Russian River sours (the easy ones!)

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My friend Anand was kind enough to bring some West Cost brews back from his internship in California that included the famous Russian River sours (reviewed below), some well regarded West Coast IPAs including Blind Pig, and AleSmith Speedway Stout. Thanks Anand! However, Anand was lazy to make a trip to SoCal for Alpine goodness and I had to get Duet, Nelson, and Pure Hoppiness in a trade. Fuck you Anand, and thanks again!

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Supplication

American Wild Ale
Russian River Brewing Co.
7% ABV
27 IBUs
OG 1.064

Batch III. Brown Ale aged in French oak Pinot Noir barrels with three strains of Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus and sour cherries. 375 ml cork and caged bottle poured into a snifter.

Appearance: Rust brown, somewhat hazy, with a very good and creamy light khaki colored head. Excellent retention and lacing. 5/5

Aroma: Sour, obviously. Notes of brett, but not overpowering. Much sweeter than I expected, and very welcome. Earth, spice, and fruit --- quite rustic. Some vinegary sharpness comes along with warmth. 4/5

Taste: Tart and sweet, but never overpoweringly sour. Everything from the aroma is present, and it goes down with a kiss of sour cherries. Amazingly clean with a subtle yet long aftertaste of cherries and funk. Also, oak gets quite strong as the beer warms up. 4/5

Mouthfeel: The body is medium with a certain fullness yielded by the high, and yet soft, carbonation. It's an oxymoron! Very dry and clean. 4.5/5

Overall, very very good, and so refreshing! A testimony to what subtle can be... it is sour but a lot of other things too. I love it. 4.5/5

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Temptation

American Wild Ale
Russian River Brewing Co.
7.25% ABV
27 IBUs
OG 1.062

Batch III. Blonde Ale aged in French oak chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces. 375 ml cork and caged bottle poured into a snifter.

Appearance: Honey golden and bright, with hues of ripe oranges in the snifter. A very good  off white and creamy textured head with excellent retention and good lacing. 4.5/5

Aroma: Sweet malts at the very beginning, followed by soft fruit and unmistakable sharpness of a sour beer. Brett notes seemed absent at the beginning but emerge with warmth. Still very estery, and an accomplishment in the sense that the base beer is not lost at all. Strong aroma of Belgian ale is always felt in the background. Toasted fruit is strong, so are rum raisin and oak. 4/5

Taste: Light and sweet on the palate with tartness eclispsing the bitterness often felt towards the end of a beer, and evolving into a tannic, dry and clean finish. Superb! The sour character dominates many notes of the aroma, but does not demolish the palate. I feel that this one could have been more complex if all notes of the aroma came through. 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: Medium body, high-ish carbonation and a dry and long woody finish. 4.5/5

Overall, I quite like it. Like Supplication, subtly sour and never overpowering, but very very  clean, refreshing, and enjoyable. 4.5/5

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Consecration

American Wild Ale
Russian River Brewing Co.
10% ABV
IBU?
OG?

375 ml Batch III poured into a snifter. "Consecration is a dark Belgian style ale aged in American oak Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. Not only do we use Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, & Pediococcus, we also add currants to beer while it is aging in the barrels"

Appearance: Clear and deep rust brown with a small, dark, "soda" head that fizzed away rather early and left no lacing whatsoever. 3/5

Aroma: Fruity with strongest notes of cherries and some currants with warmth. But the aroma, in my opinion, was eclipsed by intense, one-dimensional sourness. Decidedly funky nonetheless. 3.5/5

Taste: A clean and intensely sour beer, with minor hints of the base beer. Unfortunate, in my opinion. Wood is felt, but mostly mouth puckering sour, and that's it. Well, the funk is unmistakable, but for a sour brownish ale, Supplication was definitely better. 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: Like its other brethren, medium bodied, yet quite clean with a long, oaky finish. 4.5/5

Overall, my least favorite among the bunch and only because the base beer, and fruit, seem to have lost to sourness & funk. Did too many cooks (bugs) ruin the broth? 3.5/5