Grand River Ploegers Vlaams Rood

Brewed by Grand River Brewing
Style: Sour Ale
Cambridge, Canada

RBSG09 bottle at the grand tasting courtesy of IrishBoy. Pours dark orange with a huge beige head. Tart cherry pit aroma, slight vinegar, slight metallic note. Flavor is vinous with tart cherry juice and yeast. Interesting but not great by any means.

500 ml bottle from brewery. Pours a hazy reddish brown with a slight tan head (decent lacing). Sour aroma of cherries and hops. Tart fruit in the taste with some sweetness and light hoppiness in the finish. Lightish verging on medium body. Nice mouthfeel. Another strong showing by Grand River, but I respect it more than I like it.

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!

Bottle: Poured a deep clear red color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and good lacing. Aroma consists of notes of funk with some very light oak. Taste is also a mix between some light tart notes with some funk. Interesting experiment but lacking some of the sour and tart notes that I enjoy so much in the style but I also applaud the brewer who is swilling to try this style.

(500ml bottle, courtesy of IrishBoy) Pours a cloudy amber body with a medium beige head. Aroma of leather, candy, vinegar, and herbs. Flavor of sour cherries, caramel, light roastiness, some florals, and earthy.

Sampled at the brewery. Poured a murky reddish-brown...short lived cap. Aroma of grape skins and musty burlap with a large dose of grains. Taste was rather decent... lots of sour fruit in the front (like sour cherry) grains in the background...sour but not astringent, like a mouthful of Rodenbach mixed with a malty lager. Very vinaceous. The brewer tells me this was frozen to extract some water and was done with the sour mash method using a lacto bacillus...whatever, it is a tasty enough local version of a Flanders sour..very drinkable for this style.

Bottle from the brewery (now I’m really frustrated that I didn’t take notes on my vat sample from a couple months back) Pours a murky brown with a fairly persistent head and good lacing. It’s got a slightly hoppy attack followed up nicely by the sour fruityness. The bottle doesn’t quite do it justice compared to (granted my memory of) the vat sample but it is certainly enjoyable. My daughter certainly doesn’t share this sentiment and spat it out all over her shirt but that just left more for me!

Bottle - thanks to Tupalev, thanks Jeff! Pours a murky brown with a small cream head. Aroma: Blackcurrant, wheat, some sour-malt, allspice and melon. Lovely. Flavour: Malty, coffee, bready, some blackcurrant in the finish. Very very enjoyable.