Russian River Temptation

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

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.

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.

The Temptation pours a very hazy orange/yellow color with a nice thick and sparkling head. The first few sips of this beer definitely reminds you that it has been aged in Chardonnay barrels for an extended period of time and then you get the sour that is trademark RR.

Small C&C bottle from courtesy of Lando. Thanks for this gem Steve! Pours a hazy, golden yellow out of a deceptively small (looks much bigger) bottle, with a tight off white head. Nose of wine, sourness, light fruits and barnyard hints. Flavor follows with a pronounced white wine. This one integrates fantastically. Well done!

Tap @ Belmont Station... Poured a vibrant golden with a thick, white head that retained a decent size throughout enjoying this tasty beverage. Aroma was wildly funky and yeasty with fruits and spices. The Bret was brilliant in this one. Palate was perfect with that usually dryness from a sour and was very refreshing. Flavors of grains and lots of fruits -- lemon citrus, very sweet with spices -- almost like anise. This beer was like liquid candy, bretty and tangy.

From a caged corked 375 ml. olive green bottle with a blurb on the back label with serving instructions, batch number 002, glassware suggestion on the cork, sampled at a cooler cellar temperature in a Russian River wild ale snifter. Poured as suggested, a clear orangey golden with foamy, bubbly topped white head that settled into a thin lacing, minimal amount of laced sticking. Aromas of wild barnyard yeastiness, chardonnay wine-like, sour cherries, a light hayish hoppiness and whiffs of alcohol. Good airy carbonation and a crisp, dry, velvety smooth light bodied mouthfeel. Delicious wild ale taste, tart, sour cherries with lemons and limes squeezed over them, dry grain bready, a subtle oak barrel woodiness, a soft spicy hoppiness, the alcohol is well masked, but warming in the palate, and a dry, sour and sweet maltiness with a little lingering leafy hoppiness. Purchased from the Russian River website, just an excellent wild ale, one of the best I’ve had, tasty and balanced, a must try.

Batch 3. Tremendous beer. Aroma of vanilla from the oak shot trough with brett and tartness. Great flavor that is not overpoweringly sour, but is super complex. World class.

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.