Verhaeghe Duchesse De Bourgogne

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

From the tap poured a nice dark red color with a good amount of head. Nice sour flavor with a bit of spice. Nice lingering aftertaste.

On draft in a Duchesse glass @ Old Vines in Orlando. Dark ruby, with a slight white head. Fades fast but left a nice lacing behind. Sweet/sour aroma, slight acetic hints, almost brandyish grapes. Flavor was sweetly tart, hints of apples and grapes. A little vineger. A slight puckering mouthfeel. Very nice, I enjoyed savoring it for a while. No noticeable hops. Sour but more on the tart side of sour. very good, I look forward to having this again!

Poured from a bottle. Poured a nice garnet red color with a thin, light tan head. Nice sour aroma with hints of cherry, some oak, and a bit of musk. Flavor begins with a tart cherry hit with nice carbonation and a bit of oak, leading into a smooth, sweet, almost apple juice like finish. Very crisp and smooth at the same time, and very pleasant to drink. Really nice beer, but not overly sour.

33cl Bottle $3.59 Binny’s Orland Best before 3/21/08 Duchesse de Bourgogne appears rusty when poured into a flute. A soapy bubbled beige head rose to just over a finger on the pour. Fairly clear with tiny carbonation bubbles rising to the head. Leaves a spot or two of lace here and there. Good looking Flanders Red. Aroma has much less vinegar than I expected to find. There is hints of balsamic vinegar though that mingle nicely with damp musty oak. There’s tart cherries that make my mouth water each time I stick my nose in the glass. All the aromas are perfectly balanced. As this breathes the vinegar does become more pronounced. This is certainly a lively beer in the mouth. There’s a wave of sourness upfront followed by an explosion of sweet and sour mid-palate. There’s not much oak in the flavor but the mustiness and cherries are there. Slight vinegar after the sweet and sour explosion. Finishes with semi-sweet cherries. Extremely lively mouthfeel that becomes frothy as it moves along. Light bodied with big pops of flavor concentrating on seperate areas of the mouth. The carbonation is on the higher side of the spectrum and keeps this one moving quickly. This is actually a fairly refreshing beer that does down pretty easily. This bottle is disappearing pretty fast. Duchesse de Bourgogne is a quality Flanders Red that’s a pleasure to sip. As this beer warms the flavors really seem to grow and morph. Interesting complexities. 12/15/07

Pours an extreme dark red color with a nice, off-white head. Aroma is very sour, a definite oaked character. Initial sourness seems to be a carryover from the aroma; center of this beer seems to be nutty and sweet. A woody, sour finish. Satisfying, just not very interesting.

Bottle. Pours rich and full of plumb-red goodness. Aroma is nutty strawberry. Nice lacing around the glass. Flavor is coppery cherry with a faint sweetness that includes a touch of cedar. Watery mouthfeel. Fair, but not worth the price.

bottle. Red-brown color...minimal head at best. Moderate sourish nose...hints of vinegar. Sweeter tasting than the aroma hints....thin, vinous mouthfeel. The malt is in there somewhere...not the best of the style but far from the worst. Worth a try, but don’t expect too much.

Bottle, courtesy of sersdf. Darker than expected. Good solid aroma - tart cherry, vanilla, light alcohol in the nose, vinegar. A tad sweet for me, but really tasty. Not overly sour, but sour enough. Tasty, and worth a revisit.