Rodenbach Grand Cru

Second time around - I liked this a lot better. ----------- A deep red beer with light brown head that disappears fast. The aroma is very fruity with notes of cherry, kriek, tree and acid. The flavor is acidic sweet because of the mixed fermentation. It has a very powerful start, then a bit watery in the middle and ends with a sharp typical gueze aftertaste.

Dark brownish red. Big fruity, balasamic aroma. Tart, with balanced acidity and cask character. Complex and simply wonderful.

(Bottle 25 cl) Recalling the old Rodenbach commercial "It’s wine" this BEER actually reminds me a lot of red wine in both nose and flavour. Filtered, dark reddish beer. Strong acidic vinegar-like notes without much bitterness. Even for Belgians this is a unique beer - but one you grow to appreciate. At least I did. Try this with a paperbag of shrimps at the beach in De Panne. Yummy. 160593 & 240695

I went quite a while without seeing this beer. Palm bought the brewery, tried to brew it away from the venerated Rodenbach site. This of course didn’t work and they went back. Finally, they felt comfortable exporting it again, and finally I was able to try it again. It used to be that I wanted to die choking to death on this glorious brew. Where does it stack up now?

Orangey-red colour. Fruity aroma shows cherry and black currant, but also a little bit of sugar. (Sugar was tradittionally added to cut the intense acidity but is not on the ingredient list on my bottle today). Very tart body. Vibrant, with cherry, red currants, plums, and underlying sweet malts. Well balanced. Clean acidity, unlike some other Flemish sours that have acetic influences. Big, tangy, rounded. Without the benefit of sampling fresh old Grand Cru and fresh new Grand Cru together, I find it sharper, but slightly less complex, than in the pre-Palm days. A slight downgrade from perfection, but still a classic.

33 cL bottle. Pours dark amber with a quickly gone head. Aroma is woody, fruity, slight acidic brettish and solid note of acetone (which I don’t enjoy) - seems dry. Flavour is sweet/acidic, with a blend of fruit and sour notes. Shows a strange chemical note into the finish. Otherwise a very controlled flemish sour, nice.