Russian River Damnation Batch 23/46/69 (Oak Aged)
We turned our regular Damnation recipe into a Tripel. It is bittered with Tomahawk and has Sterling and Cascade in the mid-boil and finish. The beer was then aged on new American oak chips for two to three weeks.
3.9
385 reviews
Santa Rosa, United States
Community reviews
Bottle. Wow. Very different from the regular Damnation but you can definitely spot the connection. Looks like a RR brew in the glass, elegant. Taste is complex like fine white wine; lots of oak, but also fruit, Belgian yeast, slight tartness, more. Sweet but well-balanced. 11% ABV sounds right but it doesn’t call attention to itself as in many strong ales. Didn’t expect this to be a favorite but it kinda knocked me out.
Bottle (375 ml). Batch #069. Thanks to Scott for this one! Clear golden with no head and no lacing. Aroma is of candi, fruity notes, spices/yeast, alcohol, oak, some sweetness and minty notes. Taste is moderately sweet with oak, malt, light spices, candi, mint and a light warming (alcohol) finish. Medium body. Almost completely flat. Somewhat oily mouthfeel. Ok Tripel, but the absence of carbonation don’t help what could have been a good beer... it decrease drinkability and gives to much place to the alcohol.
bottle shared by tom10101, thanks bro. pours hazy pale golden without a head or lacing, bummer. loads of candi and honeyed lightly caramelish toasted malts, minty dusty yeastiness, spices, bit of pear and apple juice, gently oaky leaving some coconut and vanilla traces - adding a bit more depth to the brew. low carbonation, medium body - oily, slightly sticky, moderate sweetness, relatively balanced herbal-grassy-spicy finish. this was quite nice and maybe would have been a lot better if at all carbed.
Bottle shared by tom10101, thanks a lot! Bottle opens up without a pop... Damn. Pours a light golden with no head and looking completely flat. Aroma is quite nice, though, with candi sugar in the front and yellow fruits and alcohol in the back. Taste is sweet and fruity, spicy. Body was medium, carbonation really low. Too bad there was no carb... this one would have scored high on my abbey tripel scale! It still drank really good in fact.
So... abbey style triple. Russian River has become a holy grail if you find their beers. If you find any of their beers you are in for a treat, floral, bread, hay
A rare treat for me... don’t see much RR lately, but really appreciate it when I do... truly a classic, Belgian-style "kick your butt" beer. Love it! :)
Serving: 375 ml. bottle via trade with bytemesis. Thanks Mike! It pours a light gold color with a slight haze and a nice white head. Light floral and yeast notes in the nose. Beautiful balance flavor wise with a bit of sweetness, Belgian yeast notes, light oak, and a slight hop spiciness. Medium bodied with a dry finish. Absolutely delicious.
Bottle at home, batch 69.
APPEARANCE: light clouded blond beer, small unstable white head.
NOSE: oak, alcohol, grains.
TASTE: alcohol, sweet, dry, quite aged already, over the top maybe?
Tasted quite good, but expected somewhat more for that alcohol...
Bottle pours a hazy gold with a large white head. Bready yeast aroma. Apple pears honey and grape taste. Slight oak taste, great beer.
375 ml bottle of Batch 69.
Aroma is fairly rich and malty with a lot of honey and light caramel. Light graininess and toasted bread notes also present. Medium light pear esters with a hint of a floral character. Light tropical fruit and new oak notes as well. Light alcohol in the aroma that becomes more perceptible as it warms.
Pours a cloudy dull golden orange with a small, moderately thick, white head that recedes fairly quickly to the she’s where it lingers for a bit. Faint lacing and small to medium legs.
Flavor is fairly sweet with Moderate light caramel and honey melt notes with a touch of lightly toasted bread. Moderately strong fruit esters of post and banana along with some floral notes. Medium light oak character. Medium low bitterness with some alcohol spice in the finish.
Mouthfeel is medium to medium full bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and medium low alcohol warmth.
Overall an alright beer but this really isn’t my preferred style and I am not sure that age has really helped this one, but I don’t think age has really hurt it either. I’m not quite sure how I wish this beer to be different but I know I wish it was changed.
375mL bottle at Toronado San Diego, pours a cloudy golden orange with a small white head. Aroma brings out loads of Belgian yeast, light apples / pears, and dry fuzzy fruit skins. Flavour brings out loads fruity notes, Belgian yeast and fuzzy fruit skins. A lot fruitier than the base beer. I prefer the base beer, but this is a nice rendition.
The beer pours great with a nice mildly hazy golden straw color, a nice white head, and some lacing on the glass. The beer smells great with a nice blend of fruity, belgian sugar, oak, and corriander. The beer tastes outstanding with a nice fruity, oak, corriander taste a mild boozy finish that blends well together. The mouthfeel is great with the beer being perfectly carbonated, light to medium bodied, and leaves you somewhat sweet and lingering oak dry mouth. Overall, a solid oaked triple that blends perfectly together.
The taste is very crisp too. The moment it touches your tongue its almost sweet, but then the yeast takes control of your mouth. The yeast is the star in this beer giving it a nice bitterness which turns into a long dry finish. It has a very light malt profile and a slightly nutty caramel finish.
