Rodenbach Grand Cru

Brewed by Brouwerij Rodenbach (Palm)
Style: Sour Ale
Roeselare, Belgium

Bomber, shared with Alex. Pours brown with red undertones and heavy lacing. Aroma of apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, tart citrus and green apple. Flavor is incredibly bold, and transitions throughout the palate. Starts of tart apple, red grape skin, then moves to sweet candied apple and lemon. Finishes is spicy and prickly – an unusual sensation – and some cactus fruit. Overall, I loved this beer and craved its complexity, but a disclaimer: my buddy Alex let this beer warm up longer than I did, and a certain harshness in both the nose and finish (spicy/alcohol) can through too noticeably.)

Pours a dark ruby-brown with a 1 finger muddy tan head that has o.k. retention. Aroma is red apple skin, balsamic vinegar, sweet grapes, wet forest, nice dry wood notes, hints of cherries, vanilla, light caramel and pear. Some interesting, banana/banana oil notes come up as it warms. Flavor is red grapes, underripe raspberries, musty grain, sweet apple cider, plenty of sweet earthy and sour balsamic notes, strawberry, just a touch of cane sugar and maple sap. Finish is tart, slightly bready, fading fruit notes and some nice earth. Palate is medium-thin, highly carbonated, maybe too highly, very dry and clean throughout. Good stuff, though a little more vinegar than I would like.

A mix of 1/3 fresh Rodenbach and 2/3 two-year old Rodenbach aged in oak casks. This is the benchmark oak-aged Sour Ale of Belgium. The ratebeer description above is rather misleading since there is nothing gentle about this beer, it is all about the achieving the perfectly balanced sharp sourness.
Pours a dark-red body (thus the name of this style - Flanders Red Ale) with a small off-white head that fades away, leaving a bit of fine lacing behind. Tart aroma of oak wood and cherries. The taste is strong bold sour, sour cherries, vinegar, tannins, acidic and just a very light subtle sweetness to balance the extremes. For 6.5% alcohol this is a very powerful beer full of complex flavours. For the longest time after first tasting Rodenbach I just could not believe there were no cherries used in making the beer - that’s how potent the taste is. Unlike the funky sourness of a Geuze, the sourness of a Flemish Red is vinegary and oaky from the aging in oak casks. For me it is a more refined, elegant kind of sourness whereas Geuze is more fresh and direct.
It is all a matter of taste though; some people might find this to be like drinking pure vinegar. For a beginner I therefore strongly recommend acclimatizing yourself to the sourness with a few of the milder Rodenbach Classics first before trying the Grand Cru. Also, as has often been said, this is a great beer to convince a wine connoisseur that there is some merit to beer as well.
A most refreshing, strong and complex beer. Be careful - once you develop a taste for sour ales you are very likely to become addicted!

Bottle and drought. Pours a red brune body with an off white head. Sour cherries and lightly woody with a nice tart character in the aroma but is more subdued in the flavor. Balsamic notes and a hint of woody berries. Delicious.

Deep brown. Fermented berries, vinegar in aroma. Sour as hell, like drinking vinegar with berries. Soft maltiness when the sourness fades away.

Bottle. Fruity tart aroma. Deep brownish red body, big off-white head. Flavor is fruity and very tart, with cherry and a complex blend of berries. Finishes with a delightful cushion of soft sweetness that kisses the palate. Delicious.

Bottle. One of my first sour ales. The cherry aroma, taste, and palate, make this beer curiously enjoyable throughout. I was pleasantly surprised by the enjoyability of the sour aspect of this beer.

On tap @ O’Brien’s: The first thing that stood out to me was the undeniable scent very similar to cocain. Flavors were an extreme sour and tartness yet very sweet too with tastes of sour green pear, apples, grapes and kiwi. Barrel left behind some notes of wine and sour skittles like residue with strange touch of lemon or lime and papaya. Based on memory i really loved this stuff and was raving and ranting about it to my girlfriend which she didn’t like this but i must of been have been catching a good fade by the time i had this.