De Proefbrouwerij Les Deux Brasseurs

Formerly brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Lochristi - Hijfte, Belgium

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

750ml caged&corked bottle. Pours deep cloudy orange brown with golden tan highlights and a very thick off-white head that leaves tons of dramatic lace on the glass. The aroma is intense and complex - pulpy funky fruit (currants, berries, pineapple), sweet malts, barnyard hay, earthiness, some sourness, spices (caraway seed, grains of paradise), flowers/perfume, and subtle alcohol. A lot going on in there - and strongly brett-tinged throughout. The flavor is much more straight-forward and approachable: bready, crackery malts, pungent earthiness with some fruitiness (berries), and pleasant balancing bitterness. The finish is a little dry with lots of spice, some alcohol, some fruity esters, light brett funk (including some sourness), and a beautiful balance of mostly neutral (somewhat spicy) hop bitterness and cakey malt sweetness. The mouthfeel is surprisingly soft and full bodied with a luscious creamy carbonation. Overall, crazy and damn fine!

Bottle (rated sometime in 2009). Head is initially large, frothy, rocky, white, fully lasting. Body is hazy light amber. Aroma is lightly malty (grain, cereal, husks), lightly to moderately hoppy (apricot), moderately yeasty (mold, barnyard), with notes of cheese, plastic, vinegar, cotton candy. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, creamy texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. Looks great, but sports the usual dirty Proef nose.

Very clean and backseat malt and hops. Very smooth with a nice sourness ending with a small kick of tartness. Correct carb, 90% clear, aroma is a bit absent but what is there is quite nice. A nice presence of mild wildness before the clean sour.

OnOndraft at Capone’s. Pours a golden straw color with some head that leaves sticky lacing. Nose is yeasty brett. First zip is nice with just the right amount of malt slight sour finish with a slight bitterness.

Location: Draft at RnH, 8/8/11

Aroma: The nose is fairly subtle, some yeast, apple, and honey notes
Appearance: It pours a cloudy golden color with a lacey white head
Flavor: The taste is sort of sweet, slightly tart, and with a mild sourness to it
Palate: This on has a light-medium body to it with a decent mouthfeel
Overall Impression: Overall, I thought this was a solid beer, but it didn’t really have a ton of sourness to it, I was expecting more. It wasn’t bad though.

On tap at RnH w/ Andy James Streets. Opaque amber pour with minimal white head, zero lacing on glass. Smells of sea salt??? Reminds me of the ocean. Subdued, not a huge fruit/acid aroma, which made me excited b/c I thought the taste would be surprisingly sour/aggressive, but it was not. A little funky but lacking in tartness. Enjoyable.

Draft at Rattle n Hum with Linh, Thi and Vi. Reading the description of this beer shed some light on the flavor - as this brew tasted closer to a golden ale than a sour. Pours a hazy cloudy orange. Aroma is slight tart, wheat, somewhat bland. Mouthfeel is lightly acidic and tart.

Draft. Amber with an off white head. On the bland side for a sour ale. Some honey sweetness and light funk, along with toast and lighter fruity notes on a pale malty base. Not bad.

On tap. This reminded me of RR Damnation. It’s bready, honey-like and yeasty. Oh, and it’s pretty sweet. I didn’t get much bret at all in this one. It’s just a run of the mill Belgian golden ale.