Weyerbacher Riserva 2010

One of my favorite local microbreweries is the Weyerbacher Brewing Company. Although I was somewhat disappointed by their Imperial Pumpkin Ale when I reviewed it at Halloween, I love their Double Simcoe IPA and Old Heathen Barleywine. Over the past year or so I’ve been staring at their Riserva 2010 Raspberry American Wild Ale every time I checkout at The Foodery, and I finally broke down and bought a bottle. As Riserva is a bottle conditioned wild ale (translation: a sour ale that was carbonated by yeast after it was bottled, for all the non-beer fanatics out there), every year is significantly different, and even within a year bottles will vary depending on age and storage conditions.

Weyerbacher is a moderate sized microbrewery located in ­­­­Easton, PA. The brewery was founded in 1995 by Dan and Sue Weirbeck, and in 2005 purchased Victory Brewing Company’s 25 barrel brew system, and since then has continued to upgrade their brewhouse and equipment. Among the upgrades is a new bottling line that increased their capacity to 250 cases per hour, which along with the new brewhouse has allowed the company to expand distribution to 18 states.

The beer poured a deep, clear red amber with golden highlights; these highlights were accentuated by the fact that virtually no head or lacing was present. When I initially uncorked this beer, I noticed that there was very little positive pressure in the bottle, which to be honest scares me a bit. Weyerbacher, however, actually noted this on the side of the bottle, stating that the elevated acidity inhibited the carbonation in the beer; this makes sense, as a lower pH will reduce the viability of the yeast needed for bottle conditioning. The aroma was low, but was dark and almost spicy, drawing significantly on the non-sweet, tangy notes from the raspberries.

The initial impression from this beer is of a very intense sourness; so sour, in fact, that I got the jaw-locking sensation I recall from Warheads candy. I noticed this intense sourness even before I noticed any of the mouthfeel, which is quite unusual, but despite its intensity it lacked the complexity of the Russian River sours I’ve tried. Russian River gets this complexity by mixing multiple types of bacteria with multiple strains of Brettanomyces, so it’s likely that Riserva uses a substantially less complex mix of souring agents. The mouthfeel was fairly thick, and grew to be almost cloying during the aftertaste. The carbonation was quite low, but at the very end of the sip had a very subtle and fine fizziness, accentuated by an acidic bite. The taste of this beer was dominated by the raspberry character, which actually reminded me of fake raspberry flavor. This likely resulted from the large amount of puree that was added to the wort; the sugars fermented, leaving behind the only the flavor-causing compounds. Despite the overpowering raspberry, this was a surprisingly sweet beer. I suspect the sweetness is from sugars added to carbonate the bottle, but which were unused due to preserving action of the acidity. The last thing I noticed about this beer is that it lingered, leaving an unpleasant sourness in the mouth long after I had finished drinking it. I like sour, but I also want to have my taste buds intact.

I actually like this beer, but I think it’s got some room for improvement. I’d like to see the complexity of the sourness increased, although that may come with age, and I’d like both the sweetness and the raspberry to be dialed back a bit. If you like sour fruit beers, give this one a shot, but other than that I would leave it alone; the price coupled with the sourness make this a hard beer to justify unless you know you like the style.

Price: $21.50

Size: 750 mL

ABV: 11.4%

Appearance: 4 /5

Aroma: 3.5/5

Flavor: 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: 4/5

Consecration - Russian River Brewing Company

As I relaxed over Christmas break, I had the opportunity to try the third beer in the series from Russian River Brewing Company, Consecration. The first beer I tried was Damnation, which was a golden strong ale, and the second was a brown ale barrel aged in Pinot Noir oak barrels with sour cherries named Supplication. Consecration is a dark strong ale that has been aged in cabernet sauvignon barrels with black currents.

Russian River Brewing Company was started in 1997 by Korbel Champagne Cellars, who then sold the business to the head brewer, Vinnie Cilurzo, in 2002. Vinnie has since expanded both the brewery and his distribution region, making a name for himself with extreme IPAs and sour Belgian-inspired beers like the Supplication I reviewed last term. Like Supplication, Consecration is a sour beer, which means it was inoculated with a souring agent. Russian River actually uses four different souring agents in their beer. First is the fruit, currents in Consecration and cherries in Supplication. After the beer has finished its fermentation with Saccharomyces it is dosed with Brettanomyces (another form of yeast) and Pediococcus and Lactobacillus (two forms of bacteria), all of which digest sugars that Saccharomyces cannot to produce lactic acid and other sour tasting compounds.

