Russian River Temptation

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

375ml bottle, Batch 001, courtesy of boboski (THANKS Jason)! Pours a perfectly clear and beautiful golden with a slight fizzy white head, slight lacing. Aroma is sour grapes, sour apple, oak, and musty funk; very pleasant, and opens up in the glass nicely! Flavor is more sour apple with some light citrus and oakiness. Palate is light, and medium-thin, good carbonation, and a brief, but satisfying finish. Good stuff!

A big yeasty sweet tropical fruit nose came out of this golden brew.Nice spiciness in the finish. Felt it could have used a little more body.

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.

Batch 003. Pours a brilliantly bright yellow/golden color with a medium sized white head that has great retention and solid lacing, just like Supplication. Steady stream of bubbles zip to the top. While I didn’t detect any Pinot Noir in the Supplication, Chardonnay immediately jumps out of this one. Also noted are some mild esters, banana, slight pepper and all around fruitiness. Brettanomyces present but kept in check, mostly providing a pepper earthiness. White grapes, some lemon, and perhaps a touch of alcohol are also noted. The combination of Brett and Chardonnay is a very nice pairing, they mix well together. The warmer the beer gets the more the aroma becomes more intensely fruity and citrusy, perhaps pineapple. Taste is lemony, acidic and tart. The level of sourness is pretty much perfect, it is light but keeps with the beer’s subtle nature. This is just super drinkable. This has more finesse and elegance than Supplication though that one is bolder and more flavorful. They both rock in different ways. I could drink this very often.

375mL bottle. Batch #001. A beautiful hazy orange with an average-sized, fluffy off-white head that leaves some lacing. Very tart aroma of lemons, berries and the faintest hints of oak and vanilla. The taste is equally tart. Very lambic-like. Sour green crabapples and lemon juice comprise the flavors. Spritzy and champagne-like. Leans toward the thin side. Slightly dry finish.

Bottle from trade, batch 001. Pours like a champagne, lively, golden, and smelly - just the way I like it. Sour like socks from a winery that have been stomping grapes, only mixed with barley. Intensely fruity, white wine nose. As a drink - splendid. Quite unlike beer, slightly sour, but refreshing - wine like but not like wine - fresh, cool, refreshing. apples, pears. The sourness of brett is at a modestly low-ish point on the dial; this should be palatable for all but the stubbornest of drinkers. Odd intensely fine lacing - head is only a layer of dense bubbles along the rim, and a center bubble wellspring. Scotty, this beer is a live, beam me up a few more bottles. P.S. Calling this "belgian ale" does it no justice. It’s American, for one thing.

Pours cloudy orange with a thick white head. Very good head retention. Aroma had vinegar, lemon, citrus, orange, vanilla and cherry. Cherry, oak and vanilla round out the taste along with a butteriness. Palate is very creamy and has a cheese feel to it. Very good but just a knotch below the supplication in my opinion. Still one would never guess that an American Brewing Company makes this.

(draft). Clear gold color. medium white head. Moderate sour aroma. Sour flavor with light apple. Avg duration. Smooth finish. Slick texture. Moderate carbonation. Fair lacing.