Russian River Beatification (Batch 5)
Russian River Beatification is an American Wild Ale. I’m 99% sure this is Batch 5, bottled 01/10/12, aged just over 2 years. This was the first beer I traded for a few years ago that I was really excited to get. Not quite a whale by trading standards, but at the time this was pretty hard to acquire. It took a couple of tries but I finally convinced my trading partner to let go of a bottle, Thanks Joe! So of course the first thing I do is sit on the bottle for the next year and a half waiting for the perfect time to open it. That time ended up being a random Sunday when Lee happened to drop by! So much for planning.
Sours are a hard beer style to describe, so much of the taste is subjective to the person but I will do my best. Things start with a big rush of strong, mouth puckering sourness which sort of dulls after your mouth recovers from the initial shock. Lots of sweet and tart citrus, mostly ruby red grapefruit and lemons. The beer then starts to reveal the barrel with notes of dry oak and vanilla. The finish is a strange combination of champagne, sweet tarts and a Gose like saltiness both Lee and I picked up on. So yeah this is rather complex Sour Ale! Maybe a once in a lifetime experience, but I hope I cross paths with this beer again. Simply amazing.
