Zoetzuur Flemish Reserve Ale

Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Sour Ale
Lochristi, Belgium

The body is brown with a bit of orrange added in. The fizzy tan head did some nice lacing before it settled into a film. The aroma has a definite malt beneath it, but is heavily topped by sour cherries with a touch of rusting iron. It’s spritzy in the mouth even though the body displays little carbonation. The flavor is sour malt with cherries, wood, iron, and old straw. It finishes on a puckering, tart cherry taste. Nice.

Rating # 1800!

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Poured a lightly hazed depp orange with a medium cream colored head that quickly dissolved to a thin layer that persisted until the drink was finished. The aroma was dry and funky. Smelled like dry poop, dehydrated fruit and leather as it warmed.. Notes of dirty hay were also present. This was tasted with the Panil and La Folie and this had the funkiest aroma of the three. Flavor was dry woody with tart fruit. Less fruit than the others.

Head is initially small, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy dark amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain, caramel), lightly yeasty (mold), with notes of grape juice (Welch’s?), vinegar, and raisins. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic. Finish is lighlty to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation.

Dark copper, old currency color with a large white head aloft. Moderate Flemish Sour aroma, with mild apple aromatics and sugary fruit. Not really any oak or sour yeast chartacter, although it does smell slightly musty. Really mild overall, lacking character and depth and possessingly a mildly tart apple flavor. On the finish, however, is a very sugary, sweetened fruitiness, that begins after the swallow and is very sweet and cinnamon like. It’s very sweet overall, presumably sweetened. This is a very poor example of a Flemish Sour in my opinion. Almost laughably bad and the sweetness lingers.

Mega Thanks to friend and fellow rater BeanDip for this lovely bottle of beer!

Rating # 800
I have had this bottle cellared on it’s side for many a month. Poured a tawny brown body with edges of ruby. The head lasted the length of every glass and draped the inners with silky sheets of fine-bubbled lacing. The aroma and flavor did not bring the overly tart notes that I was so expecting from this Flemish Ale. I was expecting So much more tartness but instead found more a Belgian Brown Ale with some funky farmyard yeastiness to it. Upfront I find suggestions of sharp tasting cherry, merlot grape, and hints of sour apple add some nice vinous character… accompanied by notes of oak and walnut. Freshly cut tall wet grass helps gather the earthiness of the beer… a hint of rich organic soil. Taste very wild and true to life…. A bit biscuity yet acidic in the finish… tart and dry but nothing too extreme… A very well done beer but not comparable to my precious bottles of Panil Barriquée (Sour)… IMHO.

(750ml bottle) Pours a lightly cloudy deep amber body with a large rocky beige head. Aroma of grape bubble gum and tart cherries. Flavor is sour and has some earthiness. Excellent all around!

Wonderfully complex aroma - clear brettanomyces character of fresh flowers, wet hay, and barnyard funk, red apples and bananas, vinegar, toffee. Fairly clear ruby-orange color, dense off-white head. Great balance of brett. funk, fruitiness, acidity, and bitterness in the flavor, flavorful but crsip and refreshing. Medium body with moderate carbonation. Very few beers have such a superb balance of complex flavors and aromas with such a crisp and refreshing character. This is outstanding.

RBSG 05. As soon as I saw that deproef brewed this- I waited in a short line to get my sample. I love everything that they make. Very fluffy and lasting pure white head- with tight bubbling mixed with huge bubbles(like many wild ales)- like all of their brews. Aroma is moderately sour with lactic and acetic bacteria. THe acidity and herbal notes as well as the horseblanket/farmhouse qualities makes this beer very refreshing.