Ichtegems Grand Cru

Brewed by Brouwerij Strubbe
Style: Sour Ale
Ichtegem, Belgium

Bottle. Ruby beer with a light cocoa-colored head. Fruity, strange cocoa (?) aroma with oak and malt. Oaky, fruity, grain flavor with grain growing and growing. Medium body. Grainy, mouth puckering, chemical finish. Just bad.

Sampled as part of a BJCP training session. Hazy brownish reddish appearance. Aroma quite woody, light cherry. Flavor is light, balanced oak, wood, faint cherry, and a touch of sourness. Interesting. Not bad at all.

Pours ruby with a mostly receding light tan head. Aroma of cherries, oak and leather. Taste is oaken fruits, brett, leather, wood, barnyard, and moderate sour acids. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with lush carbonation. An enjoyable sour ale, despite the low ratings.

Pours a deep ruby brown with a fizzy cobwebby looking head with spotty lace. Aroma is wierd- stale cola-like, earth, and lots of dirt, rusty nails- oxidation and cherry pits. Flavor is nutty and toasty, with a wierd sharp bite- burnt pancakes, more metal, pennies, some tartness, oxidized, wet cardboard, soy, and a bit fishy. Astringent and tart finish withmore dirt and mustiness and then it fades to almost nothing. One of the worst Flemish Reds I have had.

Dark red with medium, off-white head. Highly carbonated. Fruity/yeasty aroma. Nicely balanced sour/sweet taste with lingering sourness and oak/vanilla.

Tap, at ZBF 2006. Copper bronze, thin shortlived white head and moderate condition. Slightly fruity initially in the nose with some metallic tartness and a caramel and brown sugar sweetness, more metallic notes in the mouth with some fruity sweetness and notes of burnt toffee, gently tart and somewhat nondescript finish

Pretty color, really catches the red from a light source. The aroma is really yeasty with a sour smell that smacks the hell out of you. Initially the flavor is similar to some other sours I’ve had, but maybe a little too thin and oaky. The lingering soapy aftertaste absolutely ruins this beer for me. I tried a sip straight from the bottle to make sure it wasn’t my glass. Its like Dawn in a cup. Bleah!

Bottle at home. Oaky brown colour. Tall sugary head. Sour and tangy nose. Taste of citrus, cherries and other fruits. Starts mildly sour and ends much more so. Peaking in the finish. Smooth and clean.