Ichtegems Grand Cru

Brewed by Brouwerij Strubbe
Style: Sour Ale
Ichtegem, Belgium

Bottle, 2009-02-15, AP: Brownish red, wee head AR: Wine with loads of oak aromas F: sour cerry flavour, maltt

Bottle into snifter. Really dark read pour that proves clear if held to light. Very light khaki head that fades to a ring pretty fast. Nice roma, but not to style. This is no flemish red. No sourness. Vanilla, oaky, sweat malt (almost as if some brown belgian candi sugar is in there). Flavor is not good. Soyish, watery, sweet, off or old belgian candi sugar. Medium bodied with medium to light carbonation. Overall: overpriced and deceptive given its proclaimed style.

Bottle. Dark mahogany pour with light white head.When i read that it was a red flemish sour, i expected less of a vingear ish sour flavor than i received. Flavor was light, dark fruits, oak, but the vinegar tinge killed it for me.

2006 bottle. A rather lame sour ale. Not very sour, just a hint of the cherry sourness. In fact there are a lot of "hints" in this beer of all kind of good things, but theres just not enough character for it to live up to the potential.

Pours a molassed colored pour with a head that looks like a root beer float. Aroma holds cherry, raspberry, caramel, grape, prune, and a bit of wood. Flavor is much more tart than the aroma would portray; good acidic fruit notes, some more dark sugar, and the grape and wine is still clearly evident. Palate is pretty solid on the whole; tartness is nice but not overpowering, and the finish is somewhat slick on the tongue. Really not a bad sour ale, just has some tough competition in the genre.

This beer has a dark red body - hue apperance and a fine white scum collar. I have drunk the beer from the bottle and it had a lot of carbonic acid. The initial flavor taste is light acid with a slight acid afther tast.

Pours a dark brown with redu hue, light on the aroma, but some of the oak and sourness comes thru. Very smooth palate and taste, sourness in the front, oak flatness in the finish. Halfway thru the drink the complexity is hidden, and it becomes a light drinking beer. The first half is complex and very enjoyable, the last half your palate is accustomed and the drink smooths out and the complexity is lost, but still good.

Dark purple to brown body and no lacing. Aroma is a very nice sweet red fruit and a bit of tartness. Lightly sweet cherry flavor, candy sugar body, cream in the middle, faint hint of oak in the finish and a slight tartness. Nice creamy body.