Ichtegems Grand Cru

Brewed by Brouwerij Strubbe
Style: Sour Ale
Ichtegem, Belgium

Bottle. Pours reddish brown and has a white head. Nice round body. Malty, a bit sweet, brown sugar, glue (in a good way), light sourish, wood, red berries. Very nice and well balanced.

33 cl bottle: poured brown with red highlights and a thick light tan head. Light dark fruit aroma with some cherries and sour notes. Flavor is mildly sour and just a hint of sweetness. Actually quite drier than I would have thought. Nice body though. Decent.

Bottled, 330ml at A Cappella, Ghent. Clouded brown, red hints with cream head. Interesting that this is a sour ale, it is definitely tart and fruity with old ale flavours. Added in to this are sharp citric notes. An odd but in the end, satisfying mix.

Sampled from a 11.2 oz brown bottle this beer poured a cloudy blood red with a small khaki head. The aroma was spritzy apple and cherry with a hint of vinegar. The flavor was nutty, woody, very tart, extremely dry and had a light cherry element. The finish was long, tart and woody. The beer was a bit thin and watery. Interesting. I may revisit this one again.

Pours deep, deep amber with a light brown head. Mostly cherry, grape, and some red currant in the nose. Moderately complex body with more cherry, grape, rhubarb, toffee, dirt and vinegar. Mouthfeel is kind of flabby with a fairly full body and little to no carbonation. Decent, but nothing like some of the spectacular sour ale efforts out there.

Bottle from Bruisin’ Ales. Pours a black cherry soda color with a creamy and layered thin head. Nose has some definite grape, and a much more mild cherry characteristic. Vinous mouthfeel, with flavors of cherry (much stronger than the nose), grapes, wood, and a mild vinegar kick in the finish. Becomes much harder to drink as it gets warm. kinda tastes like a bubbly red wine aged in oak with half the alcohol.

Bottle. High fluffy but lasting off-white head. Beautiful clear red brown body. Weak grape fruit aroma. Sweet and week grape fruit flavor but without the expected vinegar touch. Low carbonation, short aftertaste.

Bottle via trade with dchmela. 1th and final beer of the tasting I hosted tonight, shared with wetherel and my girlfriend Cyn. Pours dark red with an off white ring. Nose is slightly dead. Taste is sweet and slightly tart. Overall not so great.