Supplication - Russian River Brewing Company

kevanb

Illinois

4.56/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

375ml bottle, Batch 010, poured into a Russian River "-tion" stemmed glass.

Russian River Supplication (Batch 010)

The beer pours a very nice burgundy color, hues of medium amber, orange and ruby, a touch of fizzy off-white head rises out of the glass but dissipates instantaneously leaving no lacing. It's fairly clear, a touch of haze, lots of bubbles rising to the top of the glass, certainly looks to be a lively beer. The aroma is very intense, strong cherry presence with a nice amount of red wine behind it, earthy wood and funk with some mild vinegar also leap out of the glass. The flavors are simply wonderful, especially as the beer warms and decants, nice juicy cherry, tanin heavy red grape that brings out a bit of a leathery flavor as well from the barrel. The oak flavors really come to form on the tongue, smooth, a bit sweet and just a touch chewy, a bit of tobacco comes through with the wood as well that quickly gets faded out by an assertive but not dominating vinegar presence that brings out the acidity in these flavors, balancing out the earthiness a bit. The body is very lively, high levels of carbonation, prickly on the tongue and as it goes down with a nice dry finish.

Verdict: A truly world class Wild Ale. One of the more complex beers on the market and one of the finest examples of what a sour beer can become. Everything is in harmony with each sip, a beer everyone must try.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2013 22:29:30 | More by kevanb

beagle75

Iowa

4.61/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Poured from a 375 ml bottle into a tulip glass.
Batch 5

A: Slightly hazy, medium amber color with an off-white peripheral ring of small bubbles. Light lacing remains on the glass.

S: Red fruit--a pleasant combination of berries and cherries--and musty oak are both featured prominently. Bacterial culture is also detectable, although not overpowering or detracting. Qualities suggest extreme transformation of beer-type ingredients, with practically nothing recognizable as malt or hops.

T: Begins off-dry, with dynamic stone fruit and sourness that seems explosively intense at first exposure but becomes quite comfortable as the beer warms. Oak also takes a few beats to develop, but once present it infuses the flavor profile from beginning to end. Some yeast funk turns the middle into a tidy, well-ventilated goat pasture. A whiff of sulfurous bitterness toward the finish is like green wild mustard stems.

M: Thin to medium viscosity, wet and cooling on the palate while acidity is confined to the throat, with moderate carbonation.

D/O: One of Russian River's signature wine barrel-aged wild ales, Supplication excels at finding the happy medium between the golden Temptation and the high gravity Consecration. While the former is overtly wine-affected and the latter is really challenging of any palate, this is just right. It successfully captures the mood of an authentic Belgian Kriek, at times comparable to lambics and Flanders-style ales. It deserves to be held up as one of the superlative examples of why Russian River beer is so good.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2013 19:29:21 | More by beagle75

mwgroove23

Georgia

5/5  rDev +9.4%

05-24-2013 04:33:45 | More by mwgroove23

Jeremy_H

Illinois

5/5  rDev +9.4%

05-24-2013 01:49:51 | More by Jeremy_H

Yosefus

North Carolina

5/5  rDev +9.4%

05-23-2013 01:07:37 | More by Yosefus

grover37

District of Columbia

4.75/5  rDev +3.9%

05-22-2013 04:20:07 | More by grover37

SirBentham

California

4.5/5  rDev -1.5%

05-22-2013 02:49:36 | More by SirBentham

shagens

Wisconsin

4.5/5  rDev -1.5%

05-21-2013 14:59:48 | More by shagens

drrone

Arizona

4.75/5  rDev +3.9%

05-21-2013 05:58:09 | More by drrone

CosmoHopHead

Kansas

5/5  rDev +9.4%

05-21-2013 04:02:24 | More by CosmoHopHead

tastyville

California

4.75/5  rDev +3.9%

05-21-2013 02:36:23 | More by tastyville

andant

New York

5/5  rDev +9.4%

05-20-2013 19:35:21 | More by andant

langchops

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev -1.5%

05-20-2013 16:40:29 | More by langchops

Ctrauty

Minnesota

5/5  rDev +9.4%

05-20-2013 01:27:26 | More by Ctrauty

jloomis

Florida

5/5  rDev +9.4%

05-20-2013 00:23:14 | More by jloomis

GuzzLah

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A - pours a hazy amber with a standard head that dissipates and forms a ring around the glass. No lace. Too hazy to see bubbles.

S - relatively soft aroma. Pedio/lacto sourness, sour cherry, oak, soft malt and pinot noir.

T - is similar to the aroma. Sour cherry dominates upfront, but not intense like a Kriek. Pinot noir and oak follows the cherry in the finish. Very nice flavor!

M - medium body. Creamy, bubbly and slightly oily. Quite acetic with a long and really pleasantly warm winey finish.

O - absolutely delicious. The pinot noir barrels compliment a sour cherry ale very nicely.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2013 21:15:02 | More by GuzzLah

themilkman87

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev -7%

05-19-2013 15:33:40 | More by themilkman87

alanv

California

5/5  rDev +9.4%

05-18-2013 21:23:31 | More by alanv

eyeenjoybeer

Indiana

4.5/5  rDev -1.5%

05-18-2013 16:44:58 | More by eyeenjoybeer

HopBrain

New Jersey

4.75/5  rDev +3.9%

05-18-2013 16:23:40 | More by HopBrain

ShemRahBoo

New Jersey

4.75/5  rDev +3.9%

05-18-2013 15:11:52 | More by ShemRahBoo

jtladner

District of Columbia

4.25/5  rDev -7%

05-18-2013 13:38:02 | More by jtladner

Netdogca

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev -1.5%

05-18-2013 03:14:56 | More by Netdogca

abeerdude

California

4.5/5  rDev -1.5%

05-17-2013 22:04:32 | More by abeerdude

SMITHAND

Oregon

4.5/5  rDev -1.5%

05-17-2013 16:33:54 | More by SMITHAND