Russian River Brewing Company is one of the most prominent American craft breweries with a strong focus on wild ales. Unlike their year-round beers Pliny the Elder, Blind Pig, and Damnation, their wild ales are released as bottled limited editions or are only available for a limited period at their brewpub. Since their flagship beers have become available in states such as Oregon and Washington, their limited edition wild ales have found their way to the consumer as well. Consecration is a wild ale made with zante currants aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels and refermented in the bottle with a rather high alcohol percentage for the style (10%).

The following notes were taken on Friday, July 24, 2009:

Batch 002X3. Poured into a snifter.

Consecration is fizzy upon pouring but leaves little to no head or lacing. The color of the beer resembles a soft drink  (!) like cola, an impression that is further reinforced by its fizzy nature.

The beer is medium bodied and quite carbonated. When the prickly feeling on the tongue disappears it is quite smooth.

The smell of this beer is quite exceptional. Fruits. Alcohol. Vinegar. I also detected a slightly oxidized smell, reminiscent of  sherry and the oxidized wines from the Jura region in France. Since this beer innovates at so many fronts at once (choice of fruit, alcohol content, Cabernet Sauvignon barrels) there is no real baseline for comparison. Consecration has a smell that is distinctly unique.

Like the smell, the taste is quite original. Tart and fruity but heavy and astringent too. Unlike most traditional lambics, aftertaste is quite short and ends on a slightly bitter note. As the beers warms up, a slightly sweet, but pleasant, note is detected.

The alcohol content alone make this beer a sipper. This is further reinforced by its fairly high carbonation.

I approached this beer with two conflicting feelings. So far I have not been that impressed by any attempts to create high alcohol wild ales or Flemish reds. For example, many recent Northwestern attempts to create sour beers have struggled to reconcile the classic characteristics of the style and high alcohol content, with, in my opinion, mixed success. On the other hand, so far I have not tasted any Russian River beers that I did not like. I found this beer quite persuasive as well but my reservations about high alcohol sour ales remain.

Consecration is certainly a very vinous beer. But with such a high alcohol content, it almost inevitable to compare this beer with a rustic red wine (like Olga Raffault Chinon “Les Picasses”). I do not know if the use of grains, souring bacteria, and brettanomyces are at odds with higher alcohol beers or whether the attempts so far leave something to be desired.

Ironically, the most impressive attempt at a high alcohol (8%) lambic is Frank Boon’s  “Geuze Marriage Parfait,” a brewer that I am normally not so thrilled about. Marriage Parfait does not contain any fruit. It might be interesting to take this approach a step further and create an older, “flatter” version of such a beer and age it in sherry or cognac barrels.

Despite these critical reflections, Russian River has set another great example in the world of wild ales. Hopefully, the brewery decides to produce a year-round wild ale in the future.