Bios Vlaamse Bourgogne

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Style: Sour Ale
Ertvelde, Belgium

Brown pour with reddish tints and a nice frothy off white head. Aroma is sweet cherries, raspberries, caramel, brown sugar, grapes, and plum. Flavor is extremely fruity with more tartness than the aroma might suggest. Brown sugar, dark fruit, and some mild tartness. Never puckering though. Palate is pillowy and nicely effervescent, though a tad thin. Finish is sticky sweet, but mildly attenuated. Quite enjoyable.

Two competing flavors - a nice tart sourness with a muddy cheap brown ale taste. The sourness is quite mild and blends nicely with residual sweetness. I’m guessing this is what a skunked sour tastes like.

Reviewed 8/26/2009 (Bottle): Pours a nut brown colored body, clear. With a small off-white color head, quickly diminishing. Sour fruity aroma. Very sour, almost like a cheesy sour, but not quite. Some light fruit like apple, or light colored grape. Strong. Sour taste, that same fruitiness in the taste, and the aftertaste, similar to apple or cherry or something. Not bad tasting, not very off-putting. But it does take a little getting used to. Drinking, makes me thirsty for more, which is the sign of a good beer, right? Almost like a nutty taste to it, some substance. Weaker, less flavor as it warms.

Pretty reddish brown color, head disappears quickly. Sour Raisin aroma, and similar flavor. Mustard, sour cola, and a little bit of oak and earth. The flavor leaves the palate so quickly it’s hard to get a hold on what’s going on. Very thin mouthfeel, which somehow works. Refreshing, yet only mildly interesting. An OK beer.

Bottle. Pours a clear cola brown with a medium to large lightly tanned beige head. Honey mustard, sweet raisins, effervescent cherry soda. Sweet, light wood, little more honey mustard flavor. Finishes up with a light lactic note, and a touch of sweetness, and a bit papery.

33 cl bottle, Fargo, ND, USA via Chicago. Very carbonated pour, head totally disappears immediately except for some limited carbonation caused suds. Vinegar and cherry aroma, flavor is not nearly as sour as the smell. Tastes similar to a tart vermouth, with a surprisingly sweet and mellow finish with a combating sweet/sour end. Very interesting.

Poured from the bottle into a pint glass to drink. The beer had a dark ruby-brown color with an almost purpleish hue; it had an average-sized semi-creamy tan head with modest retention and good outer cling. The beer had a sour aroma with floral notes and grape notes and a bit of grassy hops. The taste was very sour and somewhat fruity, with a slight presence of grape and raisin; subtle sweetness too. The beer was quite wet with low carbonation and a watery mouthfeel, that fills the mouth. Overall this beer was decent, but not a style that I prefer.

bottle, poured into a tulip glass. Dark red color with frothy off-white head. Aroma of pure vinegar. Taste is of tart vinegar. Nasty. Me no likey. Ugh.