Russian River Temptation

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

Pours a slightly cloudy golden with a small white head. Aroma of white wine, apples and citrus. Flavor I’m also pickig up the white wine. I’m not a huge white wine fan, but I enjoyed this beer a lot.

Bottle - corked and caged. Batch 001. Hazed orange-amber. White microbubbles foam up and then gather around the edge of the glass. Huge Brett notes of this one as well. Very funky! Light wafts of dried fruits, earth notes, sour grapes, moderate woody notes and and floral aromas. Absolute class! Taste is also Bretty with sour grapes, light balsamic notes, mild nuttiness, sweet malts, light toasty flavors, thinned wood and wine. I expected a larger flavor of the wine coming through. Still not picking up any diacetyl that some have mentioned with this and Supplication. Light floral notes come through as I drink this. Body is bubbly and almost champagney at times. Light bodied overall. Finishes with more wood than before, a larger inflection of the wine, light toasted nuttiness, fresh flowers, Brett notes, dried fruits, lighter sour grapes and some earthiness. Another class beer from Russian River. I’m really enjoying their stuff!

375 ml bottle, caged and corked. Batch 002. Poured a slightly hazy golden color with an orange tint. There was several millimeters of white sediment on the bottom of the bottle. Head was one finger high and white. It dissipated over after a few minutes to a thin film. There was only a bit of tattered lace on the glass at the end. Rich and varied aroma of apple, funky Brett, and oak. There were also whiffs of clove and honey-touched cereal grain. Tart on the tongue throughout with lingering acidity. Very effervescent with flavors of sour cherry, unripe berries, and oak. An acquired taste, but one that’s certainly worth acquiring.

Re-rate big old magnum @ RBSG I provided. This was sick sick sick. 375ml bottle, batch 001. Purchased at the Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA. Pours lightly golden straw with a large puffy white head. The aroma is citrus, oaky, and slighly like a lambic. The taste is sweet mild complex and robust. It has wine like qualities that remind me of a gueze. Its very good and unique certainly a wine like beer hybrid.

Bottle at JW77’s. Cloudy gold pour. Very nice beer!! Bretty, lemony, grapes and oak on the nose. Flavor is tart but not crazy vinegar sour. Great mouthfeel. I really love the lemony funk! A bit dry on the finish. NIce.

A light barnyard aroma, and a little oak, Cloudy orange beer. A very sour beer, with grapefruit and some wheat. I would have said I was drinking a Belgian gueuze if I didn’t know better. Excellent.

Batch 003. A gusher. Pours with a small white head covering a hazy gold body with small particles. Some lacing. Aroma of grape skins, light fruit, oak, some spicyness and dryness. Taste is chardonnay, oak, sourness and dryness. Light big bubbles and a dry puckering mouthfeel. Enjoyed by me more than Supplication (but my girlfriend thought the opposite). 8,4,7,4,16, 3.9
Rerate from batch 3. Pours with a huge, creamy white head that stays for a while and leaves great lacing. Hazy golden color. Aroma is nice and subdued with notes of spicy chardonnay oak barrel. Taste is champagne like with chardonnay elements and fruit. Very subtle. Touches of caramel and hay as well. Obviously quite sour as well. Champagne quality small, biting bubbles, dry and well hidden alcohol.

Bottle. Batch 1. Amber-peach colored beer with a nice off-white head. Tart green apple and slight lemon aroma. Green apple, grape, tart flavor, slight woodiness, and a touch of butteriness (but not unpleasant) in the flavor. Refreshing. Carbonationa bit too high. Some wine-like characteristics. Very nice.