Beer Review 71: Beatification Batch 3

When it comes to making American Wild Ales, Vinnie from Russian River knows best. The whole sour line-up that is produced by Russian River Brewing is fantastic, from the year round productions of Supplication, Temptation, and Consecration, to the limited releases like Sanctification and Compunction and the ever spontaneous appearance of Beatification! This beer might be the best American produced sour beer I have had to date, it is complex, funky, sour, delicious, and way to drinkable. Beatification is a spontaneously fermented beer inspired by the Belgian sour beer making way. No yeast is added to the beer, it is put in a tank over night to collect whatever yeast and bacteria might be floating around and later transferred into a wine oak barrel where it sits and ferments for months. For all us craft beer nuts out there, we aspire to try this beer, we try to convince someone to trade us a bottle,which isn't easy to do, especially for the older vintages(batches ph1-3) or we try to become friends with someone who has one and have them share their bottle with us. Furthermore,  what I'm trying to get to is this: If you have a chance to get a bottle get it. If you have a chance to buy one, especially an older bottling, buy it (short of selling of your first born or home of course). Moreover, I'm one of the lucky few who over time has been able to not only try different vintages of this beer, but also own a few different batches of this beer and I must say that to this date.... batch 3 is still my favorite. What makes this vintage so sought  is that its the one year Russian River bottled Beatification in a 750 ml bottle. I believe when this came out it sold for $20.00 or more depending on where you bought it. As most of you know who read this blog I'm a big stickler for using proper glassware and its no different for this beer. A goblet or or champagne flute will do wonders for this beer, so please pour this beer into its proper glass. As for what to pair this beer with, I say nothing; do not ruin the greatness of this beer by shoving food in your mouth, enjoy the excellent craftsmanship that went into making this beer sublime! Lastly, like all well made sours Beatification can be cellared for a long time, so don't rush and drink it all at once.... save it for the right occasion.

Color: Golden to blonde with a few orange highlights. A thin white bubbly head appears but quickly reduces to a white ring around the glass. Leaves behind some head retention, but no lace.

Nose: Extreme and complex. Sourness, barnyard textures, funk, lemon scent, and mellow grassy notes.

Palate: Like heaven on the tongue. Extremely drinkable for how sour it is. The carbonation is perfect, no trace of alcohol and its tingles your taste buds. As this beer sits in your mouth waves of sour lemon and oak coat the tongue , later the grassy notes appear in soft gentle way. Truly well crafted.

Finish: Long and dry with plenty of layers. Tart and funky, sour and lightly fruity, and yea very drinkable till the last drop. A masterful sour!

Rating: 97/100