My first review for BrewChief was a Russian River brew...Damnation. And I absolutely loved it. After that fabulous experience, I went out and got this one, Salvation dark ale. I do love darker beers so I figured this would be perfect to follow up the Damnation. Unfortunately I got swept up in the whole tasting-reviewing thing and forgot about this in my refrigerator. Until today.

To get started I had to uncork this baby. Lovely. It was incredibly satisfying to hear that *pop* as the cork came out of the bottle. I took a whiff of the beer while it was still in the bottle and thought, ''oh, man...this is gonna be GOOD!''. Then I poured it out into a glass, and the aroma on it was amazing. Sweet, spicy, a little chocolatey; It smells like dessert. The first sip was surprising for me. Thick and almost chewy up front, slightly sweet and yet perfectly hoppy through the palate, it hits the back of your mouth and you really taste a bit of anise, and then the finish is completely delightful. It's big and thick, sweet and bitter, heavy and light...a virtual cavalcade of whimsy across your tongue.

This is brew number two from Russian River for me, and, once again, I am more than happy with it. I want to make my way through the whole line up, so, if any of you have a recommendation on my next tester, please let me know! Cheers!