Russian River Temptation

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

Batch 002. Pours a clear gold color with a light and fluffy head reasting on top. Second pour was a tad murkier from some yeast sediment. Nose is light and sweet. Slight citrus tang to it. Solid flavor. Great beer to enoy all night long. Light citrus tartness hangs over this beer and comes out more prominently as it warms. Littls bits of pepper. Also, I can pick out some oakiness but honestly I am not sure what it brings to this beer. Maybe a bot more smoothness and body. Light mouthfeel and quite vinuous.

Multitudes of gratitude to Robo at Knightly Spirits for hooking me up with a bottle of this awesome brew. Floridians can’t even get this stuff since RR doesn’t ship anymore. Pours murky gold with huge fluffy head and sticky lacing. Aroma is succulent with some citrus, sour yeast, earth, and distinct oak. Tastes absorb into tart dark fruits, funky hay sourness from the Brett, subtle wheat, wood, and walnut with a lemony finish. High carbonation and medium/full body. Fantastic brew. Gonna hold onto the Supplication for a special occasion.

hanks eagle thanks Poured a cloudy golden color big head solid lacing. Aroma was sour lemons some other citrus to it. Flavor was sour lemons some woodyness grapes and a nice balance acidic finish. Great great beer.

My first Russian River. Thanks to dirty_martini. hazy gold with a long lasting white head that leaves good lacing. aroma green apple light lemon white grapes funky toasted oak and very funky barnyard notes that just get more and more funky as it warms. flavor sweet tart lemon apple sweet white grapes with underlying funky toasted oak and barnyard notes. nice tart balance. not overpowering. medium dry tart apple lemon finish. light bitterness. funky toasted oak and barnyard. medium almost full body and lively carbonation. very good very interesting beer. almost geuze like....but a bit sweeter. more balanced but it has that same funk. very nice. very well done.

Bottle courtesy Odeed. Pour was golden with haziness, lots of head from the bottle even after pouring a few ml’s for a rinse, just oozing from the bottle top, quick rinse and pour. The lacing was stellar, head retention great. The aroma was very nice, tart lemons and cherries (or some other fruity character, not a pure sour lemon drop), bret, yeast, some spicing. The flavor was excellent, tart/sour lemons, other tart fruits, approaching a flemish sour of the quality of Panil and La Folie, yet with much more of a malt support than either, sweetish fruits, bread, and yeast underneath, yet far from sweet, of course oak and other wood notes making a firm appearance, touches of mint too. The funk is gentle, somewhat leathery, and this thing just blows away Jolly Pumpkin’s sour/bret action. If this is what RR is all about, gimme more!!!! An outstanding beer, one of my fav’s perhaps of all my ratings? Thanks again, Jacob! Re-rate from a Monks Cafe Batch 003 bottle in 11/08, a wonderful retasting, white grapes, chardonnay, and oak all more prominent than my previous experience, quite complex, a nice concoction.

Yeasty nose, deep yellow color, creamy clingy head. Green apple sourness, tart. Almost like a gueze. Medium body. Really Belgian-like beer. Excellent beer overall.

Batch 1, fresh and aged 18 months and batch 2, also fresh. Body is slightly hazy, vibrant light golden with soft tangerine hues. Thick lacing results from a sticky, tall head of fizzy but compacted bubbles that recedes rather quickly. The aroma is very tart, earthy and speaks volumes about its inspirational precedents. Funk, barnyard, oak, citrus fruits, grapes, noble hops, buttery and acidic white wine, brettanomyces and a yeast profile so vibrant it seems like the entire lab is in the glass. Alcohol is totally hidden. The flavor is much the same, with approachable but distinct characteristics, focused but reserved. Sourness is mild, tartness is mild to moderate. Lightly sweet and mildly acidic, the taste is soft and utterly brilliant. Flavors run the gamut from tart and fruity at first to oaky and vinous nearing the finale, all the while showcasing a dynamic brett component that makes each sip lively and refreshing. Lemony acidity and flavor is an exciting addition. This is an exacting, coalescent moment of funk that doesn’t overwhelm. Delicious. The finish is soft, luxurious and as long as I feel like enjoying it. I’d ultimately have to take a sip of something else to pass beyond the everlasting finish. The mouthfeel is adequately and softly carbonated, with intermittent fizzy bursts. Body is light-medium and semi-sweet. Another superb offering from Russian River.

375 mL bottle. Clear golden yellow with fizzy white head. Aroma of sour fruit and some white wine vinegar characterisitcs. Silky bright palate. Tastes of sour fruit with an oaky dryness to the finish. Very good.