Liefmans Goudenband

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

Cork says 2005. Pours dark brown/mahogany into a snifter. Offwhite micro head has excellent retention. Cherry aromas. Smooth with sweet pit fruit and strawberry with a slightly sour cherry finish. Alcohol aromas in the finish..

Re-rate. Sampled at Tria Fermentation School, 9/16/08. Poured mahogany, topped with a few off-white bubbles. Appealing aroma of dark fruit, brown sugar, black cherry and wood. Flavor was sour cherry and other dark fruit, especially prunes, brown sugar, and port. Medium bodied with some vinous qualities. Great stuff.

Original Review; 4/2007 375ml Bottle, 2006 vintage. Pours cloudy brown, with a small tan head. Musty, tart aroma, with yeast, cherry and wood. moderately tart, not as tart as i would expect from the aroma. A bit thin bodied. 7/4/8/4/14 = 3.7

Aroma: I don’t know where to start. Cherry, sherry, dark fruits, fruity alcohol, woody, some sour acetic character, very complex, I get something different every time. Lovely. Appearance: Brown, somewhat cloudy, low head retention. Flavor: Just as complex as the aroma. Not as sour as I imagined, with a pleasant sweetness in the finish, although enough sourness to keep it interesting. Well balanced. Palate: Very drinkable, not crazy sour, medium bodied, with moderate carbonation. Alcohol well hidden, not harsh. Overall: Perfect. What else does a beer drinker need?

Dark and a little murky with a basic brown color and a light tan colored head. Nose is lightly pungent spoiled plums, oak and maple wood. Nice subtle sourness in the nose, tingling I would say. Sweet up front and over the middle, a bit fizzy and frothy, lightly sour and pungent, certainly not like a gueuze or more standard Flemish sour, but it performs well as a sour brown ale. Some toffee and cake flavors in the finish, and some sour tobacco as well. Not bad.

My first beer in this style, and it really blew me away. Dark brown with a large foamy head. Very wine like, with lovely tartness. Some sweet malts too, toasty and metallic, making for a great complex palate, and a long finish.

2005 vintage served in a snifter glass. Crystal clear red in color. Lots of floaters and lees from a an greedy pour. Modest, diminishing tan head. Tantalizing aroma of dark sour fruit and a mild caramelized malts. Flavor: Wow! Starts with toasted malt and rapidly turns sour and spicy. Palate is light-medium, richer than expected, and the substantial carbonation sparkles on my tongue. Finish is sour. There is a little lacing left on the glass. This beer is more complex and lacks some of the strong acetic character that is present in many of the other Flemish Sour Ales I have sampled. I am looking forward to the next before I have even finished this one!

this beer is pretty sour. it is also quite a bit dark. pretty nice. starts tasting better the more you drink.

delicious. sour berryish taste. only flaw is its sweetness. complex delicious funkyness.