Grand River Ploegers Vlaams Rood

Rated from memory (weakened as it may be...) from two separate sessions involving construction and a growler of this beer. The brewer was a bit surprised that we called it a quaffer. Murky reddish-brown and doesn’t produce much head (especially not in a Harvey’s cup). Lots of cherries and other sort of sour fruits. A bit of funk and some lighter organic acids. Some crystal malt aromas. A bit sour (not nearly as expected), a fair bit of rich, sticky malt and a BIG bitter finish. Not what I would expect from a Sour Ale, but quite unique and pleasing.

Aroma is strong fruit, beets also, murky reddish brown, almost zero head. Flavour is a full pit fruit,again a hint of beets,. Well balanced, quite dry. Very good.I think it could benefit from some time in a wooden barrel.

Growler, from the brewery, thanks to my buddy Jay.Dark dirty brown appearance, small white head. Aroma is quite malty with a little bit of sourness. Taste is really interesting - sour up front but there is a ton of malt sweetness here and some pretty intense bitterness. I’m not sure if these three flavours - sour, bitter, sweet - work all that well together when they are dialed up this high to be honest. And while the alcohol is not terribly noticeable, it will keep this one in the "sipping" category. A really neat experiment with tons of flavour, I’m just not sure I would want to have it again...

Gravity at Volo in the middle of February 2008. Very murky brownish-auburn body with a small creamy eggshell head. Aroma has some mustiness to it along with some sweet caramel, doughy malts, and plenty of juicy cherry. Body is smooth and rich. Flavours include some juicy fruits, almost raspberry-like but reaching a sort of medicinal plateau. The bitter pineyness underpinnings provide some counterbalance which was a welcoming surprise. Quite sour in the middle and somewhat funky and then piney in the finish. It’s interesting for sure!

I had no idea what this was when i saw it on the menu at Volo. When i asked and found out it was a sour red i immediately added it to the sampler i was trying. The aroma was okay actually it had that nice sour funky aroma to it. I could smell a lot of sweetness to this one. The flavor was a litle suprising. I am usually a fan of sours but this one just turned me off big time. I could not drink it without making a face and that was not because it was too sour. It was not really all that sour at all. It had this weird tang to it that I couldnt handle and neither could my girlfriend. Between the 2 of us we could not even finish a 150 ml sample. It was a good try and it showed some promise but it was just not for me.

On tap at Volo, 3/08.
Reddish cloudy orange body, head is tan with a bit of ruby. Nose is orangey hops and sour funk. The sourness isn’t quite balsamic - more lemon pith. Some sweetness remains in the aroma, giving the impression of brown sugar. Plastic notes too. Flavor is quite bitter up front with a strange sour fruitiness. That sourness yields to the bitterness as it travels down my tongue. Fruit is definitely present - apples, pits, blood oranges.
Very bitter finish with some lemon seed sourness. The combination of hops and sour in the finish remind me a bit of a fresh Cantillon Iris.
This is a very strange beer. Its good. But confused. I wonder what this would have tasted like were it brewed exactly the same but with aged (or very low AA) hops rather than with the Plowman ale base.
That question aside, this is perhaps the first really exciting beer I’ve had from an Ontario brewery. There are some damn fine beers being brewed in ON today (such as John By & Denisons Weiss) but this one stands out as something unique. Cheers to Grand River - may they continue experimenting & influence others in the Province to do the same.

2008-03-19. Murky brown body with a small creamy beige head and similar foamy beige lacing clings to the glass. Red hints when it nears the candle on the table. (3+) Aroma is lightly musty with a mildly fruity light sourness. I have trouble teasing out the finer points, brief notes of sour grapes. When I came back to it the warmer glass had become a lot fruitier. Tropical fruit? Mango or maybe lychee? (7+) Flavour is not what I expected. First impression is hoppy bitterness, then lightly sour malt, finishes with hoppy malt and varying degrees of sourness. The sourness has fruit undertones, hints at cherries but I suspect that those are in my head and not the glass. Average palate is lightly carbonated, pleasantly smooth. Decent, quite interesting. Not sure that it is one I would come back to though. Seems to be a touch variable based on other ratings so who knows, I might give it another shot. On tap at Volo, Toronto

On tap at Volo in Toronto. Nice cherry aroma that beckons. Murky brownish red with beige head. Lots of sour cherry taste that was much smoother than I would expect from a sour ale. Great job blending in the flavours.