Ichtegems Grand Cru

Brewed by Brouwerij Strubbe
Style: Sour Ale
Ichtegem, Belgium

Bottled 0,75l, Cuvée 2006, from an Ultima Thule beer glass (really important piece of information!). There’s a mushroomy aroma, but the beer is a bit cold. I feel cherries and wood as well as a soapy perfume. The taste is complex, starting with a sour kick of candysticks, then turning sweet until the wonderful flavour comes up when swallowing. The finish is sour and rather bitter. This is a happy beer. The beer is dark brown with a medium-sized light brown head and the texture is full.

Poured into a tulip. Dark reddish brown with a nice tan head that retains itself longer than you’d expect with the acidity of the beer. Aroma is cherries, prunes, wood. Flavor is mainly a slimy cherry cola sweetness with some weird grapes and wood. It’s got some tartness and acidity but no complexity or body. Mouthfeel is too carbonated and thin. Not buying this again.

A fantastic introductory sour ale. Not too sour or vinegary but enough to be interesting without the bitter burnt flavor some have. Very enjoyable.

Dark hazy brown pour with a nice frothy tan head that recedes rather quickly. Aroma is not overly powerful but somewhat distinct. Raspberry, cherry, and sweet grape combine with some dark sugars such as caramel and molasses to create an overall environment of sweet fruitiness and mild tartness. Flavor is quite a bit more tart than the aroma would suggest. Acidic fruit such as sour cherry, cranberry, plum, and date further the sweetness arrangement with a noticeable but never overly robust sour note. Palate is highly effervescent, medium to full bodied, finishing sweet, slick, and slippery. Low attenuation contributes to a smackingly sticky mouthfeel. Quite yummy.

Pours a molassed colored pour with a head that looks like a root beer float. Aroma holds cherry, raspberry, caramel, grape, prune, and a bit of wood. Flavor is much more tart than the aroma would portray; good acidic fruit notes, some more dark sugar, and the grape and wine is still clearly evident. Palate is pretty solid on the whole; tartness is nice but not overpowering, and the finish is somewhat slick on the tongue. Really not a bad sour ale, just has some tough competition in the genre.

Bottle, 2009-02-15, AP: Brownish red, wee head AR: Wine with loads of oak aromas F: sour cerry flavour, maltt

Dark amber to med brown, with a low, fine, head. Dry, musty aroma, like an old funky-ass moldy wine cellar. Lots of barrel. Grapes in there, plus a bit of caramel malt. Very dry. Somewhat sherry-like. Surprising; not very nice, though. Flavor a bit less dry, with a bit of caramel and fruit, a touch of sweetness. Still some wine cellar and sherry. Dry, with a bit of sweet and almost no sour. Well, just of touch, like sweet-and-sour cherries. Very different from any other Flemish Red I have tried. Low carbonation. Smooth. In the mouth it is not wholly unpleasant. Could it be too old? There is no date to be found. Weird shit. Tastes pretty good, but smells like ass.

hazy amber, thick smooth offwhite reddish head. very nice sourish, faint red berrish aroma, faint vanila, wood and marcipan, and the fruity sourness. nice. flavor is sour, almost dark fruity, quite sweet, not that dry.