Russian River Consecration

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

bottle thanks to KAggie. pours a dark brown with an off-white head. Nose of perfume and oak. Taste is of vinous fruit. Mouthfeel was very sour.

You’re either with the brett or against it. I can see this beer oscillating between a life changing experience and a complete drain pour. Nose is funky, dank and sour fruity. In the mouth it has almost champagne like presence, but with bracing bitterness help up by a second wave of sweeter currant and cherry. The funk is all over this and was different in three different glasses. Complex but definetely a beer geeks beer. Would like a bit more body to it too, but really easy drinking for 10%. Reminded me of the cantillion kriek in MANY ways, but this has a bit more to it. Thanks vinny will have to try this directly from the source one day. Gonna give it a 4...that could vary greatly though depending on my mood.

Tasting at GABF. Big dark copper/brown clear body with white head. Sweet boozy aroma that is very fruity and fruit-sour. Roasted alt notes also. DIverse smell. Medium body. Alcohol is there the whole way through. Sour fruit and wood chip dominate. dry lightly sour finish (best part of the brew)

[Bottle] sent to me by taverner. Wow, what can I say. Pours a deep garnet with a medium, effervescent beige head. Aroma is absolutely fantastic. Lots of oak, currants, cherries, oak, and cabernet. There is an underlying tartness that hints at what’s going to follow in the flavor. Flavor initially hits with some lactic sourness and a hint of the currants. That is followed by the dry oakiness of the wine barrels and their prior contents. Finishes tart and sweet with a lasting currant flavor. The mouthfeel is well carbonated and light. An absolutely brilliantly executed beer.

Trade thanks to LtDan. Aroma of citric acid with a faint whiff of wild yeast hiding beneath. Pours a medium amber with a small tan head. Flavor begins only slightly tart, with penetrating elements of alcohol and oak coming through. It becomes increasingly sour as the glass opens up, passing through a sweet spot where the tartness harmonizes well with wood, toasty caramel and vanilla from the oak barrel, and a lightly roasted chocolaty malt element. Eventually the sourness takes over, and the beer become liquefied sweet tart. Medium body, nice pucker on the palate.

750 shared at the Houston funk/sour/lambic/gueze tasting. Weird thing: we had 4 bottles of this brought to the tasting-great minds drink alike. This one thanks to kaggie97. Filtered dark brown. Nose is very tangy, strong fruity flavors. Taste comes off sweet, fruity, very fizzy/carbonated then punchy. Not sure what to think about this one. Next time we’ll try this earlier in the rotation. But I like.....

American wild Fuck the fuck yeah. Good old red white a blue. Drinking with a friend at noon after a long night of stripper and booze. Been holding this for a long time, didn’t expect it to go down like this, but here we go. Aroma: sweet and tart dark fruits (cherries, plumbs, dark grapes), some brettyness and some wild yeast funk. The flavor is very full and complex. PLenty of dark fruity with a full funky finish. The carbonation is a really big flaw in this one though. It is very carbonated, which I can understand is arguably to style (for some lambics) but the carbonation bubbles are very big and fizzy, like in a soda. If it had nice fine bubbles it might work to compliment the beer, but my friend and I both agree that the huge carbonation sort of clears the flavor from our palates. It weird. Great ruby red color-- clear but dark. The head is just fizzy and weak and disappears almost instantly. Overall: a damn good beer worthy of its hype. The carbonation is whats holding this one back for me (no head, too big of carbonation), but I can’t deny its brilliant aroma and flavor.

Batch 001X2. Pours a hazy, dark ruby color with a very fizzy, yellowish-beige, fairly small head which diminishes very quickly and leaves nothing; carbonation is persistnent for quite some time. Nose is pungent and amazing; black currants noticed immediately which is followed immediately by light molasses, overripe cherries, dates, faint burnt caramel, light vanilla, light wet oak, light maple, some raisin, some blackberry, and probably other notes that I missed. It’s vinous, it’s jammy, it’s lightly tart, it’s delicately sweet, it’s overwhelmingly complex; awesome. Before the flavor, I must discuss the palate; the carbonation is just too fizzy to allow the awesome flavors develop; light to medium, fizzy, and faintly silky but drying just a touch. The flavors are amazing with fruity, jammy, vinous notes up front (black currants, blackberry jam, lighter cranberry) followed by tart notes of overripe cherries and light bretty acetic notes, and the oak melds everything together being wet and earthy; underneath is faint burnt caramel, faint molasses, and hints at vanilla. The progression from fruity notes to tart notes to oak notes with sweet undertones is perfect. Finishes average length with some old world wine notes being earthy, slightly funky, a bit of vanilla, and wet oak; lightly drying from some tannins. I may have made a huge mistake opening this one so early, especially considering the price. However, my only real complaint is the carbonation level; it created a less-than-adequate appearance and took away from the flavors, not to mention the palate was only acceptable because of it. Insane nose, great melding of flavors, and balanced at every step. Perfect balance of vinous notes, tart/sour notes, sweet undertones, and oak. Hopefully we’ll see what this could become in a few years.