Russian River Damnation

Ho-hum golden color with faded head. Aroma of honey sweetness, grain, Belgian yeast and pepper. Flavor is again sweet, but quite balanced, pleasant, and not at all cloying. Pepper and yeast round out the profile. A BSA/Trippel hybrid. Don’t be fooled by the uninspiring appearance---this is a quality Belgian Strong Ale.

Copper colored with a ince foamy off white head. Smell is banana, bubble gum, spices, other fruits going on. Taste is sweet with fruit. Alcohol is well hidden. Good beer.

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.