From Russia With Love

Russian River. If you're a beer geek then those two words speak volumes. I was invited to a bonfire at my buddies house and decided I wanted to bring something special. I stopped at the Foodery in NoLibs and to my surprise they had Russian River!! For you people who don't know what this beer is all about, let me educate you. Russian River is a small brew pub in Santa Rosa, California who only releases a small amount of beers outside of the brewery each year. Philadelphia is the only city on the east coast who recieves bottles of this beer! Big ups to Philly! They have been around for about 10 years and continue to walk the fine line when it comes to experimenting with the possibilities of beer. I have read countless articles about Russian River's "Barrel Aged" beers and wanted to give it a shot. When I say barrel aged, well, the damn beer is aged in a barrel!! Similar to wine, whiskey or bourbon, these beers are aged for a certain period of time to achieve maximum flavor. Back to my experience.....seeing this beer in the case was like Indiana Jones finding the Holy Grail. I picked up three bottles and went to my buddies crib to see Cliff Lee throw some scoreless innings. The three I chose were Temptation and 2 bottles of Damnation. Let's start with Temptation......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. I have to say that I wasn't a fan. I'm not really a fan of chardonnay and this beer really tasted like chardonnay!! I am glad I decided to try this one though, it was too intriguing to pass up. Next up to bat was Damnation. Damnation is classified as a Belgian Strong Pale Ale. I tend to like Pale Ale's, so I was excited to pop this one open. It's a bit of a paradox, as it's crisp and creamier all in the same bout. I had a lot of floral taste, with a nice helping of the Belgian yeast's spicy nature and definitely a lot of fruit in there, like plum, pear, apple, and orange rind. The taste is sort-of like an apple juice, in a weird way. Ummm, again, not a big fan. I thought it was much to sweet and at 7.75 ABV, I was expecting a little more bite. This blog should serve as a lesson and in the words of Flava Flav...don't believe the hype!!