Petrus Oud Bruin

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

11.2 ounce bottle from Whole Foods. Pours a murky brown-ruby color with one finger of off-white head which quickly dissipates. Aroma of cherries, Cherry 7-Up soda, vinegar, oak, and just a little bit of funk. Light flavor of tart fruit (cherries), vinegar, some maltiness, and a bit of oak. Somewhat sour, but not overly sharp or acidic which is good. However, I would expect more complexity considering the length of the barrel aging on this one. Nicely carbonated but with a very thin/weak mouthfeel.

Described as "Ouid Bruin" = Old Dark, top-fermented. Really very nice, and it was dark with a bit of a sweet taste. My first Belgian, I believe, and it’s true, they are like nothing else.

Deep brown in color with a small off-white head. Aroma is of oak and brown sugar. Taste is faintly tart, wood, and caramel.

RBESG Sheffield 2009, day 3, The New Oxford, Manchester. Reddish brown color, quickly diminishing off-white to beige head. Sweet raisins nose, with some balsamic vinegar in the background. Flavor is sweet and sour with caramel,vinegar,cherry notes. The type of sours I like.

Pours off brown, maybe mahogany with head that does not retain for long. Sour fruit, maybe passsion fruit and cherry, are dominant on the nose. palate is medium sourness with a lot of passion fruit. Light bodied and somewhat medicinal, but still rather thin for what I was expecting. Finish has unpleasant sour funk. sour should be good, but is funky here.

Sample from a bottle at Collins Pub. Hazy red brown with a think cream head. Smells of vinegar, stone fruits, caramel, raisin and oak. It’s a very different sour taste--not too sour at all, actually. Dry. Lots of raisin and sweet. Taste disappears quickly. Rated highly because tastes and aromas seemed to keep changing, but still, wasn’t a typical sour.

Appearance was a dark, but very carbonated. Smells like a Flander with a slight hint of sourness in the nose. The taste is initially dominated by very high carbonation, slight sourness, and then a hint of molasses. All taste dissipates quickly. A little too thin for my taste, but generally drinkable. Not as rich and creamy as the Oud Bruin’s I had years ago in Holland.

[Bottle] Pours a dark brown color with just about no head. Tart fruit aroma. Some sweet malts in there as well. The taste was decently sour and highlighted by dark fruits. Rather strong vanilla and oak notes towards the finish. Honestly, I don’t drink a lot of sour ales, so I didn’t know what to expect. But, I was looking for a little more than this beer provided.