Russian River Supplication

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

just like temptation, this beer is about 10X better on the fourth sip than it is on the first. the sourness is such a surprise at first it take your buds a few seconds to adjust, but then, it’s like magic and you don’t want it to end.

Deep orange/gold and hazy in color. Decent head and quickly fading lace. Great nose of wet horse blanket, but not as big as Cantillon, notes of fruit, slight vanilla and oak. Dances on your tongue, this beer has alot of finesse, sour upfront but very well balanced with malts, cherries, oak and you can feel the tannins glide over your tongue. I thought this was lacking in finish but the more I sip on it, the more complex this beer gets, and its more of a silky finish.

Batch #3. Pours orange with thin white head. Aroma of sour cherries, vinegar and oak. Love the funky nose on this one. Flavor is very sour with cherries and apples with a long, tart, dry finish. Tons of brett in on every sip. These sours are growing on me everyday. This is very good!!

Brooding of a hazy brick hue, its head bubbles to a buttery hat. Supplication is well named, its aroma wafts a wreathing amalgam of soothing scents drawing you in by its prophetic grandeur yet emanating of an earthy presence. Vinous and sweet, laced in a keen oaken complexion and the smooth sourness of apple and cherry. Condensed milk, vanilla and brown sugar add to the blend a luscious finish. The palate is surprisingly light-bodied, sour in the gentlest way, but complex and different with every sip. Pinot noir is obvious, as are the oak and vanilla tones conferred by the beer’s aging. Wild strawberry and melon liqueur perform prestidigitatory tricks upon the tongue only to evaporate in a poof leaving behind nothing more than a raw lactic acidity and the aftertaste of Champagne. Russian River has brewed a Flemish Sour for sure, entertaining as the best examples, but perhaps lacking the proper balance.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, tupalev & biegaman -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Batch 002. Pours a cloudy ruby-orange with tiny floaties and a small diminishing white head. Amazing aroma is funky and yeasty along with spices, oak and cherries -- nice and complex. Flavour of tart cherries, yeast, some oak, spices and more -- wow, this is so easy to drink! Medium to full bodied. One of the best versions of the style I’ve had.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy amber with a decent sized head and aromas of funk, tart cherries and so forth. Flavor is similar with the cherry presence coming through a little subdued, but very nice. Thanks, Kan!

375ml from RR Store. Had side by side with Rodenbach Grand Cru 750 ml. Both in Damnation glasses and breathing for about 10 minutes. Supplication hazy and copper/amber as opposed to clear cherry red. Both with a sweet/tart sour acidic aroma but supplication with some brett funk in addition.Both had perfect body after warming. Rodenbach had more of a sweet/tart sharp taste.Whereas Supplication had pleasant sweet/tart taste with some brett funk which did not overwhelm but added character. Overall I can’t pick a winner. In my mind De Dolle Speciaal Brouwsel 20 was slightly sharper with more character than either the Supplication or the Rodenbach Grand Cru. But the De Dolle was over 2 years ago. Temptation was more musty and Le Woody was less balanced.

Tap @ O’Briens TION night. Poured hazy, bright gold with a frothy white head. Musty, dank yeast funk combined with oaken wine barrel earthiness. Effervescent mouthfeel gives it a light feel. Mouth-puckering tartness right away. Lemony citric bite along with the bretty funk. A vinuous tanginess follows as does the oak and cherry flavors. Definitely a success in terms of aging in that it tones down the sometimes harsh vinegar and cheese flavors. They are present, but in far less degree so the quality of the beer itself comes through. The pricetag on a bottle of this can be prohibitive, which makes having this on tap a rare treat.