Russian River Temptation

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

Batch 003: A nice cloudy golden color iwth a pillowy white head with TONS of lacing, good carbonation to boot. Smell is very winelike with a good tart note and maybe some barnyard/hay notes. It is literally making my mouth water in anticipation of the tartness. Taste is dry with good sour flavors, a bit of the oak and finally good funky notes, (I don’t know what else to call it, you get the picture). Damn good, Russian River doesn’t disappoint.

Bottle, batch 001, at Spuyten Duyvil. Oak and mild sourness, lots of oak and mild sourness. Semi-tart, winelike fruits are in the background, maybe some toffee sort of notes as well. Not as in-your-face as some sours, but that worked very well for me.

Batch #1 from Sputyen Duyvil. Pours a semi-clear orange with little head. Aroma of funk and sourness. Flavor of oak (very similar to oak-barrel aged Captain Lawrence beers), sour gueuze-like notes, sour apples. The oak is present but not overpowering and balances nicely with the sour notes. Has a strong palate to mesh with the oak barrel. Nice finish. Excellent beer.

My second time having this one, had batch 2 and 3. Pours alight off white yellow body. Aroma is bretty, oaky, woodiness. A dry woody refreshing light barnyard funkiness with low acidity is what i get. Not bad but it didnt stand up next to some of the others at Yeast Fest 08. 3.9 Wow what a difference batch 003 made to me. Pours a golden body with a white head. Aroma is brett all on more like what drifts through a meadow on a sunny afternoon. Really funky yeast notes. Brett and chardonnay notes green grapes and their skins. Vinous tart grapes and light oak. Lush effervescent notes with a mouth watering grape like finish. Slightly dry and yet lush. Phenomenal! 4.5

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.