Flat Russian River

I don't think it would be a normal thing for any beer to not have at least some carbontaion. Also, you may have been let down because Damnation is not a sour. It's a Belgain Pale Ale. Even so, since RR does not distribute to MI i would be pretty pissed also. If it was a trade unfortunately your most likely SOL, but if you ordered it from a site you could at least send an email and let them know they sent you a flat beer. I've had a few of the '-tion' beers from RR and all have been pretty stellar and i can say i have no complaints.

 

Definitely not normal for Damnation or any Belgian pale I know of.

 

I brought bottles of Supplication and Consecration back with me from the west coast. They spent the trip in my checked bag on the plane, and the carbonation was fine when I opened them.

So no, I don't think it's normal.

 

I see Damnation as a Belgian Pale Ale and Damnation batch 23 as a Tripel. No mention on BA of Damnation batch 63. Did the OP make a typo or is this something brand spankin' new?

 

Damnation is the name of the beer. The batch number is printed on the back label, IIRC. I believe OP is just saying this is batch 63 of Damnation.

 

Definitely not normal.

 

Ignorance was bliss. Thanx for the straighten-out. I had a feeling that was the case as soon as I hit 'post reply'.

 

Believe me, if a new Russian River beer was released I doubt the first we'd all hear of it would be some guy in Michigan complaining about getting a flat bottle of it.

 

I came here for the Lost Abbey jokes and I'm leaving disappointed.

 

63 is pretty old, who knows the bottle's history of storage.

 

Every 23 batches of Damnation, they make a slightly different version and age it on oak cubes. It is called 'Damnation 23' and is in fact different from regular damnation.

 

This. I think they're up to batch 75 or higher by now. I would blame however it got stored -- sounds like the cork dried out and lost its seal.

 

This may be true, but since 63 is not divisible by 23 and he just called it Damnation, it sounds like OP's bottle is just regular Damnation.

 

As you can see in their bottle logs, batch 63 is from 1/17/2011. I'm not sure who traded you that, but that seems pretty old for a belgian pale to me, especially if it wasn't being stored carefully.

 

Agreed on the storage conditions, though my recollection is that Damnation originally had two and now has three hourglass symbols indicating two and now three years of possible aging?

 

Huh, looking at pictures online it seems it does. That surprises me.