Upon further inspection of bottles.... can you believe my father in law brought a case of this up from Philly? pours golden, small white head. nose has whafts of flowers, grains, and very light clove. taste has a solid buttery cracker base that is balanced. flowers on the finish. body is light and drying.
bottle. not a bad beer. clean. just not my thing. too much candy sugaresque sweetness. some old wet musty wood. not much to balance the sweet toffee, melon, candied sugar sweetness. okay.
The pour is golden orange with a small thin head. The nose is vanilla, orange, light butter toffee and caramel. The taste is high sweet, low bitter. The texture is crisp and creamy at the same time. The body is heavy and the finish is long.
The best beer by far, so far! Im pretty much hooked they have it at La Bodega, awesome store.
Cloudy gold, white head.
Strong, basement, fruit aroma...wood.
Flavour is heavy fruit and bold oak notes.
Very nicely done.
Bottle. Musty berry and oak aroma. Cloudy yellow with small head. Musty over-ripe orange and lemon malt flavor. Oak finish. Spectacular.
Bottle share at DLD. Oaky, sweet fruity, and light Belgian yeast aroma. Cloudy straw gold with a huge white head. Sweet musty lemon-orange, strong oak, yeast, and coriander flavor. Medium creamy body. I liked this one just a tad bit more than the regular version, but that’s probably because I really like oak.
Bottle, thanks danielcoor for sharing. My notes say this was batch 069. Hazy. Mostly golden, light orange hue to it. Thin white head, some lace. Citrusy, mostly rindy aroma. Pretty zesty tart taste, pretty nice. Light sweet taste, light bite. Smooth. Light lemon, good orange. Light funk. Medium to bigger body. More dry texture, very smooth. Long rindy citrusy aftertaste. Tasty stuff.. I think I’d prefer some more tart character, though (I guess that’s what I’ve come to expect from other Russian River brews..)
375 ml bottle to snifter (Batch 23; thanks danielcoor). Looks good; a hazy orange with off-white lacing. Smells of Belgian yeast and oak. Tastes like it smells with a nice, dry mouthfeel. Enjoyable.
Bottle - batch 69. Pours cloudy amber with a large off-white head that slowly dissipates with great lacing. Aroma is fruity, peach, lime, a bit of wood. Flavor is very fruity, yeast, lemon zest, oak. Lightly sweet, zesty bitterness and some woody astringence. Medium body, champagnelike mouthfeel.
Bottle. Batch 23. Having this side-by-side with the regular Damnation. Not digging the aroma compared to the reg Damn. Hazy gold with a layer of lasting white, frothy head. Considerably better than the reg Damn. Doesn’t taste overly oaky at first but the oak comes out as it warms. But a very nice Belgian strong flavor that could stand up to some of the better ones in Belgium. The reg Damn has a nice flavor and has a lot less going on.
375mL bottle shared by mattyb83 pours a hazy golden/orange with a large white head. Aroma of peaches, honey, oak, bread, and slight Belgian spice. Nice and mellow easy drinking oak and mellow Belgian yeast. Not a huge fan of the style but this is well done and not overbearing.
750mL bottle, actual Batch #23. Poured slightly cloudy peach with no head sticking around. The aroma picked up pineapple, black pepper, and clovey notes with accents of oak and a little honey. The flavor found a touch of honey plus bready notes at the core, with oak, black pepper, and Belgian-y yeast around.. tart fruit and tasty spices on the warm finish. Medium-bodied with low carbonation on the palate.. really tasty stuff with great balance.. and the 11% didn’t show up until much later!
Thanks Jason. Batch 23. Pours to a glowing golden body with a thin wispy white head. Aromas of pineapple, toasted oak, clean yeasts. Very balanced. Flavors of sweet toasted oak and pineapple with balanced yeasts. Super complex. Medium full body. Really easy drinking for 11%.
Thanks Drew! Very hazy orange with a decent white head. Aroma of plums, wood, port. Complex flavors of fruit, wine, malt alcohol. Thin body and foams in the mouth. Unique and delicious.
375 ml bottle via BA trade. Batch 069. Pours a hazed gold, like tropical fruit juice, with a small white head that settles into a film. The aroma is weird- oak, sugar, plastic, wet dog, and sweet dried tropical fruits. Off. But the flavor is good- apricot, peach, pineapple, sweet malts, vanilla, and oak chips. Medium body, with a sweet, fruity mouthfeel and moderate carbonation. Not bad, but the nose doesn’t work for me at all.
Batch 069
The beer is transparent and golden hued, plentiful bubbles rapidly ascending to the surface. Even after a slow and careful pour, the head is a few inches thick, receding to a half inch and holding.
The aroma offers yeast, malt, citrus, spice, alcohol. Not picking up the oak characteristic I expected.
The oak comes through quite a bit in the flavor. A bit tart, with a nice blend of spice and floral notes. Lingering notes of wood in the finish. Well balanced and flavorful.
Alcohol content hidden pretty well. Warming finish. Medium-full bodied.
Overall, a really solid beer. Very glad to have this, as I missed batches 23 and 46.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 12-11-2011