Russian River Temptation

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

Fluffy head; some haze (hazier toward the bottom of the bottle); pale yellow-orange. Spritzy and refreshing. Champagne-like texture. Light and delicate malts balanced by breezy notes of lemon, yeast and light flowers. Somewhat vinous at times. Nice sourness and a pinch of white vinegar gives it a zingy edge. Very pleasant beer.

750ml bottle. Astounding aroma, with funky, farmy yeast, floral notes, wood, honeyish sweetness, faint winey tones, grassiness and straw. Light yellow color, cloudy, with a lasting, fine head. Flavor profile is impressive as well, dry, very lightly winey, tart, woody, leafy and gently bitter, in turns. Nicely refreshing palate, very light feel and moderate effervescence, body is medium. Really nice!

GABF: multiple samples. Some honey and melon in the nose, barrel yeast, wet basement molds -- this all very good. Wow this beer has improved. Lush with subdued hops. Very cleanly alcoholic -- no fusels. No big bad fruit esters. This is delicious!

May ’08 rating. 3L bottle shared by Blake. Hazy orange body, small white head. Horsey, grapefruit rind aroma. The flavor adds a nicely complex acidity to a basic pale malt base. Very good stuff - it has a complex acidity instead of the usual one-dimensional sourness found in most American sour ales. Previous - 8 4 7 3 14 Bottle, 5/05 batch. Pours a clear dark golden body with a big foamy head that dies down ot a thin creamy layer. Nice lacing. Great aroma - hits two distant points of the flavor spectrum with powder sugar and acidic grapefruit and silage unified by light wood. Lambic-y tartness but nowhere near as complex or strong. Straight-up acidity over pefumy, floral light malt. The beer deserves a good score but doesn’t excite me a whole lot.

the aroma of the first pint was a mixture of pineapple, cinnamon, peach & apricot..very juicy sweet and fruity..my second pint showed wacky barnyard and leather thrown into the mix..the flavors were juicy, tangy, barnyard and leather, peaches..so damn good..this batch, if i remember what the brewer said..was slightly lower in alcohol than usual (around 6%)..its all about the brettanomyces in this one..gettin creapy like a barnyard..

Another sampled ten (or more) times over at GABF. I have a bottle of this don’t I? I think I am happy now.

I am tempted....I am TEMPTED!!!! My favorite batch of Vinnie’s tonight. It poured a mildly cloudy golden color...the best way to describe it is uriney colored with absolutely no head. The aroma effervesced a malty sweetness..almost wheat like...but ohhhhhh that caramel malt backbone how i love thee!!! The taste begins with a fruity and malty sweetness based on that caramel base,, and ends with a good sour and yet balanced sweet aftertaste. This is somewhat achieved through a grapefruit-like acidic ending..very nice. And that was just the first sip!!!!! The next few sips led from more of a belgain strong ale sweetness to more of a German Weisbier....heavy wheat taste, very pleasant...good drying ending but not overwhelming..but an excellent body and a nice silky carbonation level that blended well with the sourness. As i drank the aroma of fruit, malt and wheat grew in intensity and so did the Temptation of this whopper. Oh mama was this good!!! What more can i say...?

Bottled-conditioned sample generously donated by Vinnie Cilurzo for a Belgian-style beer tasting in New Mexico. Hazy, deep golden body with a clean white head. Nose is very horsey plus overripe pineapple. Funkier than hell and I dig it. Oaky, white wine qualities come through strong in the flavor and combine very nicely with the ale yeast and brett properties. Some sourness in the flavor and a lingering, delicate bitterness in the finish. Complex and very interesting. This is what beer is about.