[Above: a bottle of Damnation 23 via the_photographer on Flickr (cc)]

Vinnie Cilurzo does something special with every 23rd batch of Russian River Damnation. Per the brewery website:

Damnation is our brewmaster’s interpretation of a Belgian style Strong Golden Ale. It has extraordinary aromas of banana and pear with mouth filling flavors of sweet malt and earthy hops. The lingering finish is dry and slightly bitter but very, very smooth.

According to RateBeer, Cilurzo then turns the “regular Damnation recipe into a Tripel. It is bittered with Tomahawk and has Sterling and Cascade in the mid-boil and finish. The beer was then aged on new American oak chips for two to three weeks.”

No idea whether the hopping additions are still the same as the original Damnation 23. This is technically Batch 69 of the beer.

Bottles are now available the pub in Santa Rosa along with a limited number of bottles of Russian River Framboise for a Cure.