Damnation Batch 23

Brewery: Russian River Brewing Co.

Style: Tripel

• ABV: 10.75%

  Size: 375 ml bottle

  Website: http://www.russianriverbrewing.com

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. Last weekend, I was up at BizarroCon, sharing good company, good beer (including some incredible home brews), and a love of strange literature with a hundred awesome people. I returned to Petaluma via train (reading an outstanding manuscript on the ride back), arriving home revitalized and re-energized (in spite of an impending nasty cold) and kicked off a Thanksgiving Twitter fundraising challenge, #FeedCthulhu, that raised more than $750 for hunger relief. Now, the cold has caught up with me, plus, Maddie was in the vet for a few tests and some minor surgery this afternoon. So we’re laying low, hiding out with the fireplace lit, jazz radio playing, Maddie sleeping it off, and Jennifer napping on the couch. I’m in my comfy chair, having a Russian River Damnation Batch 23 while I ponder reading another chapter or two of W. H. Pugmire’s Some Unknown Gulf of Night.

Damnation Batch 23 is an “ale brewed with oak chips,” which pours a pale coppery yellow with a fluffy, finger-thick white head. Yeast, malt, and oak on the nose, with undercurrents of fruit and spice; very pleasant and inviting. Sweet and bready on the tongue. Suggestions of crisp apples and winter pears, with dominating yeastiness and cloves, and a touch of vanilla. Medium bodied, no where near as light as the color suggests, with high carbonation and a boozy burn. A very well balanced tripel. Tart, dry finish, with lasting wood and yeast aftertastes. Highly recommended.