No sooner than we started Russian River Week on The Hopry it comes to an end. Trust me, if I had more of their beers to review (that I haven’t already reviewed) I would have tried to post five straight days this week. No other brewery blows my mind the way Vinnie and his staff does. However, I will tell you that of all the beers I reviewed this week, this Consecration was my least favorite. This is puzzling because I swore up and down that it would be the best. What do I know? I guess that’s the beauty of beer – there’s always a surprise around the corner. Now, that’s not to say it’s not a success, that’s just to say the hype in my mind elevated this beer further than it probably should have. Consecration, a barrel-aged dark Belgian Ale, pours a beautifully clear but mahogany color with a soft thin layer of off-white head. The nose is just what you’d expected from the barrel-aged funk beers from RR, but surprising enough this one has the least amount of funk. The taste does not put off as much flavor as you’d think, either. There is a bit of tartness, but it’s matched by an equal amount of astringent bitterness. This is definitely one to share and not drink all by yourself – of course, unless you can get the smaller 375ml bottle. Up next: Kuhnhenn Mayhem
Check out all sessions of The Hopry here.
This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Wild Nothing “Summer Holiday”
Brewery: Russian River
Beer: Consecration
Style: American Wild Ale
Location: Santa Rosa, California
ABV: 10%
Rating: 90/100
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Posted by Isaac on June 25, 2010 at 1:51 AM
Just thought I would let you know that Lactobacillus and Pediococcus are not actual yeasts but are bacteria. It doesn’t really make much a difference but they are technically classified different and do have different effects on the beer.
I enjoyed the review and have been wanting to try this beer for some time now. Now you’ve made the thirst even worse
Keep up the good work.
Posted by Jon on June 25, 2010 at 2:09 AM
Like I said on the last post, the Temptation is my favorite sour from RR. That being said, I’m also a huge fan of the Damnation as well. (Picked up three 375ml bottles today.)
Posted by Big Mike on June 25, 2010 at 6:34 AM
I must say I’m surprised at your reaction to this one. What was the batch number on your bottle? I just popped a 003×1 that I’ve been sitting on for a while and I had some different results then you did. First, there was a crazy amount of effervesence. I mean tons and tons of bubbles streaming to the top of the glass when I poured it. And also I got very little bitterness from it. I’m curious if we had different batches.
I’ve actually had this and Supplication side by side on tap the same day I had PTY and prefered the Consecration over the other two.
Cheers!
Big Mike
Posted by Landshark on June 25, 2010 at 11:07 PM
OK beer. Bret is evident but not surprisingly so. Typical VC beer. Funky flavors but not a beer that friends would drink. Similar to headcheese. If you like it (which I don’t) you’ll like this (and Vinny’s brews).
IMO – This brew has too much noise to it.. Lots of flavors but collectively it tastes weird. Temptation is definitely better to me. Definitely worth trying. Drink up and evaluate yourself!
Overall great RR week!
-Shark
Posted by bubba83 on July 12, 2010 at 1:45 AM
Hi Mark,
Which Russian River beers have you not yet had that they bottle? I might be able to help you out in this regard via a trade at some point down the line. Is there anywhere we can go to see which beers you’ve had and haven’t had? Maybe a beeradvocate or ratebeer profile with up to date reviews?
-Kevin
Posted by thehopry on July 12, 2010 at 7:51 AM
Hey Kevin –
In addition to Damnation (which I haven’t reviewed here yet) you can click the sessions tab at the top of this page and see all the RR beers I’ve reviewed. It’s pretty much all of them with the exception of some of the more one-off bottlings. But I’m always looking to try new RR beers that’s for sure…
Thanks,
Mark Starr
Posted by Rob on August 30, 2011 at 12:44 PM
My favorite from RRBC is PtE and PtY…can’t say I like one over the other. As for the Sours, I do prefer consecration to the others but I have only recently gotten into sours a couple months ago. That being said, I had a 12oz pour from a year and 1/2 old keg of Supplication this past weekend and talk about tart. Good Stuff. Was able to try Damnation batch 23 at the Toronado 3 months back and that was mind blowing, especially because I’m not too big a fan of the style so I was surprised.
I noticed your last review was Nemesis. The last Barleywine that took me by surprise was Green Flash’s Barleywine. It was fantastic and my expectations were…I don’t want to say low, but so-so. Recommended.
Cheers Mark!