Zoetzuur Flemish Reserve Ale

Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Sour Ale
Lochristi, Belgium

750ml bottle, hazy murky amber-red, with a beige head, leaving some laces, yeasty, sweet-sour fruity oaky nose of blueberry, blackcurrant, with a light musty, tart accent, with some mild bretty, funky notes within a leathery, horseblancket aromas follow through on a meduim-bodied palate with a yeasty, raw toasty,musty, bretty, fruity character, of blackcurrant tartness, with a mild funky, ironish, tannic, wet oakiness, leading towards a tannic, fruity, oaky, light sourness finish.

Pours hazy caramel color with off white head. Sour aroma with some barnyard funk and mustiness. Not really sour, just tart with wild funkiness. Some sweet malt flavor in the finish. Medium body with soft carbonation. It is a decent beer but I was hoping for more sourness.

Pours a really brown color with a quickly diminishing head that leaves a lot of lacing on the glass. Aromas are Apple, sour cherry, and musty -- like worcestershire sauce. Apple and cherry on the front of the palate are sweet, with a souring middle and an almost mineral finish. Very complex, and better as it warms. Kind of a funky finish.

Pours a rusty amber color with fluffy off-white head. Aroma is intense sour fruit, oak and must. Taste is quite the same with a beautiful dance of sour fruit, oak and yeast. Everything is put together well and all aspects of this beer is done well. Excellent.

Drunk from Lambic Flutes. Pours a reddish golden color with a huge foamy head that leaves some sticky lacing. Aroma is musty, strawberries, and oak. Taste is much the same. This reminds me a lot of Rodenbach Classic. I was REALLY hoping for some pucker-loving-sour, but just didn’t get it. A bit flat.

A mini Flemish red? A small Rodenbach Grand Cru? A bit less dark, a bit more clear, a bit less intense, but the same fruity strawberry sour red Ale as the Rodenbach, and just delightful.

Bottle. Brown with some reddish hints. Aroma is some sweet fruit, pit fruit, and cranberry juice-like sourness. Flavor is the same, cranberries again and maybe a little sour cherries. Interesting, but too much like drinking a capri sun.

Bottle sampled on 09/26/08 at Night of the Funk. Pours a clear orange/brown with a small white head. Aroma of light tartness and melon and other sweet fruits. Flavor is tart with a bitter finish and also some stale wheat malt. Just kinda meh. Not terribly bad but not something I’d seek out again.