Rodenbach Grand Cru

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

Bronze body and a soapy, grayish head. Great tart aroma of red wine and a hint of balsamic plus some earth and oak. Deep, mature flavor with nice medium-high tartness. Not too dried out like some wild beers, leaving this with some welcome balancing texture. Very nice.

Thanks to JK for sharing. Wonderful sour nose with the faintest hint of cherry. Dark amber pour with almost no head. Delicious sour flavor with some hints of the cherry again. Tart finish with the faintest hint of basalmic vinegar.

Bottle thanks to xproudfoot. Deep hazy red body, well-carbonated, thin off-white head. Tart puckering vinegar aroma with sour grapes, musty and potent; raspberry vinaigrette. Incredible flavor development; funky yeast notes and fermented grapes and raspberries pair with vinegar initially, followed by a puckering sourness richly backed by drying oak. The biting sourness cleanses the palate of the musty yeast notes, begging the next sip. The body is greatly enhanced by the tight, crisp carbonation that sharpens the sour notes and dissolves any lingering aftertastes. An amazing beer; truly one of the best I’ve sampled. Rivals my top beer (New Belgium La Folie); I give the latter a slight edge as my bottle had a tad less vinegar than this beer did, increasing drinkability while maintaining complexity. Eleven or 12 ounces of Rodenbach Grand Cru is enough for one sitting, but what a sitting it makes.

Aroma is sweet fruits and balsamic vinegar. Amber/brown color with a smallish and mostly diminishing head. Fore is balsamic vinegar and tart cherries. Flavor range is narrow and carries through to the dry acidic finish.

(bottle - corked & caged 750 ml) Murky copper color with a mound of tan foam. Aroma is very sour and winey with lots of hints of grapes, red wine, and some sugar. Flavor is a sour explosion in your mouth with lots of sweetness in the middle and a finish that’s very sour and cloying. Quite nice.

Pours deep burgundy-red. Small but dense tanned head. Very aromatic, mostly sour and acidic fruits, also ripe dark cherries and almonds. Refreshingly sharp and acidic taste. More cherries, also sour apples, cranberries, pepper and a little bit of candy-sugar sweetness. Well balanced with an incredible complexity. Pleasant tart and fruity finish. A beautiful beer.

Bottle thanks to Mr Dixen (Go Steelers!). Pours dark amber coloured with a thin head. Very nice complexity. Both malty and hoppy with nots of dark fruits, oak, caramel, balsamico, wood, dark chocolate, vinegar and berries. HURRA!

Bottle. what a nightmare it was to finally get this beer, the LCBO was originally supposed to have it for the fall release but then it got pushed back even past the winter release by a couple of weeks. It was definitely worth it (plus it was dirt cheap at $2.2/bottle), what a wonderful beer! I’ve had a few of them in the past six weeks or so but never got around to rating one until now. cherrywood colour with a small white lactic head. tart cherries are prominent in the aroma. very sour, yet it is still quite flavourful. acidic mouthfeel. I wonder if the LCBO will ever bring this beer back after all the problems they had this time around.