Russian River Temptation

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

thanks to ramenen. bottlle: like swallowing foam with alcohol. or alkal setzer straight. a new experience

My favorite R.R. to date. Poured a hazy golden yellow color with a lively white head. Aroma was green apples, sweet champagne, and mild, salt-free crackers. Flavors were very well blended with the perfect amount of carbination. Absolutely lovely!!

bottle from naven. Nice, light, and mildly sour. A very good, drinkable, summertime sour ale. Great.

750ml bottle from Bev4less in Santee. Pours a cloudy dark yellow with a big fluffy white head that clings to the glass. The aroma is overtly funky with sour grapes, hay, sawdust, spices and lemons. The flavor is complex and tart with granny smith apples, grapes, gingersnap cookies, thyme, white pepper and lemons. The palate is full and malty. The finish is long and extra dry with lingering sour grapes. Overall: A very tasty sour, well done RR.

Graciously poured a hazy yellow from the bottle by nubutler11. Color is a deep golden yellow. Aroma is big and thick - tart apple, champagne, citrus, faint apricot; very fruity overall. Flavor is what I expect a sour to be - heavy with fruit, dry notes of champagne, big carbonation. Not super-complex, just an overwhelming and pleasing impression of tart tangerine champagne.

Thanks to egajdzis for splitting a bottle of Batch 002 with me... Appears a hazy, pale gold with a fluffy white cap that slowly fades out. Scattered spots of lacing are left around the glass. Smell is of citrusy, funk, oak, vanilla, brett, and mild sugar. Taste is of the same aromas in a wonderfully done brew. The flavors jump along the palate with glee. Highlights include the light funk mixed with wine, vanilla, and some sugary caramel. This is hardcore and it outdoes some of the counterparts overseas. Mouthfeel is of a spritzy, nicely carbonated yet restrained brew that is smooth but bouncey with the CO2 giving rise to the vanilla esters riding along the sugary, chardonnay grapes. Vinnie is an excellent brewer. He is at the top of the charts for American brewers IMHO. With the wine background, he has the experience to make this stuff work. This is no exception to the rule. Well done.

Several pints at the brewpub in Santa Rosa. What can you say about this one? Frankly, this is the sour beer that all American sours should be compared to. Translucent, hazy, cloudy, yellow gold with a thick, foamy head. The nose is really nice, lemons, yeast, earth, herbs, white grapes, sweet, tart, sour, strong, inviting. Flavor is excellent too: wheat, grass, lemons, flowers, garden herbs, slight wood, earth, wine, oranges. Finish is dry and funky. There are beers out there with crazier flavors but none are this solid. Well crafted.

Thanks to my bro Petrucci914 for sharing this one with me. Pours a cloudy yellow star color with thin white head. Aroma is huge and funky with large amounts of brett, horse blanket and tart fruit. Taste is sour fruit, brett, and horse blanket. The thing that really amazed me in this brew, is how well hidden the alcohol is hidden AND how the intense sourness is so easily subdued in the finish. This is a remarkable beer!