Liefmans Goudenband

Brewed by Liefmans (Moortgat)
Style: Sour Ale
Oudenaarde, Belgium

Taster at the fall beer tasting at the Flying Saucer in Fort Worth. Hardly any head. Brownish in color, cloudy sort of muddy look. Sweet smell is fruity and the flavor is complex, slighlty sour but pleasing.

375ml bottle. 2000. Aroma: Light maltiness with some light oxidation. Cherries and light vinegar, raisins, cinnamon, and yeast. Appearance: Dark reddish brown in color and very hazy. No carbonation. Flavor: Bready maltiness with some oxidation notes (cardboard and sherry). Yeast, spice, cherries and raisins. Sourness still has some nice pucker to it. Palate: Medium bodied. No carbonation. Overall: I picked this bottle up awhile ago and was saving it. I was hoping it had held up well, but it hasn’t. Oxidation was nice at first, but built up over time and made this unfinishable.

Bottle at The Diamond: Pours a deep murky burgundy/purple-ish color. You can’t see through the beer. The tan head collapses, (maybe it was served a bit too cold). The aroma is fruity and vinous full of maple, berries, chocolate, toffee and more. Has a great texture on the palate, with a rich flavor. It’s simultaneously sweet and tart. There’s a nice raspberry tartness, along with rich milk chocolate, oak, toasted toffee and a wine-y character. The finish is smooth and has suggestions of toffee-like sweet fruits. There was something new with each sip. A very complex and smooth Ale.

Cork reads 2005. Now if I read this cap right, this beer is good until February 2015. I am glad I am getting to this while I can. The next eight years are a little booked for me. Pours a clouded ruby brown that is very dark. No head. Nose is musty, woody, with a floral sweetness. Flavor is outstanding. Nice slighty fruity touch with a sugar sweetness. Definite wood on the edge. Feel is good. Nice level of bubble attacking your mouth in a fairly aggressive way. Highly drinkable. Damn good. Worth trying.

Poured into a snifter with a large off white frothy head. Lots of large brown particulates. Aroma resembles a robust white wine overlayed with dark fruits, tartness is apparent. Initial taste begins with a slight malt, fizzy mouthfeel, and sour. Finishing with a cherry tartness that rocks the sides of your tongue. Palate seems to put it’s brakes on and falls short. Head retention is good and lacing of the glass is beautiful. 8% is well masked. Well balanced and very enjoyable.

(bottle, BB 11-2016): Pours a dak brown color, little head, tannish. Sour sweet aroma. Dark fruit aroma, plum. Really fizzzy, sour taste. Dark fruit. Sweet sugary.

Concerned to read this described as ’Beer containing sugar and sweeteners’ on the wrapper. Weighty burgundy with creamy tan legs. Juicy cherry stone tartness on the nose, with wood, malt vinegar and caramel. Sweet-sour with some lurking notes of chocolate. Sticks around with a fragrant breadiness after the swallow. Surprisingly mellow and malty. Alcohol beautifully disguised. An enticingly complex beer with a bum note of chemical sweetener.

Bottle. Pours rich, hazy brown with amber highlights. Excellent lacing all the way down the glass. Tart cherries and vinegar aroma. A hint of grape Kool-Aid. Mildly sour. Quite pungent. Sweet grapeness on the palate. Some yeasty dryness but a perfect balance of sweet and sour. Medium to full bodied. Creamy mouthfeel. A beautiful Flemish sour.