sourness almost stings and as it departs it leaves gobsmacking cherry, strawberry and just a hint of vanilla in its wake. It lingers for a considerable time and I’m very thankful of that. I just don’t want it to be over.
Dancing all over my palate: This is up there with the very best. Dry, juicy and such width to the flavour with a glorious sting at the sides. Two minutes after writing I can lick around at my gums and still more magnificently tart cherries appear. Absobloodylutely fanfunkingtastic.
Final gushings: One of the best beers I have ever or will ever have. Each sip leaves me shaking my head in amazement. As high as it’s average score is, I still think it is under-rated. You know those moments where you are in a stonkingly good mood and the beer you choose just hits the spot in a magnificent way? It was like that but better. The ridiculousness of all this is, while drinking it we had a look at the RR website. Apparently at the very moment I was supping this goddess of a beer it was possible to get a pint of it during happy hour for $2.75. That’s beyond crazy. I’d be doing cartwheels! Mike you SERIOUSLY rock, once again, I can’t thank you enough. A very worthy celebration beer for Man U winning the title. WOO HOOOO!!!

bottled in corked 375ml. beer pours a red-tinged brownish amber with good CO2 that forms decent head and lace (better than I would expect for the style). nose is hugely complex, with cherries, oak, barnyard funk, a sour, lactic tang - so much going on, but still it is a cohesive beer. flavor is again a riot of flavors, with all the above aromas showing up in the flavor, along with some flavors from the pinot cask. wow. this is a pretty damn faultless beer, and a real example of some of the innovation that Vinnie is bringing to the brewing industry. the only off note for me is the over-presence of alcohol in the finish. this is an extremely minor qualm, however, as this is a truly excellent beer. now if we can only get the erudition in the bottle...