Rodenbach Grand Cru

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

750 ml bottle, best before date of 21.09.07- so a little out of date. pours a beautiful amber/ garnet color, head dissipates quickly. Smells of strong sour funk, ascorbic/lactic acid, unique to Rodenbach. Taste is so perfectly tart, ripe strawberry, some caramel malt, light hop bitterness. Medium mouthfeel, finishes quenchingly dry. Really cleans the palate, would like to pair this with some food. The best (excluding Liefmans Goudenband) of the sour reds/browns that I have had. Has the edge on the Dutchess de Bourgogne, Petrus, Panil and others. Price is right too, can be found for $10, sometimes less.

good sour ale. reddish pour with sour aroma. taste is berries followed by a sharp sour, slightly metallic finish. Beautiful compaliation.

I love sour beers and this is another great one to try. Once you open it up, it just smells like most other sour beers. Nice dark fruit, cherries, and raspberries in the flavor. Nice and sour, great stuff.

I’m fairly new to sour beers but trying new things is always a bonus. The deep amber color is gorgeous with a finger of off-white foam that disappears gradually. Aroma of sweet dark fruit and spicy brett matches the taste. Starts out very sour but gets milder as you drink it. Very tasty.

(11/1/08) Draught sample at Blue Palms in Hollywood. Deep ruby color. Aroma of oak, brett, sour cherries, some brown sugar and lactic hints. Sourish flavor with light sugary sweetness, oak, cherries and a bit of funky notes. Wonderful silky mouthfeel. 8/4/8/5/17=4.2
(2/26/08) Bottle at Delirium Cafe in Brussels. Best before 8/24/2009. Deep red color with a slowly-diminishing big beige head. The wonderful aroma has some sweetish malt but is really strong on brett and oak and some fruits as well. Great sour flavor with wood, some berries and cherries and some nice balancing sugary sweetness and malt. Medium-bodied. A magnificent brew! 9/4/8/4/17=4.2

On tap at The Red in Santa Cruz. Deep red-brown with a pinkish beige head of about 2 fingers. The suds is very creamy and dense, leaving sheets of lacing on the snifter. Aroma is sharp and vinegar-like. Red fruits oozing with acetic acid. Oak and funk come out just a little. Flavor is throat-burningly sour but not in a bad way. Cherry and grape provide only a hint of sweetness that’s immediately obliterated by acerbic acidic acetic tartness. Medium body and perfect carbonation. The only knock here is the puckering of the mouth and the charring of the throat. Drinkability is also affected by this, but if you love sour beer, you can drink this all night.

Pous redish amber with no head. Aroma of viniger, not much else. Taste is sour, carbonated viniger! Sour Ale, something different. Not really my thing.

Nice dried fruit aroma. Dark, rich leather in appearance. Has a very neat and unique flavor dried fuit and malt. I glad I experienced this beer.