Petrus Oud Bruin

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

Bottle. Brownish colour with a medium creamy mostly lasing off white head. Aroma and taste of malts, caramel and fruits. Good beer.

Bottled. Clear, reddish brown, with a small beige head. Slightly mild and acidic aroma, with berries and some malty sweetness. The flavor is quite mild too, with berries, sourness and green apples. Thin body and a mellow finish. A lovely, delicate beer that should be enjoyed without too many beers tasted the same night. (060704)

Very feint aroma, some cherries. Pours reddish brown with a very thin tan head. The flavor was very mild, after just having tried the Aged Pale. Sweet, oaky, some vanilla, cherries, very feint tartness at the end.

Bottle code 38344. Pours a deep brown with ruby highlights and a thin light tan head. The head quickly fades to a cover with little lacing. The aroma is sour fruits, cherries, vinous, some acetic and lactic acids, oak and light toffee. The flavor pleasantly tart, some residual sweetness, caramels, cola, grapes and cherries, touch of vanilla. The mouthfeel is very light on the tongue, sparkling carbonation, with a tart slightly tannic finish. A touch too sweet, but a nice example of the Flemish Sour’s more tame brother, the Oud Bruin. Need to add: As this warmed up it became quite thin.

Well, a style that I enjoy, but a beer that is only mediocre. The pour was pretty, I love that burgundy color with a thin brownish head that fit perfectly in my Duchesse De Bourgogne glass. Nice carbonated thin streams of bubbles rising along the edges of the glass. Lacing was very nice. However, beyond appearance, this one didn’t live up to the hype and wasn’t worthy of the fine glassware. Aroma was a bit tart, of cherries, and something of an organic acid (not vinegar, though). The flavor was somewhat weak, lacking any vinegar notes, and simple: light tart cherries. About as lacking as this Penn State team right about now vs. FL State in this Orange Bowl. Mouthfeel was a little thin and watery but with some carbonation. I let it warm beyond the suggested 45-50F serving temperature, but nothing improved. Oh well.

225 ml bottle from LCBO on Queens Quay in Toronto. Pours dark cherry brown and clear with a large fluffy beige head that leaves copius lacing. Aroma is primarily dry and sour with tart fruity notes, young oak just a bit of funk. Flavor is initially fruity malts and lightly sweet, then fades quickly to a lingering tart and dry finish with fresh bitter floral notes and woody tannins evident as well. Smooth, medium body with slight carbonation on the tongue.

From the bottle.

Pours deep orange-brown with a small fizzy head. Vinegar and dusty hay on the aroma; a very dry flavor, hints of oak, some apple but not strongly so, not much vinegar, hints of sour red pie cherries, with a long bitter-sourness on the finish. Ample, lively carbonation and relatively thin (but not disagreeably thin) body gives it a refreshing mouthfeel.

Overall the components add up to a very nice, very refreshing Flemish sour with no glaring flaws. Unfortunately, nothing about the beer seems to leap out with the sort of rich complexity and character that one gets in some of the other sour ales. I’m torn as to whether this is a bad thing, and will revisit in time.

Rusty but not sour, this wasn’t the gem I expected it to be, but then I didn’t know what to expect. Attractive to look at, with an inch thick creamy off-white head forming off the pour that was mostly lasting atop a deep, ruby red body that sparkled in the lights. The lace-work was magnificent. Aroma has soft notes of rancid meat, leather and fell, slowly fermenting fruit amidst a spicy Shiraz-like base. It’s more oxidised than sour in the mouth (as I noted earlier) with a good dose of blood and rust shining right through into the swallow. Light, souring, vinous malts blend nicely with the prickly carbonation to give it a slight zing and a little bounce on the palate. Finish has a feint sweetness of dark fruits before dropping off short. Flavours are well attenuated at this point making it a simple tasting, vinous beer, and its light body is almost watery in feel. Lacks the complexity of the better Flemish sours. Nice, but not exciting. (33cL, 21/09/07, Int’l Beer Shop, W. Leederville)