Russian River Beatification (Batch 003)

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

A huge thank you to SlowRunner77 - he's beyond generous. He just happened to know this beer was a whale of mine and sent it to my house - no requests, just a super nice gesture. What a great guy! I promise I will be returning the favor - bad beer karma is a bitch. The beer is everything I wanted in a wild ale. When I visited Russian River Brewery in 2011, I had most of their wild offerings. Obviously, Beatification was notably absent. This beer was amazing. Super sour, tons of horse blanket funk, tons of lemon and citrus, and maybe some hints of grasses. The lactobacillus did its job - this beer was insanely sour. Color was golden and the carbonation was on the higher side. Aroma tracked the flavor. Mouthfeel was dry - lots of pucker action from the sourness. I am so glad I had the chance to have this beer. Thanks again SlowRunner77 #Review1K

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Batch #3 shared during a tasting at my place. Medium gold color with a bubbling, bright white head and stringy lacing, good carbonation. Delicious funky aroma with plenty of lemon and grapefruit accents. Wild tartness and a strong sour scent. Medium bodied, dry with a sour finish. Drinks nice and easy. Strong flavor of hay and wheat, tart lemons, fresh grapefruit and musty yeast. A beautiful sour ale, one of my favorites during the evening.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

This much anticipated brew was not a let down. The brewer claims this to be "less sour" than batch #2...i can imagine that, but barely. The aroma is compexity perfected...green apples, barnyard funk, sweet & sour, but not nearly as much sour as is in the taste...almost overpowers the other things going on, but not quite...and your palate adjusts as you go! the difference between this and flemish reds and browns is that this is a blonde, but you couldn't tell by the body. Creamy lactose body, although fairly highly carbonated. Had to agitate quite a bit just to get some white-ish head atop the cloudy bright yellow body. Finish is lingering sour...still on the lips several minutes later. A very very good beer and a great way to break my buddy Ben into a new style. he didn't know what to think at first, but really liked it by the end. My wife will probably always hate sours - but I make her try em anyway.