Rodenbach Vin de Céréale

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

A very acidic beer beer that would scare away some people at least. the vinegar is rather apparent, but it’s swept in such caress that you can’t really not like it.

375ml Bottle - Amber in colour. Fruity and vinous aroma. Tart taste with grain, caramel and raisins. The tart finish lingers and leaves a burning sensation. Not my kind of thing, although this was at the end of a long day!

A fascinating glimmering reddish orange color. No real head, just a small amount of airy bubbles that quickly disappears. An outstanding appearance. A powerful and mature smell. Rich fruity aromas mix with prominent notes of oak barrel. Mild hints of vinegar. Some yeast, a hint of nougat, green apples and earth. The smell is really reminiscent of white wine. Excellent. The taste is wonderful as well. A tart taste seems to balance perfectly, but just for a hint of second it goes sour. But the sourness is counterweighted by a surprisingly big sweetness, with notes of both malts and honey. The taste is really complex: notes of tart berries, lemon juice, unripe fruits, raisins. It’s reminiscent of both white wine and fine apple cider. Plenty of barrel aged character as well with hints of oak and chestnut. The taste of vinegar is present, but subdued, and becomes noticeable not until the finish where the alcohol also makes an appearance. Rather full body, very smooth and soft. Basically no carbonation at all. Rather dry in the finish. D: A refined and elegant beer, to say the least. I really liked it. It’s complex and well balanced, and very tasty. But most of all, it was fun and enjoyable to drink. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

Bottle, 37,5 cl, 2004. Amber coloured beer with no head, some light bubbles. Nice aroma of light sourness, light sweetness, a bit woody also. Taste is light sour, some carbonation, some wood (oak), some sweetness, also grains ans some fruitiness. Very complex beer!

Bottle at the Relentless Thirst Tasting on 08/29/2009. Very clear pale golden body with a very small white head. Fairly sour fruit aroma. Very sour fruit flavor, some balsamic vinegar. Medium light body with moderate carbonation.

Bottle. Ap: Amber color. No head. Small and calm bubbles. Ar: Jasmine rice. Light spiciness. Some strange complex funky thing that reminds me of artsinal cheese. Very sweet. Fla: The sourness is there straight away. Kind of sweet in the background, good balance for the sourness. Vinous. The strange bitterness of jasmine rice. Ov: Perfect palate. Great soft mouthfeel

2004 Bottle. Pours a luminous clear golden with a clear white head that vanishes quickly. Aromas of wet newspapers, Asian pear, some green grape, and a nice dose of funk. The flavor of this is so well balanced it is truly extraordinary with muscat grapes, great geueze funkiness, and green apple. There is just the right amount of carbonation which offsets the sour finish. This is one of the smoothest, most elegant beers I have ever tried. It reminds me of the 3 Fonteinen J&J Blauw, which is most certainly a good thing. A pleasure to drink.

Beautiful copper pour. Aroma is hay, fine sherry vinegar and a little toffee. Flavor is super elegant, medium tart and lightly sweet with great balance.