Rodenbach Foederbier

Brewed by Brouwerij Rodenbach (Palm)
Style: Sour Ale
Roeselare, Belgium

<i>Draught at the brewery - cask 138, 22 months old</i>
Hazy, amber body. Complex aroma of wood, apples, flowers, ... great! Heavily sour, lightly sweet fruity flavour. Brilliant complex and perfectly balanced flavour.

Draught at Brasserie de Zalm: Hazy dark amber with nice lasting head. Delicate fruity aroma of sour berries, spices, wood, leather and vinegar. Flavour is very sour, and sour dry finish. Low carbonated.

Handpumb @ Brasserie De Zalm. Hazy deep reddish amber with large beige long lasting head. Sourish aroma with sour berries, vinegar and wood. Sour flavor with notes of wood, vinegar, sour berries and lacto bachterias. Ends sour.

Cask at Engelbewaarder, Amsterdam. A hazy wheat colour, with a nice head. Looks very enticing. Quite sour nose, as well as sweet. Taste is overwhelmingly sour with tastes of citrus and lemon. Lots of wood flavour too. Interesting.

On Cask at the Engelbewaarder cafe in Amsterdam. Pours a still ruby hazy amber with a thin film on top that dissipates. Aroma is cherry pit, almond, moderate to high acetic acid, typical rodenbach character like the grand cru but not quite as vinously sharp and more smoothed out- with more woodiness as well. Tons of acedic acid in the flavor but not overwhelming- tastes like my flemish red after 3 years or so. cherry pit and wine like tannins with some old woodiness and earth, hhints of vanilla, and almond/cherry pit, a bit of sherry and some red wine and apple cider vinegar. Nice acidity on the tongue, and is nicely sour all the way through. This is great stuff. They should sell this at more bars around europe.

On Tap at ’t ’Vosken, Gent, 05-12-07 Wonderful aged red colour with a fast disappearing head. Aroma quite dominating and your instant thought is where are the chips, it is really vinegary with some sour fruits thrown into the mix. The sourness just knocks you sideways as it rips through, but very fruity with it. This is a hard beer to like it can be quite punishing and very testing it played havoc with the tip of my tongue so much so that I had to try different ways to drink this in a desperate attempt to truly appreciate what is clearly an incredible beer. I liked this then I didn’t like it then I wasn’t sure, to be honest the jury’s out with me on this one, and I know that I’m going against the grain with my rating but maybe I need to give it another go one day. What I will say though is that it should definately be tried.

A Mes rate: Draught at ’t Vosken.
The lady warned me as I ordered this that it was ’very sour’. I told her that this was why I had come to t’ Vosken. She seemed rather unimpressed but poured Diz and I a glass each. Incredible red brown colour filled with rich brown bubbles of every shade possible when swilled. Amazing aroma. Beautiful sweetness, lactic, heavy caramel and incredible fruity notes. Flavour is equally stunning. Everything a Rodenbach should be. Tart, effortlessly sweet and sour, heavy fruit and more caramel. Very red tasting. Incredible fizzy and amazingly clean mouth feel. A quite unbelievable palate. Yet it is virtually flat. How the hell? Very dry on the finish which oges down really sour and warms and almost burns all the way down to the pit of the stomach. Stunning vanilla, balsamic vinegar, earth and everything else I love about the regular Rodenbach in abundance. Really, really good. Also managed to get me a really strange drunk (in a very good way), this is some mad stuff. Best £1.80 I have ever spent.

Drwan by handpump from cask, Café de Engelbewaarder Amsterdam. Cherry and oak in the stronmg but refined aroma. A lovely fruity vinous but sour flavor. Cherry, lemon, aok, even a bit honeyish. Caramel and cherry in the long lasting citric sour aftertaste. With a bit more body this would be 4.5+