Zoetzuur Flemish Reserve Ale

Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Sour Ale
Lochristi, Belgium

Pours dark red almost brown. Very light on the sour but there is a tinge towards the back of the palate. Very fruity with some cherry and raspberry. Aroma is earthy funky yeast and some fruit. Decent body with some carbonation that plays on your tongue. Bit of a gritty texture and pretty enjoyable.

<b>In short: </b>One of the best interpretation of the classic Flemish Sour style. Second only to La Folie.
<b>How: </b>Bottle 750ml, sent to me by after4ever as a bonus. HUGE thank for that one. Consumed when almost one year of age.
<b>The look: </b>Cloudy resign brown topped by a medium off-white head
<b>In long: </b>Strong nose of oaky barrels. Body is a bit fluffy with a nice fresh cherry taste. Sensation of a freshly baked cherry muffin. The sour oak barrel couldn’t be better integrated. The finish is pleasantly dry. This is not a beer in the pure Flemish Sour tradition but rather a crossover of 2/3 of the traditional Flemish Sour (Rodenbach Grand Cru, etc.) and 1/3 the new trend of American Sour Ales. The beer is intense yet it is highly drinkable in large quantities, which is something I cannot say about most sour ales, even the best ones. That beer would be so highly rated if it had a Lost Abbey label on it. And even more highly rated if it was rare. A truly fantastic beer. I can’t tell you how much I like this beer… mainly because I have no clue how to pronounce its name.

Pours hazy reddish brown with gold highlights, and a creamy long lasting beige head. Nice! Aroma is very bretty, and kinda reminds me of Avery 15. Cherries, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, sweaty socks, a bit of oak, mustard and vinegar. Certainly an eventful nose. Taste is quite dry with flavors of wood, toast, sour cherries, mustard, vinegar, slight rotten fruit, and a much bigger oak influence adding a certain "dusty" character. Finishes dry, dusty and with a mustard and bitter fruit aftertaste. Medium bodied, but a little fuller than most with creamier carbonation. Quite good, but maybe TOO drying for me, despite the slightly beefier malt presence.

bottle. Reddish brown in color with a medium off white head and good carbonation. Aroma of sour cherry, light vinegar, moderate funk, light cheese, and some earth and touches of molasses. Taste is moderately sour and funky, some acetic and lactic acid, tart cherry, earthy and lightly phenolicy. Body is a bit fuller than alot of sours and has some caramel/molasses sweetness poking through. Finishes tart with some lingering cherry, mild acetic acid, and earth. Looks like I enjoyed this one more than most.

Very nice example of a Flemish sour ale, reminiscent of the retired Rodenbach Alexander, but with slightly fuller mouthfeel. You either like it or you hate it.

bottle thanks to swalden28. pours brownish with an off white head. aroma of sour cherries and flavor of tart cherries. medium body with light to medium carbonation.

Bottle from Kegs & Barrels in McKinney, TX. Pours a hazy brown with orange hues, off-white head. Aroma of wild cherries, malt, wild yeast. Flavor is much the same. Mouthfeel is medium body with medium carbonation. Over all it was pretty good!

Bottle from BMan1113VR. Pours a dark reddish color with a big creamy head. Nose is pineapple, straw berries, barnyard funk. Taste is Vinegar, pepper, old rotting fruit and a bit of tartness. Weird semi bitter finish. Not the best.