Ichtegems Grand Cru

Brewed by Brouwerij Strubbe
Style: Sour Ale
Ichtegem, Belgium

THOUGHTS: Nice beer, but nowhere near as good as other sour ales I’ve had. Definitely different, but too much wood and not enough sour. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark reddish brown with a small, off-white head that mostly diminished. The aroma was mostly wood, some grape, prune, apple, smoke, sour fruit, slight vanilla and dust/chalk. There was also some sort of mocha coffee as it warmed. The initial flavor was lightly sweet, moderately acidic, and sour; while the finish was moderately sweet, lightly acidic and bitter, and sour with an average to short duration. The medium to full body was slightly syrupy, but also a little oily with extremely fizzy carbonation and a dry finish.

Bottle from Healthy Spirits in S.F. Date of 11/2012 on the cap. Dark mahogany color with a decent off-white head. Aroma is moderately sour cherry. Near medium body with thinnish carbonation. Flavor is woody cherry with touch of sour. Wood is pretty strong. Seems balanced between sweet and sour. It’s really an excellent sour ale. Or mayhap it’s an oak ale. Lot of wood. Good thing.

Poured murkey brown. Aroma of prune juice. Definitely sour. Green apples, dark fruit. Yeasty. Noy my thing at all.

Bottle. Pours reddish brown and has a white head. Nice round body. Malty, a bit sweet, brown sugar, glue (in a good way), light sourish, wood, red berries. Very nice and well balanced.

33 cl bottle: poured brown with red highlights and a thick light tan head. Light dark fruit aroma with some cherries and sour notes. Flavor is mildly sour and just a hint of sweetness. Actually quite drier than I would have thought. Nice body though. Decent.

Bottled, 330ml at A Cappella, Ghent. Clouded brown, red hints with cream head. Interesting that this is a sour ale, it is definitely tart and fruity with old ale flavours. Added in to this are sharp citric notes. An odd but in the end, satisfying mix.

Sampled from a 11.2 oz brown bottle this beer poured a cloudy blood red with a small khaki head. The aroma was spritzy apple and cherry with a hint of vinegar. The flavor was nutty, woody, very tart, extremely dry and had a light cherry element. The finish was long, tart and woody. The beer was a bit thin and watery. Interesting. I may revisit this one again.

Pours deep, deep amber with a light brown head. Mostly cherry, grape, and some red currant in the nose. Moderately complex body with more cherry, grape, rhubarb, toffee, dirt and vinegar. Mouthfeel is kind of flabby with a fairly full body and little to no carbonation. Decent, but nothing like some of the spectacular sour ale efforts out there.