Rodenbach Grand Cru

The other flemish red ales I’ve had so far had something in common with ale. This one does not. The sourness is complete and total, and really something that compels me to keep drinking it... fast. I really enjoy this style a lot.

I may have had a bad bottle, or simply think this style is not great. I’ll try another, and re-rate. For now my first drain pour!

At Max’s 72 Hours of Belgian. Cherry root beer pour. Nice and sour with some dark chocolate lingering. Far too easy to drink. Oaky notes compliment a wonderful beer.

33cl. bottle: A rich dark Cherry brown under a fading delicate but creamy off-white cap. Delightful aromas of sharp, tart black cherry, lactic acid, wood, condensed milk and a hint of freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies come wafting out of the top of the glass. This causes an instant watering of the mouth. Once your mouth gets its chance it is first struck with a creamy berry that quickly changes through, toast, chocolate, and in to sour lactic, acetic bliss all within a split second. After that first nano-second your mouth is left to contemplate the swirling contrasts that Rodenbach has brewed up. Wonderfully complex fruit, sour, toast, light chocolate, dark dried cherry, star fruit and kumquat come to mind. Long sour finish with a faint touch of tin that gets drier and drier until all of a sudden your saliva glands kick into overdrive and your urge for the next sip becomes too powerful.

Pours cloudy brown, with a fine head. Aroma is sour. mildly vinegary. Moderate mouth feel. flavor is lightly vinegary with some fruit and malt qualities to it. Some apple cider and malt vinegar qualities all around. pretty good.

nice sharp fruit with sour overtones and a hint of wood only Sisyphus has staggered up that mountain with greater burden

flavor of oak, and red fruit, Molasses, Caramel, red wine, bitter and sweet. Nice to drink.

Bottle 750. Wonderful aging! Aroma winelike with the oak present, sour fruits. Flavor includes sour apple, sour cherry, a bit of vinegar (but not misplaced) on the finish, and overall very vinous. Plenty of tartness too. Not as overpoweringly sweet-sour as the classic. Very impressed. 8-4-8-4-15/3.9

Rerate 8/6/08 Bottle, 750. Aroma upfront with wood, though never overpowering, then tons of fruit, cherry, plum, red apple, and a good dose of sourish malt beneath it all. Flavor really maintains the fruitiness with lots of tartness and a hint of sweetness, although more of a sweet-sourness. Retains a semi-dry tartness despite the generous quantities of malt and that "balancing" sweetness. Coming back to this beer after having now dabbled a bit in the world of more trendy, smaller-scale sours, I actually couldn’t be more impressed by this classic. 8-4-9-4-17/4.2