Russian River Supplication

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

Wow this beer was complex. They did a number of different things to get this beer to taste so great. Pours a deep amber light brown with an ok head but fades to nothing. Aroma is a mix of sour cherries, sweet cherry pie, lots of funkiness from the brett, some oak, red wine, and a wierd citric sourness. Flavor is very much the same with even more oak becoming apparent along with more cherry as it warms. The sour cherries and pediococcus was a great combination.

Poured a hazy orange with a thin off white-head. Funky barnyard aroma with a small amount of stewed cherries. Flavor was tart and woody. Dry bitter finish. I was hoping for a lot more cherry aroma and flavor. If it was there this would have been a good bit over 4 for me. 1/14/06: Re-tasted Bring in da noise bring in da funk. Aroma moving up a point. Light wine, cooked cherries and plenty of leather and barnyard. wine stands out but in a soft and balanced way easpecially toward the finish. I should have bought many more.

Batch 2 from Schroppfy. Such a thick looking red, lightly orange, color with a small but strong head, No clarity whatsoever. Aroma is a thick cocoa sourness, very sour, and strong brett. Taste is sweet cherries with sourness, orange, and a good acidity. Leaves a long dry aftertaste. 9/5/8/4/17

Batch 3, a little different, I am also consuming it younger. A lot more straight up brett and sour. Taste has aceto but I miss the "cherry" and "cocoa" that I have gotten in the other batch. 8/4/8/4/17.

Batch 002; Sampled January 2008
A careful, persistent pour yields a fat-one-finger thick, dingy, tan colored head. The beer is a brilliantly clear, light cherry red color. Tart aromatics of acetic acid, lactic acid and moldy cheese are the first thing I notice in the nose. Quite fruity, but it is a sort of non-descript, perhaps berry-like, sweet fruitiness. The barrel character is present, but held well in check by the other aromatic components; touches of vanillin, a backdrop of spicy oak, some hints of butterscotch around the edges and a tannic character that is definitely noticed. The nose is quite funky, teetering on the edge of being off; over-ripe cheese, penicillin and buttery oak notes all contribute to this. Compared to a Lambic, this has quite a bit of acetic acid character to it, which is something I always enjoy if kept to a reasonable level.

Tart tasting, in fact very tart tasting; this is a nice mix of lactic and acetic notes. The lactic acid is the more prevalent not, but I am not sure that the lesser amount of acetic acid is not the most noticed part of the acidity. Flavors of tart cherries, tamarind and star fruit are all noticeable in this exceedingly dry beer. The body actually has a bit of heft to it though, which should be attributed to the barrel contribution and touches of residual malt character. Dry cherry notes, rich (though diluted) balsamic character, . A tannic, tongue coating note in the finish adds spicy almost piquant oak flavors that coat the tongue in a long finish. The barrel adds notes of buttery oak, spicy wood, some soft, creamy vanillin and probably even some berry flavors (assuming that the noticed berry flavors are coming from the Pinot Noir part of the barrel). As the beer warms it really starts to come into its own; the fruit & malt seem to balance the sour notes all that much more and make this even more enjoyable.

This is quite a bit more acetic in character than batch one. This is actually quite hard for a red / brown styled sour beer. An aggressive, but enjoyable, experience if you are into that sort of thing. I like that the oak character is much more integrated (though it still plays a significant role) than it was in batch one, but it still has a little ways to go before it hits that perfect balance between malt and funk / oak. This is still a fantastic beer, but I can’t wait to see if Vinnie can dial this in a bit more over the next couple batches.

Batch 001: Sampled July 2005
4.3 7/4/9/4/19
Pours a hazy ruby red color when held up to the light, an amber color otherwise. The head is thin and tan in color. The aroma is dominated by a fresh oakiness, but, especially when I was pouring this, there is a nice acetic acid note to this that reminds me of a Rodenbach. The nose has notes of buttery oak, hints of cherries, balsamic, and a certain tannic woodiness. The aroma is quite well integrated with a great balance to it, though it does lean toward the acidity, which I am partial to.

The taste is fairly dry, much drier than the pasteurized Flemish beers, but still strikes a malty balance with a bit of caramel complexity to it. The finish is pleasingly acidic, with a leaning towards the acetic side of things. This beer is really well done, I am quite impressed, this is quite a bit farther along than the temptation. The finish has notes of a tannic woodiness, plus a long sour note that lingers along with the woodiness. This beer certainly reminds me of cherries, with a nice fruitiness to it. The more I drink it the more I become enamored of this beer, an authentic Flemish style sour beer that has not been pasteurized. This is quite a bit better, and much more balanced than New Belgium’s La Folie. There is a wonderful interplay between the oak, maltiness, and acid character; this is superb and I can’t wait to get more vintages of this.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.russianriverbrewing.com>Russ River Brewing

375ml corked bottle. Batch 001. Really nice packaging. The Russian River branded cage is really cool. Murky brown-orange body topped by a foamy light tan head that sticks around without diminishing more than 20-30% for the entire session. The aroma is lovely, lovely, lovely. Cherry, vinegar, must, oak, definite vinous character, butterscotch that increases as it warms. The flavor is very interesting and not at all what I expected. Very nutty up front (brown ale heritage I presume) then cherry and vinegar kick in. On the backside the buttery diaceytl comes through and teeters on the precipice of too much then a final nutty blast washes through. It exhibits a very soft body that starts full but lightens up towards the end. I quite like it, though it is not mind-blowing. I am quite interested to see how this one ages. That butter-blast might come forth even more pushing it over the precipice, time will tell.

Bottle thanks to Sick_boy. Hazy ruby brown color. Frothy off-white head. Funky cherry aroma, sweet grape skin tannins. The funky Brettanomyces definitely comes through with the barnyard. It smells similar to a gueuze, but boy the flavor isn’t the same. Its very smooth and well melded. Its hard to tell where the sweet starts and the sour ends. Some lactic character and Grenadine in there. Also cork-soaked grapefruit hops. Finishes with a light malt sweet caramel character and seven grain crackers, combined with grape skins. It does seem like it is missing something though... its a great beer, but could be a bit bigger. Still, it is incredibly balanced and fullfilling. Yeah, I lied... though I still think it could be "bigger", its still something great and something I could enjoy a lot of.

Interesting sour aroma of oats, raisins, and cinnamon. Did I just describe a rotten oatmeal cookie? Flavor is more sour. No perception of hops at all. This is the best Belgian brown outside of Belgium I have ever tasted. Dryness is almost mouth-puckering. I can’t detect any cherries.

Sampled at RBESG 2005.
Unclear dark orange colored, small off-white head. Sour woody aroma, notes of orange, grapefruit and berries. Different and very nice. Tart grapefruity, lemony and woody in the flavor with an orangy middel. Flavorfull and sharp. Very special and simply excellent!! I believe this was my favorite beer of the RBESG! (I wish I had taken better notes.....)