Russian River Temptation
Russian River Temptation
Rated 4.112 by BeerPals
Brewed by Russian River Brewing
Santa Rosa, CA, United States
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
7.3% Alcohol by Volume
27 International Bittering Units
Availability of this beer is unknown
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Is it beer, or is it wine? "Aged in French oak wine barrels for twelve months with distinct characteristics of fruit and subtle oak" sounds more like a description of wine than beer. But, of course, Temptation is indeed beer. Actually, Temptation is a Blonde Ale Fermented with a special strain of yeast, then aged in French oak chardonnay barrels. Flavors of wine and oak absorb into the brew throughout twelve months of aging. During this aging process, a secondary fermentation occurs using a yeast strain disliked by most brewers and winemakers called Brettanomyces. The "Bret" gives Temptation intriguing characteristics and a pleasant sourness. Temptation is re-fermented in the bottle to create its carbonation--a process commonly used to make fine champagne and sparkling wine. Spent yeast forms a thin layer of sediment to remain in the bottle. Silver Medal, 2007 GABF (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer) Gold Medal, 2006 World Beer Cup (Other Belgian Style Ale Category) Silver Medal, 2004 World Beer Cup (Other Belgian Style Ale Category) Silver Medal, 2003 GABF (Belgian Ale Category) Gold Medal, 2002 GABF (Belgian Ale Category)
ID: 12889 Last updated 3 days ago Added to database 19 years agoKey Stats
percentile
0
Drunk23
Reviews0
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Most noted beer attributes
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Statistics
| Overall Rank | 41 |
| Overall Percentile | 99.9 |
| Style Rank | 6 of 1570 |
| Style Percentile | 99.6 |
| Lowest Score | 3.3 |
| Highest Score | 4.8 |
| Average Score | 4.257 |
| Weighted Score | 4.112 |
| Standard Deviation | 0.449 |
Rating Distribution
Beer vs Style
23 Member Reviews
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Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 9
Sample at the SLC tasting 12/11/09 (batch 004)
Appearance: Pours a hazy blonde with a small white head
Aroma: Sweet, floral, yeast and citrus
Taste: Sour apple, fruits with some wood flavor -
Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8
Bottle batch 006 thanks to timfoolery: Poured an orange with thin white head. Aroma is woodsy and fruit. Taste is full of wood and tingly brett, sour edges of fruit. Over all mild which I enjoy in a sour/wild ale.
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Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8
Courtesy of TampaBrew. Pours hazy dirty sand with thin white head. The aroma has white grapes, a touch of lemon, some mild notes of hay, malts, grains and some sour and tart notes. The taste is thin, fresh, and crisp with some grains and malts moving into light color skin grapes and then tart notes. I get some acidity and tartness heading into the finish as it evens out and comes to the end of the taste.
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Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9
Another beer I thought I'd never get to try - generous sample @ #KnoxBeerCrew tasting. Hazy amber gold pour, tight tall head, light lacing. Tart funky and yeasty aroma - pears and apples, some zesty fruits. Zesty tart and sour upfront, pears, apples, peaches - lots of tree fruits going on - sour then sweet, yeasty and again funky, some woodsy quality then tart again... I LOVE IT! Wow, what a beer. SUPER glad to get to try it. Wasn't on my Wish List but it should have been!
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Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 10
sampled 7/8/09. 375ml bottle with mitch. Batch 1! pours a golden color, thin head. woo! this one is all funkified. aroma is earthy, musty, sweaty, fruity, tart. taste is tart, funky, fruity. some underlying oakiness. winey. good carbonation. body is medium. finish is crisp, dry. aftertaste is funky. Thanks for sharing this one, Mitch!
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Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9
February 2011 Vertical Tasting: Sampled bottles from batches 5, 4, and 3 prior to dinner. Batch 5 was extremely sharp and very tart with lots of passion fruit. Dry and quenching this was the most upfront of the three. Batch 4 had toned down slightly and was more drinkable, while still maintaining a sharp acidity. Batch 3 was well aged and had blended nicely, it would be very approachable for both the sour fan and one new to the style. Tangy and tart mango and pear were prominent, but the sharp edge had faded by this point. All in all I preferred the Batch 4 as it struck a nice balance between fresh and aggressive compared to the well aged and subdued.
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Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7
It pours a lightly hazy golden-yellow with a thin white head and copious lacing. An aroma of apples, pears, oranges, bread and yeast, and mild spices. The mouthfeel is smooth and rich. Flavors of sweet and sour malts, apples, pears, tart, citrus blend, and spiciness. Very tart, but tasty.
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Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8
wake up! pours a shimmer gold .. . medium white bubbly headring .. . citrus and sweet and sour aromas . .. nice bracing bite, refreshing and very elegant. . a great sour quaffer!
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Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 10
Batch 3. 375ml. Courtesy of cloudskipper. A huge POP upon uncorking the bottle. Golden color with a real thick off-white head and a nice foam remains on top until the last drop. Wow, what a great aroma, champagne, brett, chardonnay, lemon, yeast, flowers, nice nose. Flavors are tart, acidic and sour with a wonderful bretty dry numbing. Chardonnay and oak does show in the flavor with lemon, grapes and a bit of funk. What an amazing beer. Kudos to Vinnie for brewing this and to Chris for hooking me up!
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Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9
ok, Russian River knows what they're doing with the Belgian style. This is one of the better ones I've tried. I've only had it on tap...hopefully, as it's corked, it's just as good in the bottle. A little pricey, but worth trying. had for the third time last night-just a sample, but it's grown on me a little (not that i didn't like it before). the brett & barreling seemed more aggressive this time, which was a good thing. near mouth-puckering yuminess.
