De Proef Flemish Primitive

Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Lochristi, Belgium

Pours with an orange-gold body topped by a thin head with some lacing. The aroma is different. it’s slightly sweet yet slightly sour and spicy (All Spice?)...Not to my liking. The flavor is very similar but more subdued and a little more tolerable. Light bodied and smooth yet slighty warming.
Earlier Rating: 3/24/2004 Total Score: 2.5
This brew pours iwth a cloudy golden body topped by a very thick foamy head with lots of lacing. The aroma is spicy and fruity (orange) with malty notes and a really wierd spicy note. The flavor is slightly sour, yeasty and spicy with a slight fruitiness and a wierd note. Medium bodied, tingly from the carbonation and warming.

Surly Bird, aged over 3 years. Courtesy cmillward. Pours a downright cloudy, dusky orange color with a consistent head off off-white foam. The aroma is as strange as they come. I got everything from faded, dusty hops to stewed tomatoes, dry, semi-sweet fruits, and some briny saltiness. The flavor is equally perplexing and similarly comprised, though the saltiness in the nose is lost on the palate. Medium-plus body with light carbonation. Alcohol is well hidden. This is truly a one of a kind beer, its closest cousins being some of the funky, new-school spice/herb/vegetables coming out of Italy. Strange, and ultimately not for my palate.

I started untwisting the cage on the 750 and the cork flew out whilst still in it...pour is hazy yellow orange with big bubbled quick fading white head...smell is a little citric, but hay and earthy saison smells...smells a little like a gueuze too...taste is musty and dirty at first...barnyard and a little bitter...it really tastes like someone poured an ounce or so of a shitty gueuze into the glass before I poured a saison into it...not at all what I expected...bizarre sticky bitter finish...not really impressed...fizzy mouthfeel...

Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale

9/25/2007: Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale is golden orange in color with some sediment in it. The head is foamy, large, and off-white in color. The aroma is acidic, but some malty and carmelized sugar still comes through. The flavor is slightly sour and has a distint green apple quality to it. It is quite tart and puckering at times, but very refreshing and difficult to stop drinking! There is also a slight bit of oxidation present. Averall this is a very satisfying sour ale that actually smells more sour than it tastes.

750 mL corked and caged bottle (9% alc./vol.) from Tmoney99. Thanks Tom! Rating #302 for this beer...

Yeast. Tastes like soil. sweet and dry. It is primitive.

Bottle (Pig Nun version). A hazy orange color with a white head. Citrus (orange, lemon), apple, lambic-like aroma (although without the dry musty element) and light pepper. A nice full fruit flavor with coating malts, medicinal, and bread. Quite enjoyable.
Earlier Rating: 11/12/2003 Total Score: 3.4
Bottle. Hazy yellow in color with a fluffy and creamy white head. A light fruit aroma (banana and grapefruit) with some pepper. A harsh bite at the front that mellows only slightly as it settles. This beer seems to be a fusion with a lambic without the sourness. In place of the sour finish it has a "wild" quality (i.e., fresh, unrefined).

Pig Nun: Clear, golden color, fuzzy white head above...lovely, really... Sourness greets the nose at first, citric fruits, and well-worn socks...yeah, this is funky! Alcohol peeks in a bit too early...I haven’t even tasted it, yet...it feels terribly strong....(yet it’s "only" 9%) Taste: big, fat sour...almost hard to take, unless you’re into that stuff...and some of you are....you freaks...ahem. (who am I to talk?) yeah, this is a sour mo’fo...but not too bad, some tasty fruits, peach and apricot, mmm...very tangy, loads of citrus, huge sour on the palate, balanced by a judicious addition of sweet... ...I couldn’t finish this bottle in one sitting, and capped it until the next day, where it’s lost no carbonation and no flavor, at least not in the appearance or aroma. One weird ale, unique, but brimming with flavor and rather refreshing, if sour is your thing. As for me, the more I drink, the more I admire it. Glad I got an extra bottle, for saving. If I were a gueueze geek, I’d give this sky-high ratings. I’m not, so there you go, but damn, this is a fine creation. I have to look out for more from these guys...anyone seen any Rat Riders around? (paid $10.49 at Cellar’s, Roseville...i had to go out of my way for this one, being a fan of Belgian ales, and Bosch. Love the PigNun, but her inkwell holder is really creepy!)

Spoon Whacker. Pours a clear, orange color with a nice head. Aroma is faintly citric, with something vaguely funky working in the background. Slight malt flavor, some almost candy sweetness, and a definite yeast note that suggests at something wild, but is so kept in check as to make it simply a celery-like annoyance as opposed to any real feature of the beer. Almost herbaceous, but in the end, not particularly good. RERATE: 8/19/08, Reinaert bottling, and yes, I am embittered by the rebadge on this. I’m curious as to which of the various Bosch paintings this one corresponds to. In any case, Clear medium gold with a nice white head that collapses very quickly into a ring. Aroma is brett dominated, with that wet leather thing going on, and a touch of orange marmalade. Flavor is similar, but the end is clearly of bittering floral accented hops. Didn’t catch that at all in the aroma. Original rating was a 6,3,6,3,12, and this is a bit better. New numbers going up.