Liefmans Goudenband

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

Complex nose of cherries, wood and vanilla. Tart, sweet, currants, lemon, woody. Pretty good, but I think I prefer Liefmans Raspberries one, both excellent products though which make me love the style more and more

Unexpected this, i was sure this was an unblended lamic, but i now know this isnt the case. Anyway, aroma is smaller than expected but as it warms it has alot more malt and sweetness going on than i thought, similar to a dubbel. Taste is full, fruity, slightly sour though not as much as i expected, and a sweetnes to it also. Alround a very pleasent suprise, need to get it again as iv found 2 places in glasgow that now have it. Same score re-rate, 1987 botle from the kulminator, beers should be like this at all times. RETARE: 1.5L magnium from the kulminator 2002 bottle. Amazing what 5 years has done, theres hints of tart fruit but no sourness at all, rum and raisin are present, over ripe fruit. Smashing beer that never lets me down.

Bottle... Clear, mahogany ale with a small, creamy, khaki head. Fruity aroma with notes of must and barnyard. The flavor is a touch acidic and fruity, but sweet more than anything else. Alcohol is well-disguised. Medium-bodied and fizzy. Finishes fruity, astringent and a touch acidic.

Cloudy medium brown color. Sweet complex aged aroma. Semi-sweet woody oak flavor with a dry warming finish. Good sweet and sour cherry fruit balance. A pretty good Flemish sour and the best Liefmans beer I've had.

deep red-brown colour, few head, wine-like aroma, cherry, blackcurrant and tart, nice acidity/sourness but quite heavy and sweet

RE-rate: Very deep red-brown colour, vinegary nose, sour, acidic, bitter, all great characteritics, off fruit flavours, with hints of iron or minerals. My only real complaint this time was the oily butter-toffee flavour (which i previoulsy didn’t notice), but i think i’m being a bit picky when i say that, it really is nice, but not as good as the first couple of times i had it.

Vertical tasting between: A; Liefmans Goudenband (375 ml), cork date: 12/2002, points as above; and: B; Liefmans Goudenband (750ml), cork date: 1986, points in [brackets] in text. Colour: A: thick yellow head, dense, lacey; deep brown beer with reddish shine. B: thick dirty yellow head, cringing to a 1 cm thick ring; dark brown, amberish shine [4]. Nose: A: acetone, nuts, Maillard/bread crust, wood; B: earthy, lactic, Rodenbach-like, mushrooms [8] Taste: A: really like a burnt crust of a pretty sweet bread (eggbread and the like). Surrounding sourness (lactic-woody) with always a bitter finish: a bit harsh, not hoppy, licorice; B: Sourish, pretty lactic, acetic is hinted at but below identification treshold. Yet something clear-sweet inside. Very little tartness, more sour-sweet, but lots of fruity, wooden notes. Vague hint of old port, with the suspicion of the Stilton served alongside. When compared to A, A becomes a pale abbey dubbel, even like a German brown beer, and this is the real thing [9] Mouthfeel/aftertaste: A: Full-bodied, but thinner texture. Shame about the finish, the beer is quite OK; B: much more refreshing, lesser bodied but it somehow sits more right with the style. Or is that prejudice? [5] Overall: A is nice and would come out best when drunk as such. In this vertical test, however, it completely fades in front of the 1986 onslaught. One that tastes as if it were brewed last december for a surviving bunch of real Flemish 'potentaten' with flat caps, a mean eye, and a no meaner stomach. Truly great: [18], which would give it 4.4 out of 5!

Bottled: Dark amber coloured. Light dusty. Has a reddish huge head. Has a harmonious sweetness mingled with a light sourness and some fruitiness in the aroma. The flavour reminds me of "Hvidtøl" ("danish type of household beer", according to my dictionary). Is fruity, spicy and light perfumed. Is more sour than sweet. Very complex beer. Harmonious aftertaste. Very good beer.