RateBeer
   Home Sign Up or Login Advanced Search
   People Ratings Events Places Forums Shop Magazine
      Top By Category  RateBeer Best  Latest Ratings  Top 50    

Home > Brewers > California > Russian River Brewing >

Russian River Temptation

Russian River Temptation

* picture credits
copyright may apply

 Percentile 
99
overall
A Sour Ale brewed by
Russian River Brewing

Santa Rosa, California USA

bottled
common

on tap
available

Regional Distribution
Find this beer

Add Distribution Data
Send Corrections

 Ratings  Average  Score  Seasonal  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in  Advanced 
4314.07/5.04.07/5.0Special7.25%91.3Snifter P  Stats

Commercial Description:
Is it beer, or is it wine? "Aged in French oak wine barrels for twelve months with distinct characteristics of fruit and subtle oak" sounds more like a description of wine than beer. But, of course, Temptation is indeed beer. Actually, Temptation is a Blonde Ale Fermented with a special strain of yeast, then aged in French oak chardonnay barrels. Flavors of wine and oak absorb into the brew throughout twelve months of aging. During this aging process, a secondary fermentation occurs using a yeast strain disliked by most brewers and winemakers called Brettanomyces. The "Bret" gives Temptation intriguing characteristics and a pleasant sourness. Temptation is re-fermented in the bottle to create its carbonation--a process commonly used to make fine champagne and sparkling wine. Spent yeast forms a thin layer of sediment to remain in the bottle.

Most RecentTop RatersHighest Ratings Who's Rated This?
 BuckeyeSammy (384), New York City, New York, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/59/104/516/20

Jun 28, 2008  
Opened side by side with supplication. Orange haze with a light thin head. Delicate beer. Oak barrels very present on the nose, white wine, and a touch of funk. Palate is slighly buttery, full, tart finish. Balanced sour.. Wine, tart carbonation, funk. Sour/ tartness not overpowering in the least. Great sour ale.

 csbosox (978), Prairie Village, Kansas, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/105/518/20
Oct 12, 2008  
375ml bottle, batch 003. Apples, lemons, oak & old leather in the aroma. The initial taste is so dry that it is shocking. Tannins, oak, carbonation, and a very low residual sugars create a very dry tasting beer. The flavor is light and fruity with white grapes, pears, tart lemons, and finish of barnyard flavors. The brett seems understated and there is a lot more than brett going on for wild bugs in this one, the sourness is too much for just brett. This is a wonderful beer, very tasty. The 375ml bottle leaves me wanting more. Huge thanks go to Footbalm and O’Deed for this beer.


 waolsen (1021), Littleton, Colorado, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/57/103/518/20
Oct 9, 2008  
bottle. thanks bwkrieger. hazy golden/orange pour with thin white head. nice aroma fruit and oak. tart, brett, funk and wood. nicely done.


 michael-pollack (1488), King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/59/104/515/20
Oct 9, 2008  
Bottle: Aroma of tart fruits, Brett, oak, and alcohol. Poured gold/yellow/urine in color with a medium-sized, creamy, dense white head that lasted throughout. Hazy. Very sparkling. Very tart flavor. Tastes of Brett, tart fruits, oak, white grapes, chardonnay, and some minerals. Light to medium body. Dryish, mineral texture. Average to lively carbonation. Tarty, Gueze-like finish.


 KimJohansen (4299), Copenhagen V, Denmark
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/104/516/20
Oct 8, 2008  
Hazy yellow with medium white head. Sor aroma with notes of wood, brett, leather grapefruit. Flavour is sour with brett, lemon, barnyard and woody notes. Finished sour.


 thickfreakness (106), Austin, Texas, USA
4.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/103/510/104/519/20
Oct 5, 2008  
5/16/08. It pours a peachy amber color with a fluffy, white head and it leaves amazing lacing on the glass as I drink it. This smells absolutely incredible. It has a very nice subtle sourness and an extremely inviting sweetness behind it. I could smell this all day long. The taste is predominantly of sour fruits but it is not so overpowering as to cover up the nice oakiness and light malt sweetness. This is best described as subtle but amazing. At first I had the taste as a 9 but it just got even better as it warmed and had to change it to a 10. The mouthfeel is great for a sour,very dry and wine like. It is extremely drinkable and the alcohol is just non existent in the taste. I wish I had bought many more of these babies. Highly recommended.



would you like to read more ratings?



Then join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community. Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings.

Desired User Name
*


Valid Email (Needed to verify your account)
*

Relax. RateBeer is 100%, guaranteed spam-free. That's our promise to you.

I agree to the terms of the RateBeer User Agreement

RATE THIS BEER

Aroma

rating assistance

Appearance

rating assistance

Flavor

rating assistance

Palate

rating assistance

Overall impression

rating assistance

TOTAL SCORE

Comments

More Sour Ales

Struise Dirty Horse (4.29)

Lost Abbey Yellow Bus (4.25)

Lost Abbey Isabelle Proximus (4.25)

Lost Abbey Cable Car (4.16)

Valley Brew Stockton Sour (Phils Wild Mild) (4.14)

Lost Abbey Sinners 08 (4.13)

Russian River Deviation (Bottleworks IX) (4.13)

Russian River Toronado 20th Anniversary (4.13)

Captain Lawrence Cuvee de Castleton (4.11)

Russian River Supplication (4.11)

More California Brewers

Ozeki Sake (USA), Inc.
  Hollister
Shark Attack Brewing
  Agoura Hills
Peter Bs Brewpub
  Monterey
sake2me
  Sausalito
Anchor Brewing Company
  San Francisco
San Pedro Brewing Company
  San Pedro
Muldoons Irish Pub
  Newport Beach
Two Rivers Cider Company
  Sacramento
Elsa Wine & Mead
  Orange
Happy Valley Brewing Co
  Somerset
Sonoma Cider Mill
  Healdsburg
Newport Beach Brewing Company
  Newport Beach
Dale Bros. Brewery
  Upland
Monterey Coast Brewing Restaurant & Brewery
  Salinas
Anderson Valley Brewing Company
  Boonville

About RateBeer | Add A Beer | Add A Brewer | Edit Personal Info | 100 Beer Club | FAQ | Log out | Feedback? | Copyright 2000-2008, RateBeer LLC