Russian River Damnation

Bottle, thanks to BVC! Pours lightly hazy gold with a lacy white head. Fruit and funk aroma. The taste is unusual, maybe lemon and leather with toffee and spice? Dry earthy finish.

Bottle from Bottleworks. Pours an orangeish light honey amber (very clear), with a large head that dissipates very quickly. Aroma is huge - lots of fruit, including orange, lemon and pear, with other notes of allspice and bubble gum. Flavor is disappointing. The aroma lends you to believe it’ll be a big beer (especially for it to qualify as a strong ale), but this one tastes dilute. Bitter citrus and hops notes, but that’s about all - this tastes more like a carbonated lemon and hops tea than a beer. Mouthfeel is great - high carbonation cleanses the palate, and it’s very smooth and clean. Too clean, in fact. I was expecting quite a bit from my first RR brew, and this one failed to deliver.

(From 8-3-08 sampling, thanks to who brought it and shared with everyone!) Non transparent hazy darkened straw color, white whisps on top of the liquid for a head that had some lacing, pronounced musky and earthy aroma. Hits the mouth with a medium body, some tart sweetness notes in the middle, a few hops on the finish that lingers slightly.

Pours with a large off-white head that leaves good lacing and lasts a while. Body is a slightly hazy gold color with particles. Aroma of hops, sweetness, pears, apples, spices, and caramel. Has a slightly off flavor in the finish. Pears at the start. Slightly fizzy.

On tap at the Horse Brass in Portland, OR--Poured a sharp and deep golden body with a frothy white head. Sticky honey, hops, and funky caramel dominated the palate. Very enjoyable!

Clear golden, smooth, fruity, honey, slight spice, little hops, yeast, dry.

Wet dough, caramelized honey with hints of white pepper on the nose. Burnt gold color with a slight haze, huge foamy head that lasts forever. Funky caramel sweetness, very noticeable bitterness. Soft carbonation, medium mouth feel, spicy finish. Great beer, flavors are solid, seems a little more carbonation would benefit the beer.

Solid. Nice golden color, minimal creamy head (minimal lacing, but very strong waves when tipped). Honey, hay, light lemon peel receding into a nice hoppiness. Reminds me of Castelain de garde if it was a year younger.