Liefmans Goudenband

Sampled at Noogfest High 5, 1999 bottle. Pours mahogany with almost no head. The aroma is nice woody sourness, cellary funk, and some fruits. The flavor is dates, balsamic vinegar, some lactic acid, and a bit of lemon. Very, very tasty. That decade of age does some magic.

Bottle. Cloudy dark red colour with a beige head. Big pieces of yeast floating around. Sweet, sour & malty, balsamic vinegar, earth, berries, caramel, apples, oak, metall.

Holding a spot here with an impending rating.....for father’s day we are gonna open a bottle of Goudenband from 1999...a Magnum that was made for the 2000 New Year celebration.....more to come! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it had been stored well. In the dark, upright, at a stable temp, etc. The cork popped well, but didn’t shoot off champagne style and had not shrunk or allowed the beer to oxidize. We had the bottle sitting up right in a bath of cold water to chill it, but not leave it ice cold. I was surprised at the lack of seamonkeys. It seems the sediment stayed on the bottom of the bottle during the opening and pouring. It poured with a moderate amount of head in a dark ruby red/brown color. The aroma was of heavy malt, bready yeast, stone fruit, berries, raisins, and caramel. It wasn’t as heavy on the palate as I thought it would be. The alcohol was certainly there. It was bottled at 8%, who knows what it had manage to add to that after 10 years in the bottle. FIrst it was sweet and cloying like molasses and dried fruit. Then it thinned out and as you swallowed it let off a little lactic burst like a wild ale, but not in the same forceful manner as something along the lines of Cantillion. Every sip was different, sometimes it was plums, other times it was cherry, apricot, bread, balsamic.... I could only do a glass and a half as it was playing havoc with my taste buds.......but in a good way! I am so glad I have more of this in the "cellar"

’07 bottle is shimmering red-brown, moderate beige head with little lacing. Nose is restrained Flemish, acidic but not total vinegar, also some berry, chocolate malt. The acidity is low in the flavor, very sweet and malty, some vinous warmth, more fruit notes. Very pleasant and balanced. Mouth is a little thin and sticky with minor carbonation. It doesn’t get to that next level, but it is a very balanced, very enjoyable beer. The sweeter malt elements make it stand out for me.

Bottle. Pours brown with a light brown head. Aroma is raisins, rock candy, alcohol and weak notes of vinegar. Flavour is prunes, raisins, rock candy and has a pleasant acidic touch.

Thanks to OSCF for sharing! Hazy copper pour, fizzy off white head and minimal lace. Green apple, oak and vinegar. Lactic and sour notes. Funky blueberry finish Solid !

2006 bottle. Thanks to rustychiles for the share on this one. First impression from the aroma on the pour is antiseptic and bandaid...somehow not in an entirely bad way...more intriguing than bad. After that blew off, it was the most distinct cherry aroma that I have ever gotten off of a beer, and it maintained throughout the rest of the tasting. Taste is sweeter than expected; quite a bit of residual sugar here. Some plums, figs, prunes, and candi sugar. There is a decided sourness here, but it is not terribly complex. When I really search for it, it has some depth, but the sweetness really masks a lot here, which is disappointing. Oh well. Still a good sour, though not world class.