Russian River Toronado 25th Anniversary

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Poured up at GABF 2012 with a crystal clear deep gold body that supports a firm light tan colored head of foam that seems to have thin ribbons of red hues here and there as well. The aroma is big and brash and almost bruising with aromatic notes. I get cherry and various tart to acidic notes and then sort of a lemon lime like sourness with even more cherry like notes around the edges. Hmm. The taste begins with a brief glimpse of sort of neutral malts and a bit of cherry. A moment later robust tartness fills in and takes over with a mix of lemon and lime acidity and a dash of vinegar. This ends puckeringly and bruisingly tart like a pure tart candy nuanced by a bit of vinegar and straight up acidity. This is way too tart and acidic for me to really enjoy. So this was aged in oak or something, had me fooled. I don’t get even the slightest sense of barrel or wood or oak. Smells like stainless to me.