Russian River 110
Russian River Brewing Company

Can pour - opaque lemony honey color, foamy white head, frosty lacing. Nose is grassy, mild citrus, biscuit. Taste follows with a clean and crisp finish. A highly quaffable west coast pilsner.

510 ml bottle filled 01/07/26 into a pokal.
L: Pours straw light yellow with a 1" or better pure matte white head, lush steady carbo, head forms a cap and moves to heavy froth, heavy complex frothy lacing.
S: Light lemon, slightly fruity, very light bread dough.
T: Lemon, orchard fruits, a hint of yeast, lemon zest, a note of bread dough, a light sensation of grains, it has very gentle sweetness but is also tangy, lighter aftertaste that has lemon bread, zest and is fairly bitter.
F: Crisp medium-light bodied mouthfeel with a medium-fast medium-dry finish.
O: Very good tasting, fruity, and extremely easy to drink. It is eye-catching with a nice pour and in a tall glass. It is a lemon-centric Pils and I can understand how this beer is like the 1st cousin of Pliny The Elder. These beers share similarities with the Pils being less intense overall. RR 110 is very good to excellent.

 

Packaged March 17, enjoyed on April 5th, 2026 - poured from a 510mL bottle into my Moonlight willibecher.

Lightly cloudy straw body with a broad raft of soft peaks up top. Rich soapy lacing; good retention.

Complex grassy aroma with river stones, white grapes, gooseberries, passionfruit, orange blossoms, and citrus zest alongside crackers and honey. Subtle, clean, and inviting.

Dry and crisp palate entry with a marvelously clean/crackery base. Accents of white grapefruit, lime leaf, honeydew, and wild grass. Medium-low bitterness throughout. Dry finish with hints of white tea, quince, and tonic water. Perfectly lagered.

Light bodied, refreshing, yet soft.

Given the hop profile (Tangier, Nectaron, and NZH-106), I'm rating this as more of a NZ pils (with a Czech base) rather than a German pils (with STS being RR's excellent take on that style). All at once, it's an impressive technical achievement, a delicate expression of cutting edge hop varieties, and an easy-drinking light bodied beer well outside the brewer's wheelhouse.

BA lists the style as a German Pils, not even close. It's a west coast "hoppy pils". It's good, really good, especially on a hot day. Light body, hoppy and clean. Another winner from Russian River.

From a 0.5l bottle picked up a few weeks ago in southern Maine...

Pours a clear, light golden color. Has plentiful, aggressive carbo rapidly rising topside. Has a short, fine, creamy white head which lasts well and leaves nice lacing. Has a restrained nose which exhibits some grapefruit, lemon peel and pine. Body is a decent medium, and there's some light prickle attacking the tongue.

Flavor is lightly crackery off the bat. Has light sweetness before getting rindy, pithy and bitter. Has grapefruit, lemon rind and grassy, floral notes in the dry finish. Decently made but not quite my cup of tea.... Prost!

3.81/5 rDev -4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

2525

On tap at Fullerton Brew Company.
Light straw to gold. Fluffy white head. Good retention with delicate layered lacing.
Nose is slightly dank in its approach to grapefruit rind meets grass. Some crackery malt peeks in too.
Flavor is definitely citrus, zest, again the grapefruit, but with a little hint of Mandarin. Definitely a green grass meets a hint of alfalfa going towards onions.
Mouthfeel’s light, crisp, and has an active carbonation level. Finish has a mildly green bitterness to it.

 

 

 

 

 

Its almost impossible to roll through the bottle shop, see a new Russian River, and not give it a try. Didn't even know this beer existed.

Pours yellow, clear. Makes 4/7" white head. The aroma wasn't as proprietary hops for me as it was for others. Seemed more traditional. Like an Amarillo hop with its hay, citric rind feel to it. There is light stone fruit sensation.

The taste brings what feels like mostly an Amarillo and Nectaron like approach to a pilsner. Some lemon and grapefruit rind, hay, grain feel all around. The yeast is pretty neutral here drinking more like an ale. Pilsner malt apparent, no problems there. Its similar to an IPL but without a very discernable lager yeast. Has a dry and crisp mouthfeel ending with a sizeable bitterness beyond the average pilsner. Its a neat beer. I'm not sure it has a lot of staying power though. I think most people would rather have their ipas or a more traditionally hopped pilsner. Still a good beer.

500 mL bottle into a pint glass

Clear pale ale appearance, fairly sudsy with fluffy, sticky suds. Nose is of citrus rinds, floral and snappy.

Dry, grapefruit rind flavors at the front, a little earthy and floral as the sip closes. Medium, dry finish.

I’m digging these West Coast pilsners, but this one doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. Fairly refreshing, but Russian River definitely has some tastier hop profiles.

 

 

 

So good at mini bar

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week glass. Pours a light to medium golden amber with a fine, three finger white head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of pilsner malt, citrus and dank hops, orange, mixed tropical fruit, particularly mango and a hint of catty dankness. Flavor is pilsner malt, citrus, tropical fruit and dank hops, lemon, mixed tropical fruit, summer herbs and light catty dankness. Solid finishing bitterness. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess; nice mouth feel for a pilsner. An interesting and modern North American take on the pilsner style replacing Noble hops with citrus and tropical ones. The nose had a lot of orange in it, but this is not in the taste. Good lemon and faint grapefruit as well as vague mixed tropical fruit similar to hazy IPAs, as well as an interesting spiciness. Crisp and refreshing. I have drifted away from pilsners now, but this is the second "West Coast" pilsner I've had and think I may be trying more of these because I like that hop profile. Nicely done and has a quite fine mouth feel.

Pale yellow pour, clear; dense, slow-rising carbonation; thick and densely sudsy head, white and durable with a rounded and sculpted head, creamy. Wonderful nose; floral with delicate tropical fruit tones. Very pleasant taste; wispy malt base carrying a slow swirl of lemongrass with notes of thyme; quiet bitterness; clean. Light to medium-light body; smooth with a crisp finish.

This outstanding India pale ale / pilsner hybrid is a sheer joy to drink. I find it interesting it is released in January where one might more readily be drinking big, dark, barrel-aged ales. This offering is a nice change of pace for those of us who lean towards the darker, heavier beers of the winter season. The beauty of this beer is that it would be right at home during the warm months. One can hope that this offering may become more than a limited release.

ABV: 5.2%; pouring temperature: 47.7 ℉; bottling info: 010726
Source: local purchase (Cheers! Liquor Mart)