Rodenbach Grand Cru

Having read alot about this before tasting it, I was worried that it would be just too sour. Not at all! Strongly sour but not in an offputting way. Strangely warming and really moreish. Difficult to get hold of at home (I had mine in Belgium) this is a great beer.

750 bottle. One of my favorites. Deep red-orange pour, very sparkley. Aroma of tangerine and yesterday’s dishwater, very acidic... like a fine Roquefort, enough to turn away the weak. Flavor of tart cherries and cranberries, very tart and very strong. Oak comes through in the finish. Absolutely refreshing and delicious.

Bottle. Pours a deep red with nearly zero head. Aroma is of cherry and vinegar. Flavor comes in with a balsamic like intensity. Highly acidic. Finish is complex, with some sweetness mixed in with the sour. Very interesting stuff and I’ll have to sample more, as well as more of the style. I really like this stuff and hope to try more of the style to see how it stands up. <P> I’ve had two more bottles now. I really like it. Still not sure where it stands style-wise but I keep buying it even though it’s pricy as hell in my area. Bumped up my score.

Unfortunately the Rodenbach Grand Cru has changed over the years, becoming less assertive to please the masses. Still, it remains one of my favorites because I am a fan of Flemish sour ales. The sour cherry flavors are scrumptous. In the old days this beer would smell like dirty laundry if dirty laundry could smell could. The Rodenbach Grand Cru used to send shivers down my spine. Now it still entertains me and satisfies my craving for sour but it’s just not quite what it used to be.

I was kind of surprised to find that I didn’t like this beer more than I did. It had a sour tarty nose, a pleasant brown appearance and, drank nicely; the flavor had something to be desired though, it sems a little too bitter on the finish. Maybe I’ll like it more next time. Next time: On tap and I had to give it a higher rating because of the ability to session this beer until the end of time. I drank this all night at my regular pace and didn’t get too wasted, it helps that I enjoyed the flavor too.

33cl bottle, BB 4/35/08. Crystal clear pour with the shortest lived foam ever, big frothy bubbles at first and then nothing, not even a ring around the glass. Aroma is just an explosion of oak and ripened fruit, I could just smell it for hours. Everything else about it just falls short, It’s got all the tools to be just knock down drag out fantastic, just in very small amounts. I give Rodenbach in general mad props for blowing my mind in general for what beer can taste like when you start fooling around with oak aging and strange yeasts, but I think that so many smaller breweries have embraced the wild while Rodenbach continues to almost run away from it screaming. That my friends is a damn shame.

Date: 11/09/1997
Mode: Draft
Source: map room, Chicago

dark amber, whispy head, sweet-n-sour malt aroma, dark amber, puckering sour malt flavor, semi sweet, very complex
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Date: 04/06/2006
Words: aged

clear dark brown, big tart cherry aroma, lots of tart flavor, very dry,

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Score: **4
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The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Bottle... it’s a very complex beer that I just didn’t really get on first tasting. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it - it just didn’t wow me. I’ll give it another go eventually.