Russian River Beatification (Batch 001)

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

Bottle, April 2008 tasting. Thanks to Phil L for providing. Rather muddy yellow appearance (I probably got my sample from near the end of the bottle). Not sure whether this was the standard or PH1 batch. Good and sour. Moderately funky aroma. Quite citric tart acidity on the palate. More lambic than Flemish sour in feel, probably because the underlying beer is a blonde not a bruin. Faint echoes of Cantillon here. Very good.

PH1 Bottle, thanks Nathan for opening this rare gem and sharing with me!
Warm gold, noisy off-white head. Generous funk that starts well before the glass makes it up to my nose. Leathery tobacco barn chock full of crab apples and a briny seaweed bite. Loads of dry lemony sourness, but for all the volume of sour, the quality of it is gentle and inviting. Pepper, salt, hay, dry weathered wool. So much happy goodness in a glass. Some sour beers (even ones I end up liking) require such a serious face to appreciate: the pleasures are shaken from a wrath-bearing tree. Not so here. Everything is just...beautiful.

PH1. 375-milliliter into wine balloon. Pours a cloudy opaque orange with huge foam at first, then settling to a light layer of film. Aroma is indeed of sour fruit, self-fermented old fruit. Flavor is of the same spoiled fruit but with a lot of black olive. No doubt about it: Black olives, maybe baked on a pizza. It’s really an oddity this one, but not unpleasant. Nice mouthfeel, full yet spritzy. Overall, very good.

(Sample Date: 3/14/2009 Source:Other) Batch 001-PH1. Blonde Ale aged in oak barrels. Slight sourness and graininess with a light fruit in the aroma. Cloudy light brown muddy water appearance. Quite sour and earthy with some caramel and oak like wine notes.

Orange yellow pour with a thin white head. Very nice sour fruit flavor with some vinegar and grape flavor. Absolutely amazing.

Big thanks to Numenor for bringing this to the Richmond Gathering. PH1 bottling. Hazy yellow. Great horseblanket aroma, with lemon, cheddar, and pixie stick aroma. Flavor starts the same, and then finishes just a bit short with a faint honey note. Interesting stuff, and a great sniffer.

Bottle courtesy of Numenor on 03/14/2009. Batch 001-PH1. Somewhat hazy orange body with a small frothy off-white head. Huge sour aroma with vanilla, fruit, and some funk. Huge sour flavor, some faint vanilla with more light fruit, hints of oak and a touch of funk. Light body with moderately high carbonation.

Brought by numenor to a ratebeer gathering at maniacs place in richmond, va. This is a newer style for me, but I have to say fantastic beer, too bad it is gone, but maybe the new one will be just as good? Anyway, A lot of tartness up front on this one, nice and sour a bit of apple as well. Goes down easily but not before you have to appreciate the flavors that are coming from a beer with such a low abv. Interesting style, also a bit of citrus in there as well. Just enjoyed how different this beer was from everything else I have ever had basically.