Chapeau Faro

Brewed by Brouwerij De Troch
Style: Lambic - Faro
Ternat-Wambeek, Belgium

Dark ruby color. Curious boozy aroma. Brandyish, also with a cheap cherry liqueur quality. It previews a hugely cloying flavor, and while hugely sweet I guess it wasn’t as syrupy cloying as I’d feared. Its getting close though! There’s a slight cherry pit tartness. Weird herbal finish that hints at anise.

Small serving during 11-30-07 tasting at the Lex-Larp Cellars as I joined joet and the Twin Cities crew. Poured from a bottle. Intriguing, pungent, tart aroma features salsa and apricot scents. Pours an effervescent tan / light brown with peach / off-white head. Tangy taste. Apple cider, apple juice, pear, pepper, and cinnamon flavors. Medium body. Lively and smooth in the palate. This is my first faro, so I don’t know what they’re supposed to taste like. It neither blew me away nor was offensive, but I’m glad I tried it.

So it seems people like to knock this beer because it’s overly sweet. Personally, I’m not a huge sour fan...I guess they just don’t blow me away. Not bad, just not mind blowing. I like the way the sweet sugar and sourness play off each other in this beer. I can taste vinagar, tart lemon, and some fruity sugar. I think Faro may be one of my more favorite lambic styles. I enjoyed this beer quite a lot.

Supplied and sampled at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits in St Paul. Pours a semi-clear amber beverage with a fizzy light brown/white head that has good retention. Aroma of tart cherry, caramel malt, brown sugar and barnyard funk with light yeast. Taste is slightly tart pitted dark fruit, a touch of lemon citrus, yeast, and candi sugar. Finish turns from tart to semi-sweet with a caramel and dark berry aftertaste. This is my second faro in three days and is the sweetest of the two I’ve tried.

12.7 fl oz bottle for trade with lb4lb: (Thanks Deniz!) My first faro. The ever elusive faro. I thought it would take me forever to get one of these. Well, it did but lb4lb got me one. Now to the review. Aroma has a very tart sugary aroma to it at first. With some subtle malts, cherries, and sour candy. Pours a dark amber with a medium sized tan head that lingers around for a while. Taste is a lot of sugar that comes right up to and smacks you in the face. Wow! Still tastes like sour candy and some lemon mixed in there as well. On the back end a little bit of roastiness, I have to agree with the reviewer below me. It’s like a mouth full of table sugar. If this is indicative of all faro’s then I’m not going to go out of my way to get them. Overall, Way too sweet. Glad the lb4lb got it to me, but i guess it’s just not my style.

Pours amber with a pink string of bubbles around the surface. Smells of sugar with some elements of funk. Taste is an aweful combination of sugar with some tarte hints. Like drinking a mouthful of sugar. The worst of the bunch.

Thanks to beastiefan2k for sharing - my first, and quite possibly my last faro - smells like raw cane sugar and earthy, almost rotting fruit - not a lot going on in the flavor - sugar dominates, along with some cherry and other fruity aspect - there is some acidity and sourness far in the background, but the sweetness overpowers it so much.

Bottle: Amber pour with an off white film. The aroma is rotted apple. The flavor is sweet and sugary everywhere, with no body to back anything. Vacant palate. Too sugary. This is a miss.