Verhaeghe Duchesse De Bourgogne

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

Deep ruby brown, lasting tan head.Sour acteic nose.Starts sweet, slightly acetic, then sour. Unfortunately there is a metallic tone that spoils the beer.

330 mL bottle.. Dark brown with a creamy light tan head. Aroma of red wine vinegar. Fairly well balanced sweet and sour taste with some red wine character.

Dark red brew with a medium head. Sour taste with a distinct cherry flavor which is coming from the oak. Very impressive control of the flemish style. Alcohol taste is not evident at all. I could drink this at any point in time. One of the best flemish sour ales that I've had the chance to taste.

Ruby red, quite a large bubbly head that sloooowly faded. Initial tastes were sour bing cherry candy, mellowed as it warmed. Tart on the sides of the tongue and thickly sweet down the middle. Finish was a dry woodiness with some lingering sour/tart.

Poured a slightly hazed red-brown color with very little head. In fact, the only knock on the beer was its lack of head or lacing. The aroma was typical for a flemish sour, full of vinegar (no idea why I like that, you wouldn’t think that would be appealing, but in this style, it’s great). Mild fruity accents to the flavor, but I couldn’t pick up specifics. Flavor was a beautiful blend of sweet-sour with tart apples and cherries coming through. Mouthfeel was medium to heavy bodied with low carbonation. I really liked the sweet sour balanced on this one. Great stuff. So much better than the lambics, due to the balanced sweetness and the lack of funkiness. Re-rate of Nov07 expiration bottle on 3/17/06: Definitely finishes on the sweet side and is more balanced to sweet over the sour. Either way, just a flat out enjoyable experience. Re-rate again of Nov07 expiration bottle on 4/3/06: Yeast comes through lightly and the head was nice, one finger head that laced well. A great sweet-sour balance and some dark fruit blance, thick mouthfeel for the style relative to the top peers. This might be my favorite Flemish Sour. Re-rate again on draft at Half Moon in June ’06: Darned perfect beer. Head was huge, lacing was fantastic. Flavors were all rich and beautiful, full bodied, well balanced sweet and sour notes, some bready notes come though with the dark fruit, and tart cherries and apples. A smooth drinker, great mouthfeel. Appearance remains a 9 due to the average of my experiences, and the overall only a 9, because it just can’t be the beer for all moods and occasions (and no beer is perfect).

Still trying to get my cheaks to stop puckering after this one. The flavor was like sour grapes with vinegar notes. The aroma was sour and vinegary with a slightly sweet fruity background. the burgundy body is topped by a medium thick off-white head with a good amount of lace. Full bodied, dry and slightly warming.

Rated 8/4/07. Dark reddish purple coloring. Medium sized white head that settles to a thin film. Leaves behind a spotty lacing. Aroma is of sour apple cider, sweet caramel malts, pear juice, and yeast. The smell is really quite appealing. The flavor is sweet and sour, with sweet caramel malts melding with tart apple cider. Body gets a bit syrupy as it warms, which combined with the carbonation level makes it almost soda-like. Everything is fairly appealing and well done, its just a bit too sweet for me. Would make for a good desert beverage, though.

From Volby 110408 Bottled Aroma and taste of good balsamico. Tangy but balanced by sweetness and a hint of bitterness