Rodenbach Grand Cru

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

330 ml bottle from Holiday. Dark reddish brown with a fizzy head. Vinegar, fruit, and oak in the aroma. Really nicely balanced between the sweet and sour tastes, cherry, vinegar, and oak dominate with some lemon tartness to the finish. Quite good.

July 2006 - Aroma of vinegar and cherries. Flavor was sour from the vinegar and some sweetness from fruit (I think cherry). Of course it’s tart, but sweet, too. I’m digging it....not that I know what I’m digging, as I haven’t had many of these. This seems like the perfect blend of tart and sweet.

Had a glass at Buster’s on 28th. It wasn’t quite as sour as regular Rodenbach, but very smooth and a very welcome option at a local bar.

Brown colour, thin beige head. Sweet malt aroma under lots of sour/tartness. Complex flavor - sweet (sugar/brown sugar), some oak, fruity (cherry, raisin, lemon), and very sour. But there’s enough sweetness to make this very refreshing. Dry finish.

Pours dark ruby/raspberry color with 1-finger head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is of cherry, raspberry, a bit of wood, but not much. Initial flavor is tart cherries, less so than Belgian Red but very noticeable. The finish is sour, but not overly sour in a bad way. Well balanced between the sweetness and the sourness. Thought this was pretty solid, would buy it again.

12 oz. bottle, 2007 pours with perfect appearance, fantastic deep, dark raspberry color, but head rapidly fades to almost nothing. Aroma is a mix of sweet fruit and vinegar, offputting at first but inviting towards the end. Flavor is complex, producing different accents of flavor with each taste. Predominant flavors are cider vinegar, rhubarb, raspberry; finishes with a little sour cherry. Finally a sour ale I really enjoyed. Found the balance between, sour and sweet exceptional. Overall, impressive and unique. Now for a little to cheese to finish it off with.

12 oz bottle; fresh.

Dark brown with red and amber highlights, near-white fuzzy head of modest scale. Aroma of gentle malt vinegar meeting strawberry-rhubarb pie atop an oaken picnic table; nice, not stinging at all. The flavor is almost sweeter than expected, much less sour than say La Folie, fresh pie cherries with wood, carbonation occasionally lifting it to string the sinuses but usually just going down mellow, sour, but supremely drinkable. I’m having a hard time sipping instead of quaffing. Very nicely balanced. A fascinating sweetness plays along the sides on the tongue late in the flavor profile, just as the sourness is starting to peak but replacing the sourness, leaving cherry cider and wood for the final lingering flavors.

As part of the Naked City sour tasting, this one comes off as good but strongly balsamic (heading toward Duchess but not anything of that magnitude) and sweeter than La Folie. Rating of 3.9 iis about right.

Pours a dark reddish brown with a fairly big head that dissipates quickly and lively carbonation. Aroma is of sour cherries, vinegar and oak. Taste is nicely sour, fruit but not overwhelming. Sticky texture. Long sour finish. Very nice "sit down with a snifter after a long days work" beer.