Rodenbach Grand Cru

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

Bottle. Heavy dark red wine, light acidic. Really something special. Small white foamy head, fast diminishing. Dark red clear body. Heavy acidic with a hint of sweetness, long duration. Medium body, very dry, soft carbonation. Nice acidic one!

(bottle) Upon opening the bottle, no hiss, and apparently virtually no carbonation. I poured this vigourously and a head did form, although it did not look like a normal beer head. Beautiful dark ruby/mahogany colour. The initial aroma did not appeal to me, reminded me of vinegar and/or some red wine. First taste was incredibly sour, but I grew to like it. The aftertaste reminded me of pineapple juice and had a metallic note that I get with tinned juices. Extremely dry finish, I would not pick this as a 6% ABV beer and due to its uniqueness I rate the flavour highly. Not at all unpleasant the way some Belgians can be to the uninitiated.

Pours a cherry amber color with a light off white head that fades to a layer of foam. Aroma of sour cherries and sweet tarts. Taste is similar to the taste with more sour fruits, a pretty prevalent sweetness and a nice tart dry finish. Very refreshing.

Bottle, Stirchley Wines, Birmingham. Been at least 5 years since I last had this. Poured a dark ruby colour with a medium tan nead which vanished pretty quickly. Aroma was sour, cherry and vinegar. Flavour was very similar with some sweetness and more fruit evident. The finish is sour and lingering. I can understand clearly why this rates so highly, but this isn’t something I could drink a lot of. Definitely worth trying though.

Bottle. Clear, dark brown pour with very little head. Strong sour aroma and flavor. Flavor also has a vinegar tartness.

Wow this sure is one sour bastard! Don’t drink it when it’s too cold. Beautiful color, sharp soury taste. I do love sour ales a lot although I haven’t taste much different kinds. This one was very good. Looking forward to taste new ones.

Whew, this is sour, like biting into a sour apple. Georgeous color, dark ruby red. Nice white head. Very dry, and boy is it sour, wow! Still not a bad beer, gets better as it goes along.

Exceedingly sour but can be a delight if you: 1) let it warm a bit 2) let it sit in the glass a bit 3) take hearty quaffs 4) don’t swish it like wine, drink it down If you letthis linger in your mouth it will just be too much like vinegar. But, if you just drink deep you’ll get a resounding sweetness up front, which is then quenchingly countered with the sourness and acidic wood, leaving a nice but not overwhelming pucker, setting you up for more.