Consecration poured a clear, golden amber with a beautiful reddish hue. The clarity was excellent, although care must be taken when pouring any bottle conditioned beer so as not to disturb the yeast sediment on the bottom (unless it is a hefe, as these beers are meant to be consumed with a heavy yeast suspension); this sediment tastes nasty, and ruins the last glass of beer. The head was tan and fairly thin, but of a very fine texture and left beautiful lacing on the glass. The aroma was sweet, sour, and slightly fruity, but the most distinct scent was actually of vanilla, almost like a bourbon; overall the scent was very complex. The carbonation was smooth, with some sparkling highlights that tickled a bit. This was not nearly the sparkly carbonation I’ve experienced with many other beers, which can be pretty harsh, and paired very well with the thick, full body. The taste was quite sour and acidic, while maintaining some sweetness, but the overall balance was quite good, and the sourness was not nearly at the level of the Supplication.

This was actually one of the best beers I have ever had, right next to Supplication, and I can’t recommend it enough. Both beers are sour beers, however, and not particularly cheap; If you are interested in trying something new, go for it, but if you like your Natural Ice, buy a case of that instead and be happy.

Size: 375 mL

Price: $17.50

ABV: 10.0%

Look: 5/5

Smell: 5/5

Taste: 5/5

Mouthfeel: 5/5

Supplication - Russian River

This week we have the second beer from Russian River Brewing Company. The first beer I reviewed was Damnation, which was a very good example of the Belgian Strong Ale and proved to me that Russian River can produce a good, basic Belgian style beer. The second beer I’ve tried is called Supplication, a brown ale that has been aged in French oak Pinot Noir barrels with sour cherries and several different strains of souring agents.

The brewery was created in 1997 by Korbel Champagne Cellars when they decided to diversify their markets by entering the brewing business. Vinnie Cilurzo, then head brewer, began winning awards within two years, and in 2002 Korbel sold the brewery to Vinnie. Cilurzo soon moved the operation from Guerneville to a new, larger brewery in Santa Rosa, California so that he could meet the rapidly increasing demand for his beers. Currently, Russian River offers a variety of beers in bottles and on tap in their brew pub, but their primary lines are their IPAs and Belgian-style beers.

Most beers are brewed using a strain of the Saccharomyces genus of yeast, which has been selected over time to provide a specific flavor profile. Ale yeasts typically belong to the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which typically form a thick layer of foam on top of the wort during fermentation and work at a relatively warm temperature of 60-70°F and finish quickly. Lager yeasts generally belong to the species Saccharomyces pastorianus, which ferment much more slowly at sub-60°F, but finish with a drier, cleaner product.

There are many other species of yeast, however, and the beer in question this week is fermented using yeast from the same family, Saccharomycetacae, but a different genus, Brettanomyces. Brettanomyces produce distinctive sour flavors, which give sour beers their name. The yeast is in Supplication is actually a blend of three different species of Brettanomyces (B. claussenii, B. bruxellensis and B. lambicus), backed up by Lactobacillus and Pediococcus, which are two strains of bacteria that also provide sour flavors. Both Brettanomyces and the bacteria slowly ferment sugars that Saccharomyces will not, resulting in a dry beer that continues to mature in the bottle.

Supplication poured a clear, reddish gold with a thin, light tan head. The head was extremely fine, and persisted for a very long time; it actually reformed quite easily upon swirling the beer in the glass, and left a beautiful, long-lived lacing on the side of the glass. The aroma was a complex sweet and sour, that managed to be strong and delicate at the same time. The body was fairly thick, but this was offset by the fairly high carbonation at low temperature, and began to thin out at warmer temperatures. The taste was very sour, to the point that it reminded me of Warheads or Sour Patch Kids, however it was much smoother than I would have thought possible. The sour of the cherries blended perfectly with the sour beer character, and all the favors complemented each other without clashing.

What truly made this beer, however, was its behavior at warm temperature. Good beer should get better at warm temperature, as your taste buds become more sensitive and more compounds begin to volatilize; this can cut both ways, however, as increased temperature will also reveal off-flavors (now think about why some beers insist that they be served “Cold As The Rockies”). This beer, however, opened up beautifully; it just became more and more complex, while the sourness mellowed out slightly. I was not able to detect any off flavors in this beer, and the flavor profile was just way beyond my palate.

Honestly, I have never tasted a better beer than this one. It was so complex, and just got better and better as it warmed up. The flavor profile and depth is more reminiscent of wine than most beers, so make sure you grab a wine glass or snifter so that you can appreciate the aroma. I cannot recommend this beer enough, although be warned; the price of this beer is in keeping with its quality.

Size: 375 mL

Price: $14.50

ABV: 7.0%

Look: 5/5

Smell: 5/5

Taste: 5/5

Mouthfeel: 5/5