Russian River Temptation

Yum. This beer was awesome. Pours cloudy blonde. Nice funky aroma. Great sour fruit and lemon flavors. I need more :)

Batch #3, from Solan. Thanks! Blonde, cloudy, foamy head. Lemon, grapefruit and leather in the aroma. Sour, oaky flavor with vinous notes, leather, lemon and flowery hops. Astonishing, complex and delicious beer!

375ml bottle, batch 003. Pours a brilliant murky golden orange with a small off white head. Chardonnay grapes and toasted oak dominate the aroma, back by some citrus and a light funk. Flavor is both sweet and sour, a little musty. Another great sour from Russian River.

Mini-vertical sampling of batch 2 vs. 3. Both batches open up with a loud pop, and straw in color. Batch 2 gushed up within seconds, allowing some hazy yeast to make it into the glass. Batch 3 was clear. Lacing and retention is superior in batch 2, but in either case, not exceptional. Batch 2: Plenty of dry, bretty character, with wine-like mustyness, and a smidge of oak in the nose. Earthy, hay-like, and lightly tropical with pineapple. A hint of quanine and minerally bite. Thin to medium mouthfeel. A decent amount of effervesence and slightly creamy with an edge. Tart and vineous on the pallet. Grassy, hay-like, and slightly peppery. Plenty of lemony pizzaz and acid. Loads of finesse, barn-like earthiness, and white grape must. Finishes with lingering lemon pith, white pepper, and warming acidity. Batch 3: A trace of sweet malt leads off in tandem with tart wheat. The Brett is restrained, but present, which allows traces of orange citrus fruits, vanilla, smoldered styrofoam, and ground bark to step forward. Quite earthy and unique. Crisp and creamy mouthfeel. Tart and quenching. Tart lemon pulp leads off the pallet, with sour grapes, grapefruit pith, and pineapple skin. A trace of pepper with plenty of clove. Finishes exceedingly vineous with tart lemons, wet hay, and pepper-studded grapefruit. The low-down: Batch 2 certainly has developed more brett, pepper, pineapple, and funk in general. Dryer and more complex than 3, which is really saying something. 2 is also more vineous, tart and acidic than 3. A couple of things I enjoyed in the 3 over the 2 was the vanilla in the nose, and the slight tropical orange note. The 2 is definately headed in a more Gueze-like direction, but certainly nowhere near the acid level of a good Gueze. While I prefer the 2 over the 3, it is by a marginal amount and is just a testament to how well Vinnie’s barrel aged beers cellar.

Sampled at Hellbilly’s Hellraiser II. Pours a hazy gold color with a medium foamy whit head. Aroma of lemons and sour apples. Funky sour lemon flavor. Last pour from the bottle has a great yeasty flavor that compliments the sourness very well. Fantastic brew.

I loved this beer. Poured a beige 1 inch head, with little orange spore thingys in the head. Sweet tarts up front with funk in the back. this is one of the best beers I’ve ever had.

I’m a selfish man. I secretly wanted my wife to hate this beer, and she did. Its sour-Belgian intensity drove her away. And it drove me in. Another amazing beer that I cannot find enough fancy words for. Sour and flavorful. Fantastic. Sorry, honey. I drank it all.

Shared with Miketd. Thanks for sharing this bottle Mike! Bottle batch #3 pours golden with a white head. Has a funky smell to it. The sour smells are wonderful. Musty. Mouthfeel is light with a lof of carbonation. Has a sour, tart, and yet sweet taste to it. All rolled into one. I like this one a little better than the depuration I just tried. Its a really nice brew. Thanks again.