Zoetzuur Flemish Reserve Ale

Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Sour Ale
Lochristi, Belgium

I usually like this brewery but this is one of the weaker beers I have tried from them. It does have a good aroma, with some balsamic and fruit. Brown rather than the more common red. A tall, thick, and long lasting head. There is a bit of an off flavor besides the fruity-sour quality, and it is something I can’t quite nail down, maybe with the yeast.

Bottle shared by brewfiend, pours a clear brownish amber brew with a slow dissolving and spritzy beige head that has good retention. Aroma of slight tart cherries, barnyard funk, oak cask, and some sweet/sour pork sauce. Taste is medium bodied, spritzy carbonated with some flavors of tart cherries and sour apples. Finish is slightly metalic with some earthy herb flavors in the aftertaste. A bit high on the carbonation but still tart to be a Flemish sour.

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.