Russian River Toronado 20th Anniversary

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

GABF 2007. A pale orange beer with a huge orangey head. The aroma is sweet with strong notes of wood and brettanomyces. The flavor is acidic with wonderful notes of fruit, as well as notes of wood and brettanomyces. The acidity draw out the mouthwater.

Thanks to whoever shared this bottle at the RBSG 08 Grand Tasting. Sample size pour into my La Chouffe goblet. Hazy golden brown with a tan head that leaves fine sheets of lacing. Sour apple aroma, banana, spices. Sharp acidity with a bit of booze, lemon juice, dark fruits, clove, and a bitter woody brett finish. Mind-boggling complexity.

Again another fantastic beer I got to sample at the Grand tasting thanks to who ever pulled this one out. Pours slight hazy to cloudy deep orange to amber with a small lacing head. Aroma is smooth fruity and tart acidic. Oaked flavour with a wine notes and the classic Russian River tartness. Mix of fruits, barrel and acidic/citric flavours into the finish.

Thanks to Odeed for getting this one at Toronado at RBSG. This beer just rocked it, and I had just had Cable Car right before, so it had some big shoes to fill. This turned out to be the beer of RBSG for me, just brilliant. Tart cherry nose, woody and acidic. Funky and delicious from start to finish. Hints of cheese, plum, bretts, and grape, blended with wine barrel. Really outstanding and one of the best beers I can remember having.

~RBSG ’08~

Bottle at the Grand Tasting. Pours a golden brownish color, with a very thick creamy head and tons of lacing on the glass. Very tart nose, funky fruit notes, tangy, some acidic notes. Flavor is very sour. Dry-hopped some as well. Some hay and other notes. Mostly full of ripe fruit and such. Smooth, crisp, extremely drinkable. ABV is nowhere to be found, just feels like a small sour beer. Very good. Very well-crafted beer that couldn’t have been easy to perfect, but they came damn close.

Bottle shared by eclectic at BCTC. Thanks so, so, so, much Kevin! This was probably my most wanted beer on the site and boy did it live up to my expectations. Pours dark reddish brown with a small off-white head. Nose is heavily funked and oaked, with some nice dark fruits, layered malt, and just so complex I can’t do it justice. Flavor is delicious funk blended with mild quad-like flavors so perfectly. This is probably the best russian river beer I have had and that’s saying a lot as I rate them all pretty darn high. Don’t know if I’ll ever find a bottle of this stuff, so I can’t thank Kevin enough for being so generous to share it with me. An awesome final beer of a great Belgium Comes to Cooperstown experience. Is this the perfect beer? For me, at this time and place, it was and is.

Bottle, graciously shared by Omhper. Dark hazy amber appearance. Immediate Brett. Effervescent! Dry, bone dry. Like a blend of Orval and Iris. Quite bitter. Tannins and funk. Some caramelised sugar in aroma. Alcohol definitely noticeable. Great, great stuff!

Simply put....a perfect five. Sherry amber in clour, applesauce, champagne, slight funk thats barley noticeable. This is the greatest "blended beer", I’ve ever had!