Russian River Toronado 20th Anniversary

Formerly brewed at Russian River Brewing
Style: Sour Ale
Santa Rosa, California USA

Corked bottle batch 001 sent to me by Irishboy, many thanks Richard: Served in my NB worthy glass and shows a deep reddish brown topped by a fading head and some lace. The nose shows a Brett imbued funk and earthy quality along with some apple and pear esters, sea salt, fresh French oak, spartan spicy hop, and a good amount of mineral water depth, Really nice.

The taste profile starts sour and acidic with a vast amount of green fruit and funky Brettanomyces supported by horse-blanket and peat moss. The finish shows off a spicy hop (clove and grains of paradise) and completely clean oak cask tannic dryness and to quote Rachael Ray, "so delish".

The mouth feel is aggressive and biting, work within the framework of the brew. This beer rocks (why is it not a sour ale or an lambic?) and I so glad to try it. How good is this you ask... after drinking a 4.7 sour beer the RR 20th holds it own to the tune of 4.3!!!

Bottle with Tupalev, Blankboy & Rudolf @ Coles Buffalo NY. Thanks Cotsen. Sour, funky woody aroma. Cloudy medium brown color. Sour brety funk. Earthy light citrus sourness. Sharpe tartness in the finish. Very interesting & wonderful beer

Draft: Sour, vinious nose w/ nice wood accents. Hazy brown color w/ lacy yet thin settled head. Sour, Woody flavors with an astringent dry ending with notes of high alcohol fumes. Some bitterness lingers...with an almost bourbon-like finish. Pretty good, but not so clean.

A gift from Joet. I didn’t know this had brett before I trying it. Great, sour yeast aroma. Some barnyard. The flavor has brown sugar and sweet malt, but also fruit, cherry, and pomegranate. Red in color, very nice, full mouth feel.

Sample from bottle courtesy of cbkschubert. Real sour aroma. Gold body with decent head. Decent sweet and sour friuty flavor. Sourness and sweetness lingers on the palate a tartness also. Good brew.

Sampled at MN Ratebeer Winter Gathering in Maplewood, MN and supplied by joet. From a 750 ml bottle pours a hazy caramel amber brew with a thick off-white head that slowly dissolves to a ring and film top. Aroma of tart hard fruit, some dark biscuit character with coriander and citrus zest. Taste is medium bodied, light carbonated with flavors of some light yeast funk, some biscuit, orange zest and a touch of earthy spices. Finish has a slight tart apple aftertaste with a light yeast funk character. Lots of personality in this beer.

On tap at O’Brien’s barrel aged beer night. Pours a hazy orange-bronze color with light white film on the glass edges, along with some lacing swirlies. Damn, talk about some funk in the smell! Brett, barnyard hay, lemon zest, orange citrus, oak wood and smoky earth are detectable in the aroma. The flavor is a nice balance of tart oak wood notes with lemon & orange peel, coriander and vinous chardonnay character. Finishes sour, musty and carbonated with noticeable alcohol content. Nice!

On tap @ O’Brien’s barrel aged beer night. I love brett beers. The sour in this one hits you in the face before the liquids touch your lips. Well crafted and blended.