Russian River Damnation

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

75cl bottle, batch 38, thanks to larryLSB for getting this one from the brewpub yesterday. Rich, deep golden color with a fluffy white head that starts pretty big, but settles into a thinner layer after a couple minutes. The aroma has some pear and green apple, some light lemon, cinnamon and spicy alcohol, and some leafy hops. Pretty sweet, honey-like malt flavors, with fruity accents and light citrus. Finishes a little peppery and bitter, but there is a lingering sweetness too. Medium bodied with fizzy bubbles, and a little stickiness in the end. Nice flavors, but I would prefer it just a little bit dryer.

Batch 038, bought at the Brewery on the 6th, opened on the 7th. Nice light golden coler with minimal white head. Nose reminded me of melon, with a nice smooth taste with just a touch of sweetness. Excellent finish, overall a very fine ale.

Bottle, batch # 36... Well of tasting of only two people this was cleary the best beer of the night. Bottle given to me by my good friend spark-dog-27 aka Easy E! Thanks E! As soon as robert "popped" the cork off I knew I had a good bottle on my hands. Poured a copper color, not much head. Flavor was so smooth for a belgian.. The intial taste was fruity only to be followed by a nice spicyness. Low carbonation and medium texture. As I said earlier an easy beer to drink on a hot summer day or any time of the year. Overall a solid beer that is well worth the buy. Thanks Eric for sending a great brew! ****UPDATE*****Just had it on tap at Monks in Philly even better!

Bottle. Thick off white head three fingers high. Aroma of bread and spice. Tastes like bread, spice, fruit, honey and a hint of bubblegum when cold. Very nice on a hot summer evening.

Draft at the brewpub. I’ve had this before, but it was a long time ago. Hazy blond pour. Aroma and flavor were sweet sugary pale malt. Not a lot different than the redemption. Seriously, I think they had about 7 different blond-type beers on that day.

With great thanks to Irishboy for shipping this to me in Toronto :-) Appearance: Lovely orange caramel with a small head. Aroma: Lemon and all-spice, some orange peel and dandelion too. Flavour: Peppery and fruity, some alcohol, traces of lemon peel and corriander, very interesting, a nice long zesty finish, very quenching, very enjoyable. Thanks Richard!

A hazy caramel color, small head, very sweet with a dank, musty yeast. Apricot & clover honey with mild spice. Quite smooth, enjoyable and very close to being "authentic". Missing a bit of that "Bubble gum" characteristic flavor.

I probably shouldn’t rate these types of beers because they are not my favorite. Somehow I’ve been turned off to this type. Tastes exactly like Westy blonde... heavy funk and manure flavor. Pours nice blonder color... honey apearance. Barnyard funk flavor of a westy blonde. I guess it’s just me....