Russian River Brewery - Santa Rosa, CA Review
725 4th Street • Santa Rosa, CA 95404
(707) 545-BEER • www.russianriverbrewing.com
(by 1 user)
Russian River is a must stop brewpub experience
frequent diner, beer drinker
| Pros |
|
DEC
29
2008
The Russian River brewpub is located in downtown Santa Rosa. The brewpub sports a long bar down one side and plenty of table seating. The decor was fairly minimal, with hops sacks hanging on the walls along side antique tin beer signs. Since RRBC brews on the premises you can get a view into their brewing operations although we didn't take any tours (not sure if they are offered or not).
We went on Christmas Eve for lunch and found a pleasant atmosphere and great service. The menu sported mostly beer friend appetizers, pizzas, and sandwiches. I had a tasty chicken sandwich with a very fresh green salad, and my siblings each had a 10in pizza. We all enjoyed the food very much.
Obviously though we were are at brewpub, so its the beers I want to talk about. The chalk board listed about 10 of their beers on tap (plus a few wine selections for those non-beer drinkers).
I started with a Pliny the Elder, which is a top rated IPA. I was excited to finally try this beer and I wasn't disappointed. As expected from an American/California brewer, it's a very hoppy IPA, but what blew me away was how well it was balanced. All the flavors work together so well that your mouth doesn't feel blown away by the hops bitterness.
Next I tried the Sanctification, which is in the style of a sour Belgian beer and is make with Brettanomyces, a different yeast than most beers. I have to say I enjoyed this a lot, but obviously as a sour ale, it's an acquired taste.
The final pour that I had was the Consecration, a dark sour ale that Russian River ages in Cabernet barrels. I'd heard about this beer from their website and was interested in trying this interesting melding of brewing with Sonoma's ever present wine industry. Unfortunately, the sourness of the beer compounded with the acidity picked up from the wine barrels was just too overwhelming for me. I applaud the attempt, but wouldn't go back for more of this beer.
Additionally, I sipped a bit of my brother's O.V.L. Stout, which is a nitrogenated offering that I enjoyed quite a bit, and would definitely try more of. Word to the wise though, if you don't like hoppy/bitter beers, you probably aren't going to enjoy too many Russian River brews. My wife ended up ordering a hard cider after sipping my beer and grimacing.
All and all, I highly recommend Russian River Brewery for their beers and as a comfortable casual place to hang out in if you happened to be in the Santa Rosa area.
Russian River Brewery - Santa Rosa, CA is recommended by kevin
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