Session # 146 | Russian River | Damnation | 7.75% ABV
Belgian Strong Pale Ale | Santa Rosa, California | Rating: 90/100
One year ago: Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
If you click the “Breweries” tab at the top of this site you’ll see that Russian River is currently my #2 favorite brewery (just behind Founders). Sometimes it’s really difficult to choose one over the other. Nevertheless, today’s beer called Damnation shows that even the simple beers are made extremely well at Russian River. Vinnie Cilurzo has become a master of producing very clean tasting beers and this one is no exception. It poured into the glass about as clear as any beer I’ve ever seen; especially knowing that there was yeast sediment in the bottom of the bottle. I couldn’t help but notice right away how much it resembled Duvel in its appearance. The aromas were just as suspected: clean but dominate. There was a huge bit of over-ripened banana and clove from the yeast and a light floral character from the slight bit of hops. The bitterness, sweetness, and spiciness were all on the same page in the taste. Again, the banana and clove characters ran the show followed by the malty sweetness and finally a light bitterness from the hops. Put simply, Damnation is a non-flashy well-crafted Belgian beer at its near finest.
Check out all sessions of The Hopry here.
This beer can be found in these states.
Listening To: Say Hi “November Was White, December Was Grey”
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Posted by Jon on February 21, 2011 at 11:48 AM
Love this beer and yes it is readily available anywhere that RR distributes. To your point, a clean, well made beer that provides a great American interpretation of a Belgian beer. I usually go to this as well as RR Redemption when I’m looking for a Belgium fix.
Posted by thehopry on February 21, 2011 at 11:55 AM
It really amazes me how clean his beers are.
Posted by theReaper16 on February 21, 2011 at 9:32 PM
This beer is so good. It’d make an excellent food pairing; I wish it were available in KC for that reason alone. What I love most is that it succeeds as an homage to Duvel without just being a clone of it. I get some unique flavors out of Damnation: cedar, honeydew melon, a bit of Five Alive juice drink. Lovely, lovely stuff.
Posted by jason h on February 22, 2011 at 12:38 PM
I love this beer. If it was more in the price range of La Fin, I would have it more often. I prefer it to Duvel. I actually thing the Redemption is closer to Duvel than the Damnation. One thing is I think I have generally poured the yeast in. Need to go grab another bottle. Didn’t know they recommended keeping it out.
Posted by Big Mike on February 23, 2011 at 5:16 AM
This is the most widely available RR beer around here. Even most half assed bottle shops carry Damnation. Priced reasonably too at $4.99-$5.49 a bottle. I think Duvel is a slightly better beer then this.
On a side note, Sanctification and Redemption just hit the Philly market. I was able to grab a couple today.
Cheers!
Big Mike
-Mark, shoot me an email if you’re interested me sending you any of these RR beers.