Zoetzuur Flemish Reserve Ale

Thanks to Badgerben for sharing. Pours a nice reddish amber color with a nice white head. Nice apple, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Nice tart flavor, but not too appley, more like a lemon type sour with nice dose of brown sugar like maltiness.

750 mL bottle. Deep copper brown with off white head. Sour apple, caramel, yeast, honey notes, and alcohol aroma. Decent sour apple taste and a caramel/bready finish.

Poured a cloudy dark pink/red with a large frothy white head which lasted and maintained a constant film on the top of the beer. Sweet and soothing aroma of sweet black cherries, cinnamon, cream, and a bit of lemony tartness. Flavor is much drier than the aroma, with notes of strawberries and raspberries and sundae cherries, light sour lemons and a bit of a bitter tartness to it, like the aftertaste from lemon candies. Dry toffee underlies the fruit flavors. Finishes slightly dry and tart. Not nearly as sweet as I expected, and not as sweet as some of the highest rated examples of the style. Still pretty refined with some nice fruity tart complexity to it. I wouldn’t call it mind-blowing, but it is recommendable and palatable.

Re rate from bottle. Pours a slightly cloudy deep reddish/copper with big head. Beautiful pour. Aroma is a mix of oak, light cherry and some hops that remind me of Orval. Taste is some of that oh so wonderful funky yeast with a light cherry sweetness and more oak. High carbonation really brings out the flavor. The sourness is balanced by a gradual bitterness that smooths out the finish. This is a great, always available sour beer. Nicely done.

Bottle. Pours orange ruby, fluffy off white head. Aroma is funky, musty and tangy; bleu cheese, fruit, wood, merlot. Flavor is bleu cheese, wood, tangy sour fruit; not over powering and quite likeable. I think that I would prefer more of a tangy bite, but the beer is fairly complex, so I’m pleased.

6/9/07: Sample at Columbus Ale Fest ’07.
Brown bodied. Excellent aroma of barnyard and sweet and sour apples. Flavors include green apple, cheddar cheese. Sour finish. Remarkable.

Bottle courtesy of Bu11zeye: Poured a cloudy light brown/red color ale with a super huge foamy head with great retention and lacing. Aroma of oak with some tart note is pretty interesting with some great notes of Brett/funky yeast. Taste is dominated by great oak and tart notes with some sourness which is offset by the funky and barnyard like taste of the yeast. Lots of complexities can be found in this beer. Body was full with some limited filtration and some great carbonation. An interesting experience and something I would definitely like to try again.

Date: 4/29/2007
Event: River’s Bend Belgian Workshop / Abbey Dubbel Brewout
Location: Ken’s House
Serving: 750 ml corked and caged bottle.

Tasting Notes
Aroma: Lots of red wine vinegar.
Appearance: Cloudy amber color with a thin crown.
Flavor: Cherry and berry flavors with oak/wood and a hint of alcohol.
Palate: Medium body. Very smooth.
Overall: This Flemish Sour Ale really plays the sweet and sour paradox quite nicely. Not for the faint of heart!