Ichtegems Grand Cru

Brewed by Brouwerij Strubbe
Style: Sour Ale
Ichtegem, Belgium

Darker brown coloured beer with a small off-white head, and very little carbonation. Light sour fruity aroma, with a full palate. Finish is nicely balanced, sweet sour fruity. Excellent sour ale.

darkbrown coloured body with a off white head a sweet sour aroma a sour little fruiy taste and a fruity sour finich

11.2 oz bottle. Pours cherry cola brown with fizzy off white head, surprising lacing, not refermented in the bottle. Nose is distinctly sour, with vinegary red wine dominance, a note a bit like photochemicals, rather musty, but also a slight pineappley sweetness. Not too brusque on the palate, typical sourish upfront blending down to brown toasty malts, cabernet dryness, somewhat thin on the palate, but nice and tongue-smacking. Mild irony oxidization towards the finish, and the tiniest hint of grassy hops. Not the best oud bruin, but still strangely enjoyable.

Aroma has caramel malts, winey dark fruits, some wood. Clear, dark red coloured with a lasting, medium, off-white head. Taste is sweet, sour with some maltiness, wine and dark fruits. Bit sparkling body.

Bottle courtesy SoLan. Chestnut brown color with a sparse white head. Light sour notes with a lot of oak and nutty malt on the aroma. Mildly oaky, slightly sour start yields to a woody finish with some mild sweetness. Lightly carbonated. Pleasant, though indistinct.

Murky, multi brown. Small, off white head disappears completely. Flavor and aroma of oak, toasted malt, earth, vinous dark fruit, and light acidity. Aroma more mild than flavor. Lots of oak. Medium body, smooth, easy to drink. Very nice.

Draft at DRE. Deep ruby blackish pour with off-white head. Nice aroma of tart cherry, cabernet, earthy malt, some hops. Silky palate with solid earthy malt, tart cherries, cabernet, and finsihing peaty cognacy hints. Prior ratings have shown me to avoid this in bottles, but on draft it was quite excellent.

Pours dark brown (I thought this was a red), with a tiny head. Aroma is mostly oak with a bit of sour cherry. Mouth feel is a bit sticky with little carbonation. Flavor is remarkable not sour for a "sour ale" and contains hints of cherry, oak and sweet malt. Not bad by any means. but not a good example of the style (one of my favorites) either.