Russian River Salvation

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

A great big Belgian. Big yeasty, bready nose with all the dark fruits you would expect. Flavor is more of the same with a candi sugar sweetness and a big full body. One of the best American belgians that I can think of.

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

375 ml bottle poured slowly - dark brown with a soapy, thin white head. Aromas of bubblegum, banana, and clove with notes of black pepper. Major malt backbone that lends a wheat bread type taste is met with a strong dark fruit presence - notably raisins. The yeast works perfectly with the malt bill to make this a very nice American take in the Belgian style. Very well done.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

It pours a dark-brown/mahogany with a thick and foamy light-tan head and copious lacing. An aroma of roasted malts, coffee, hops, orange, tangerine, and grapefruit, raisin and dates, grapes, apple, and spiciness. The mouthfeel is smooth and rich. Flavors of sweet roasted malts, hops, oranges and grapefruit, raisins and dates, apples, grapes, light molasses and spiciness. Excellent!

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

I had this beer as part of a 14 beer sampler at the Russian River Brew Pub on 14 July 2011. A SUPER solid beer. This was a complex beer with notes of licorice, dried fruit, and a bit of spice. Great beer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Thursday evening tasting in Illinois, Salvation was sandwiched between a couple of big stouts and it really hit the spot. Yeasty with some offsetting spice backed by a very nice malt and sugar backdrop.

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

A good-looking dark ale. The foam sits on the brown ale pleasantly. The smell and the taste are both sweet and somewhat spicy, but the spice favors the tongue while the sweet favors the nose. The beer has nice carbonation but gets a bit sticky. I would like to try an aged bottle, but this new one lacks a bit in complexity and finish. Edit: I tried this beer on tap at RR (10/19/08) and liked it even more, so I’ve raised the scores somewhat. This is an absolutely delicious beer with some of the best coloring that I’ve ever seen. It’s brown with golden highlights at the edges. The flavor is complex, and it succeeds marvelously.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

I'm gonna slash and gash, cut another hole in your ass. I spill blood on the walls, then play tennis with your balls. If the phone rings, don't answer the call. Gonna slit your throat, fuck you like a goat, peel your foreskin off and make a winter coat. Peace! .. . Pours a hazy amber, fantastic foam features .. . some dark fruit, yeast, touch of spice and maybe nutmeg? .. . a good beer from RR but i like their sours more..

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

The final beer of my Russian River experience. A fine beer if you ask me (and since you didn't I have to post my findings). The ale is dark brown with a hefty sweet malt aroma, and some yeast. The flavour is malty up front and has a spicy bitter finish. Excellent!

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

Batch 008, courtesy of cloudskipper. Thanks Chris! This pours a dark brown color with amber highlights and is topped with a frothy tan head. A nice, interesting mix of dark fruits such as plums, blend with lighter fruits, most notably banana in the aroma with spices, yeast and cloves. This really is a smooth drinking beer. There is a touch of alcohol with an assortment of spices in the finish but it drinks easy for 9%. A lot of dark fruit and spice flavors with banana too but I’d say that is more prominent in the aroma than flavor. After about half the bottle I started pairing this with some cheese per the suggestion on the bottle and it was in fact a good match. Very good example of the style and flavors seem very authentic. In a blind taste test I’d probably say this came from Belgium.

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

quite good - i think this is the better half of the RR/Avery Collaberation, but funny enough, neither beer is as good as the combo. this one has banana and spices, with other dark fruits and a heavier body as well. A very quaffable ale!