Verhaeghe Duchesse De Bourgogne

Brewed by Verhaeghe
Style: Sour Ale
Vichte, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

Tap at the Falling Rock. Poured a dark brown, had no head by the time it got to me. Smelled sugary and fruity, mainly of raisins. Tasted more sweet then sour to me, mainly of cherries and raisins. It’s not overly sour making it a great beer for those that need a good balance between sweet and sour in a sour brew. In all, a very likable beer.

Best Before: 05-12-09. Appearance: Pours a clear, dark mahogany brown body with a full, frothy, light khaki-colored head. Fair amount of lacing deposited on the way down. Smell: Sweet-smelling, sugar-coated fruit nose with a big, hearty dose of malt vinegar. Light whiff of an unidentified herbal component. Taste: Sweet dark caramel maltiness precludes a fruity dose of raspberries and a sugary, lightly tart cherry juice character and with an addition of both aged balsamic and malt vinegars. Squirt of fresh lemon juice. Tiny pinch of cocoa powder. Mild woodiness throughout. Undercurrent of tart acidity, particularly at the end. Long, fruity, crisp finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium-plus carbonation. Drinkability: Recommended. An enjoyable, tasty, relatively smooth Flemish Red jam-packed with rich fruity complexities.

Bottle. Pours ruby brown with a medium beige head. Aroma is fruity with apples and cherry in front. Flavour is balsamicco, cherry, sugar, port, basement, apples.

Poured attractive ruddy brown. Sweet sugar cookie nose with a touch of sour. The flavor was not complex at all, and the finish is lacking in the wood. Decent, but not really a sour.

Dark redish brown, cherry, malty, yeast, little wood, little dark fruit, dry finish.

I tasted this beer before I got my account with ratebeer, so I can’t really remember all the flavors.

Bottle: Nice mahoghany pour with a reddish tint. Smaller beige head with great lacing. Aroma is sort of vinegar filled at first, but softens up to a cidery type of fruit and tart. Mellow flavors with some barrel aged notes. Sweet and little bits of tart. Not as sour as anticipated and certainly no vinegar in the taste. I like a sour to be more of a sipper; I started to put this one away far to quickly. **Note: Once it warmed up to room temp, the flavors blended and balanced much better. Should have waited longer at first, but with improvement comes a few more points on the rating. Thanks to tytoanderso for this as a bonus brew.

Picked up in Bruges by my friend Gyurke. Pours a reddish brown color. Aromas of dark fruit, yeast, and a touch of wood. Flavor is sour cherries, yeast, wood, and a couple of sweet tarts.