Petrus Aged Pale

Brewed by Bavik-De Brabandere
Style: Sour Ale
Harelbeke, Belgium

Bottle. Pale pink-golden beer with a thin white head. Nice tart aroma with some malty fullness beneath. Light tart flavor with some fruitiness (apple/raspberry). Clean and refreshing. Nice complexity beneath the tartness.

Very sour yet lacking any sweetness, which makes it taste more like a gueuze than a Flemish Sour. Bready with a copper color; fluffy head. Unexpectedly one-dimensional. Bummed.

Thanks a lot to Jacov and Dixen for this gem! Light orange color, nearly no head, lively carbonation. Beautiful nose - sour, cobbwebbs, white balsamico and some bananas - yep, bananas. Apples - like a nice Cider in the taste - dry finish. Round and beautiful! Medium dry finish. Boy this is yummie, I could drink this all day.

This beer very similar to the Old Brunes and Flemish Reds of Belgium, except this beer is brewed exclusively with pale malts. It is then aged for two years or more in oak barrels, where it picks up intense, sour aromas and flavors of oak. Michael Jackson, the Beer Hunter, compares this beer to Rodenbach Grand Cru, and it is an apt comparison. This beer is as tart, sour, and refreshing, and every bit as world class as that beer. MJ also states that this is an "adult" beer, for adult tastes, and that you will either love it, or hate it. I loved it the first time I tried it. Petrus Aged Pale pours to a slightly hazy, very pale golden color with a white head that quickly fades, and a soft carbonation. The nose on this beer hits you as soon as you pop the cap. Very pungent, intense sour and oaky aromas pierce the nostrils. The palate is wonderfully tart, sharp, sour, and refreshing, with some pale malt flavors, big notes of oak flavor, and vinous undertones. Petrus Aged Pale finishes with more sour and oaky flavors in a very sharp, very refreshing, acidic, and tangy mouth puckering edge that linger for quite sometime. This is a shocking beer. I was even a bit taken back by it, like one would be after tasting a strong and sharp blue veined cheese. This beer is indeed one for adult tastes and really could be called a pale version of grand cru. The sour and oaky character in this beer dominates from nose to finish, but in a very, very good way if you like that in a beer. Petrus Aged Pale would make the perfect beer to any number of rich dishes. The sharp acid like edge of this beer would cut right through the richest tureen or pate like a hot knife through butter. I enjoy matching Petrus Pale Ale when ever I do a roasted turkey with all the trimmings.

Slightly hazy amber color with a thin, white head. Lovely aroma of sour apples and unripened cherries. Flavor is tart, but not overbearing. Finish is long and drawn out, with a little bit of lemon and tarragon toward the conclusion. Overall, very nice for a Flemish Sour Ale. Some can be a bit overbearing on the vinegar taste, but this one is executed quite nicely.

Bottle. A hazed dark golden color with a whilte head. I had no idea that this was going to be a flemish sour ale. The beauty of the style comes through in the aroma with a tart, sour cherry flavor and aroma.

Aroma is very sour with hints of wood, sour cherries and faint floral notes. Slightly cloudy yellow/gold color with a fast fading pale white head. Fore is woody and sour..slighty thin. Hints of rosehips, herbs and other floral flavors. There are also crisp sour apple notes with a bit of acidic citrus tang in the finish. Pretty nice and lighter and crisper than most I have had of this style.

Hazy gold. Frothy, off white head. Sour? Looking at the bottle I was expecting something totally different. Sour, pungent aroma of grass resin, yeast, and something herbal, subtle wood. Same flavor. Medium body, well carbonated, dry finish. Strong aftertaste of same flavors. Excellent. Like a mild gueze.