Rodenbach Foederbier

Brewed by Brouwerij Rodenbach (Palm)
Style: Sour Ale
Roeselare, Belgium

A Mes rate: Draught at ’t Vosken.
The lady warned me as I ordered this that it was ’very sour’. I told her that this was why I had come to t’ Vosken. She seemed rather unimpressed but poured Diz and I a glass each. Incredible red brown colour filled with rich brown bubbles of every shade possible when swilled. Amazing aroma. Beautiful sweetness, lactic, heavy caramel and incredible fruity notes. Flavour is equally stunning. Everything a Rodenbach should be. Tart, effortlessly sweet and sour, heavy fruit and more caramel. Very red tasting. Incredible fizzy and amazingly clean mouth feel. A quite unbelievable palate. Yet it is virtually flat. How the hell? Very dry on the finish which oges down really sour and warms and almost burns all the way down to the pit of the stomach. Stunning vanilla, balsamic vinegar, earth and everything else I love about the regular Rodenbach in abundance. Really, really good. Also managed to get me a really strange drunk (in a very good way), this is some mad stuff. Best £1.80 I have ever spent.

On Cask at the Engelbewaarder cafe in Amsterdam. Pours a still ruby hazy amber with a thin film on top that dissipates. Aroma is cherry pit, almond, moderate to high acetic acid, typical rodenbach character like the grand cru but not quite as vinously sharp and more smoothed out- with more woodiness as well. Tons of acedic acid in the flavor but not overwhelming- tastes like my flemish red after 3 years or so. cherry pit and wine like tannins with some old woodiness and earth, hhints of vanilla, and almond/cherry pit, a bit of sherry and some red wine and apple cider vinegar. Nice acidity on the tongue, and is nicely sour all the way through. This is great stuff. They should sell this at more bars around europe.

Draft... This beer rocks!... Hazy, copper ale with a small, fizzy, off-white head. The nose is of lemon, cheddar, oak and malt vinegar. A whisper of toffee... which is quickly engulfed in a wonderful sea of acidity. The flavor is tart as hell. Not sweetened in any way to appease the U.S. audience. Medium-bodied and oily with soft carbonation. Finishes extremely sour and dry. The very definition of the style. World class beer!

Draught at the Palm brewery tap. This beer really kicks! Unfiltered, strong, sour beer. Oak, citrus, acid. Served chilled for the yeast not to run wild. An extreme beer - just the thing for my rating number 1000. This is for small glasses, not pints!

Draft, at de Zalm, Roselare, Belgium. Pours orange-brown, topped with a medium-sized off-white head. Beautiful, quite acetic aroma, with notes of sour cherry, oak, some earthy character, and caramel. Flavor is fairly tart, again with acetic acid, sour cherry, and plenty of oak. Minimum carbonation; this is very very drinkable. This is a beautiful beer, I’m glad that I finally got to try it.

Taste last saturday @ KBW. Hazy amber body with a small head. Aroma m alts, sourness. Medium body. Taste refreshing, fruity, very sour, but good.

Drwan by handpump from cask, Café de Engelbewaarder Amsterdam. Cherry and oak in the stronmg but refined aroma. A lovely fruity vinous but sour flavor. Cherry, lemon, aok, even a bit honeyish. Caramel and cherry in the long lasting citric sour aftertaste. With a bit more body this would be 4.5+

Draught Huge yellow head, very dense over hazy amber beer. Pungent but nice lactic acid nose (can have more true wine characteristics, even from specific wine grapes). No acetic acid. Soft woody, lactic, yoghurt-like flavour. Some restsugars apparent. Less smooth & sweet, deeper complexity in some of the foeders at the brewery (explanation being the beer pumped through sparklers on the handpump). Strawberry, cherry wood, milk chocolate. Some acidburn, medium bodied. In the aftertaste, more oakwood. I tasted several "foeders" at the brewery, which differ enormously, the handpump smoothens it. This is quite good, but, as in the UK, I would pass on the sprinkler.