A Sensible Solution

The world could use more stories like this:

I went into Grape Vine Market yesterday looking for something Belgian-y, and of course they had a big stack of such right up front. And the very first thing I laid eyes on bore the odd name of Collaboration Not Litigation Ale. The short version of the story is this: Avery Brewing Co. had a Belgian-style beer named Salvation Ale. Russian River Brewing also had a Belgian named Salvation. But rather than go at each other with lawyers, the brewmasters sat down together and decided to combine the beers! That's right, they mixed the two together in the same bottle.

I bought one, but then decided I'd better taste the original Salvations to have a point of comparison (hey, it's important to do these things right). Unfortunately, Russian River doesn't distribute to Texas, but Avery does. Their Salvation is a delicious golden ale, crisp and clean and exactly what I like in Belgian beer.

So obviously the Russian River Salvation is a brown ale, because the combined product is much darker. As is usual for my taste in Belgians, I preferred the golden straight up, but nonetheless, the mixed Collaboration was still might tasty, especially after I let it warm up a bit. Both are highly recommended, and if I ever get out to California again, I'll definitely sample the Russian River.

And since it taste so good, go buy a bottle and reward these guys for having the good sense to work together instead of whipping out the lawyers. Microbrewers need to stick together.