Damnation - Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa

My Russian River supply is dwindling as I pick up the pace and finally get around to drinking these beers. I'll be moving out east in a couple of weeks and I'm trying to get through as many beers as I can before the move. I'm not going to try and write about all of them, because that's kinda how I got into this mess of having a basement full of beer and no time to drink it all... I did think the Damnation was worth of an entry in the old blog, so I popped the cork on this 12.68oz bottle, grabbed my favorite tulip glass and waited for the suds to die down.

Russian River Damnation pours a light golden color and very quickly develops a substantial head. Even pouring this beer into a tilted tulip glass, there was quite a long wait for the suds to settle enough to continue pouring. Once the beer was in the glass, the Damnation had a thick golden body with a lot of head remaining. That head continues to leave behind a lot of lacing as you drink through the glass.

The aroma of the Damnation was really subdued, in part because of the massive head on this beer. There was a clear pale malt aroma and hints of orange peel and citrus. With my glass nearly empty the beer smells more like a white wine or Champagne, just not quite as dry.

The flavor of Russian River Damnation is worthy of the praise everyone has bestowed upon it. This is a mild Belgian-style Pale Ale with a citrus sweetness and yeasty twist. It's not a terribly complex beer, but the flavors are great and the texture is incredibly creamy and very full bodied. There's a lot in this beer, but it doesn't taste busy or heavy. Damnation starts off pale with a hint of spicy but veers more toward the sweet than the pale.

I really enjoyed this beer and would recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing Belgian-style beer, something not heavy or dark but still full flavored and well balanced.