Salvation - Russian River Brewing Company

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BA SCORE
92
exceptional
-
773 Ratings

rAvg: 4.11
pDev: 9.98%
Reviews: 435
Hads: 338

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
Russian River Brewing Company

California, United States

Style | ABV
Belgian Strong Dark Ale | 9.00% ABV

Availability: Winter. bottle (369), on-tap (61), growler (5).

Notes:
No notes at this time.

View: Beers (46) | Reviews (247) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by MiScusi:

MiScusi

California

4.03/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Batch 006

A- dark brown, a clear liquid but very dark, can't see through int he glass. Huge light tan pillowy head forms on the pour.

S/T- powder chocolate and caramel in the aroma. The same goes for the taste. I don't get much fruit or Belgian yeast phenols at all really, it seems pretty clean (cleaner than maybe it should be?). The flavor is rich and definitely chocolate dominant.

M- Pretty light. Maybe just short of medium.

D- Good beer, no off flavors that I could tell, but might start to lose interest in this towards the end of the glass.

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2009 15:32:35 | More by MiScusi

More User Reviews:

InspectorBob

New Jersey

4/5 rDev -2.7%

05-23-2013 20:58:31 | More by InspectorBob

MinorThreat

Colorado

4/5 rDev -2.7%

05-23-2013 16:45:54 | More by MinorThreat

kevanb

Illinois

4.05/5 rDev -1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4

375ml bottle, batch 011, poured into a Russian River "Tion" stemmed glass.

The beer pours a deep burgundy color, touches of garnet and amber with a fluffy 2 fingers of off white head that has very good retention and leaves just a spot or so of lace behind. The aroma is fairly tame, dark pitted fruit, raisin, clovey yeast with some tannins and tobacco with some pepper on the finish, alcohol is masked nicely. Lots of plum and raisin on the tongue, backing dark grainy malt and cracked peppercorn with a bit of chocolate and leather at the finish. The body is nice, rich yet silky with a moderate level of carbonation that is just lively enough to dance on the tongue and it finishes with a nice smooth creaminess and warms slightly as it goes down.

Verdict: A nice Belgian Strong Dark Ale from Russian River that vastly improves as it warms. It does lack the deep complexity from a more authentic Belgian Dark, but this is one of the premier examples made domestically and a worthy brew for any Belgian lover.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2013 01:12:38 | More by kevanb

mxchap

California

4/5 rDev -2.7%

05-21-2013 04:13:14 | More by mxchap

GuzzLah

Illinois

3.68/5 rDev -10.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A - pours a dark brown with almost no head and poor retention. No lace. Light bubbles.

S - low intensity until swirled. Raisin, bready malt, chocolate malt and cherry ester.

T - is similar to the aroma. Mostly raisin and mild chocolate.

M - medium-full body. Oily. Warming, boozy finish, but not harsh.

O - a well made BDSA that is relatively conservative in flavor and aroma. Not nearly as impressive as Rochefort, etc.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2013 01:22:39 | More by GuzzLah