[A Beer a Day] Collaboration Not Litigation Belgian Strong Dark Ale | Avery Brewing / Russian River Brewing | Boulder, CO / Santa Rosa, CA

Inebriation not incarceration.

I have severe waterbrain after a prolonged, 10-days-worth of SxSW, spring break benders, evaluating show matrices posted on bar façades, out-of-town guests, playing the brew stock exchange, jangly guitars and hip hop shows that made my brain deploy out of the back of my head like an airbag, and long limps home from the Metro Rail after 10 hours of standing and drinking corn beer.  I'm tired.  I don't want to write.  And I especially don't want to expend the energy it costs to think about anything. 

So, in the interest of brevity -- and I hope that you like Hick-Hop puns -- this beer is Big and Rich.

Two of my favorite breweries came together to ferment a haymaker -- Collaboration not Litigation -- a wordplay on Russian River's -tion series, and the fact that both breweries sell a beer named Salvation.  And because Russian River has neither the desire nor the capacity to enter the Texas market, this is the best we can expect here in the Great State when looking for Russian River in our booze stores.

What Collaboration not Litigation is, is the merging of both breweries Salvation recipes to complete a full-bodied, delicious Belgian strong dark ale complete with spicy hop notes, baked bread, and a syrup-y finish.  Collaboration not Litigation really camps out on the tongue and delivers a sustained experience.

Also, it should be noted that this was batch #5, bottled in January 2011 and enjoyed a year later in March of 2012.  It aged very VERY well, and provided a much mellower alcohol burn than it did when we tasted batch #5 in March of 2011.  I don't think I tasted batch #6, but I look forward to #7, as this collaboration appears to be fiddled with in just the right way from year-to-year.

ABV: 8.72%
Acquired: Spec's
★★★★★★★☆☆☆