Liefmans Goudenband

Brewed by Liefmans (Moortgat)
Style: Sour Ale
Oudenaarde, Belgium

Sampled during the First Annual Stone Sour Fest. Dark reddish brown with a smallish head. Aromas of molassas and raisins. Sweet cherry and other sweet aromas too. Flavors were rather sweet as well with notes of horseblanket. Missed the sour in this sour ale. Or maybe it just blended so well. Either way, it was very good.

Came by this one at the recommendation of a friend who is the beer guru at a local wine/beer/spirits store. I told him I liked Chimay and he suggested this one. I found it nothing like a Chimay and so wasn’t enamored at first, but went back and got another one and really have grown to like it. I agree that the sourness, while initiallly offputting, really lends a distinctive character to this fine brew.

Pours a dark brown with red highlights, small lasting head and very murky body with floaties all over the place. Interesting aroma that is not as sour as I expected. There’s some caramel and brown sugar, vinous grapes, pears, light pinches of vinegar, mushrooms, and a light cheesy funk. Taste is surprisingly sweet, and very balanced. It’s got plenty of sweet caramel and brown sugar malt, plenty of cherry flavor, some toast, vinegar...very vinous, but very sweet. Just a deep deep flavor. A fair amound of wood too, I forgot to notice that earlier. Finishes with a surprisingly buttery earthy flavor (hops??) but it’s still a bit cloying and doesn’t dry out enough even if some dry earthy flavor remains behind. Feels full bodied for the style and very slick (which I guess is the norm.) and the alcohol is completely hidden. Anyway, I’m not the hugest fan of the style, but I loved this! Fascinating flavor, the sourness is a team player (not the feature), and it’s totally drinkable. I’m gonna buy some more tomorrow.

Lovely. Really complex, fruity, winey. It’s thick and dark. Everytime I taste this I get something different.

This 2005 green glass corked and caged bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a medium sized head of foamy finely sized tan colored bubbles that were long lasting and left behind a hazy with floating yeast chunks typically carbonated dark brown colored body and thick foamy lacing. The aroma was sweet lambic like dark malt and sour. The crisp and clean mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish. The flavor contained notes of sour lambic like and crisp mild brown malt. Delicious and one I would certainly buy again.

Bottle. Pours a muddy brown/amber with a small light tan head that fades to a ring and leaves no lacing. Aroma is acidic with hints of tart cherries, light caramel, tart apples, yeast, and light herbal spiciness. Taste is slightly sweet with mild acidity and hints of cherries and caramel. Medium thin mouthfeel that finishes somewhat vinous. Very good.

From bottle pours brown with a small amount of head. Nice tart flavor with a good finish.

Bottle... 2005 stamped on the cork. Just from the outside looking in you can see the ammount of floaties waiting to be unleashed into a nice glass. Pour is a dark brown, and a lot of the floaties escape into the glass. Right now they are rollicking around being pushed all over the place by the carbonation that is pouring up from the bottom. Head is smallish, especially considering all the carbonation. Aromas are complex but subtle: caramel malts, a promise of something a little tart... maybe like a tart cherry aroma, some brown sugar, some dried fruits, etc. Flavor is fantastic. Starts out with a brown sugar and dried fruit sweetness, but the sugars aren’t sticking around long and they are replaced by a tart (green apple/pie cherry) finish.