Russian River Supplication

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

2005 RBSG Montreal Friday Night Tasting. Cloudy pale golden colour with a frothy and fizzy white head. Leather, sour fruit, yeasty, lightly candyish aroma. Lightly tart, oaky, fruity, and yeasty flavours. Very light bodied and almost watery, but still refreshing.

Draught: Still, headless pour of hazy clay-like orange. Bretty acidic fruit aroma with streams of pineapple, leather, tannic wine, slightly funky cheese, and sweaty horseblanket. Bretty and extremely vinious flavors, thick, oily, and mature character from the barrell aging..warming. The barrell aging seems to keep this beer from being too assertive.

GABF 2005. Bright golden body with a persistent frothy head. Diverse and tantalizing fruit nose including young sour cherries, quality apple cider vinegar, and bright white wine. Nice strong horsey flavor with an interesting tobacco note and a surprising level of bitterness but ample acid balance. Very nice.

Bottle. Batch 2. Pours a hazy copper-orange body with a small white head. The vinous aroma consists of oak, cherries, grapes, and green leaves. Fruity flavour, creamy coating, reasonably aciditic with a lot of lovely brett. Finishes with some tart fruitiness. Had this a few times between March 21 and March 25 and I enjoyed it everytime.

Bottle batch 1: Pours murky red with a large head that fades to a solid layer that stays. Aroma is tart cherry, chalky brett, sweet malt backing, mild wine, slight wood that blends into the malt. The aroma gains fathoms of depth as it warms. Flavor is slightly sour cherry, chalky brett, and a mix of butter, oak, and malt that meld into a cohesive graham cracker taste near the finish. The graham cracker follows into the aftertaste were it melds with a fruity red wine that slowly appear. The finish leaves the tip of the tongue very dry yet leaves the middle and back wet, interesting. The palate is a little thin but it isn’t that much of a detractor.

Pours cloudy brown/orange. Aroma is musty, with wood, and fruit. Flavor is sour cherries, oak, and a little vanilla. Nice body, and a relatively long, sourish finish. thanks to dirty martini for this one.

Tap at Ommegang, 2005. Hazy golden brown, white head. Funky sour aroma. Malty with good body up front with a big sour kick following. Extremely smooth and very drinkable.

Bottle at RBESG Grand Tasting 05. Hazy light amber, with a ring of head. Sharp, tart aroma - cherries and lemons. Very good sour ale - fruit in the initial taste, tartness to finish, just short of mouth puckering. Good balance of sweet and sour. Excellent.