Rodenbach Grand Cru

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

0.33l Bottle. Poured into Deus flute glass. Classic burgundy-red appearance with slightly tan small head. Mentionable retention. Effervescent look with extremely small bubbles. Intense dark cherry tartness, restrained vinegary acidity, and maybe a hint of chocolate truffle. Nothing barnyardy or basement "bretty" stuff going on the nose. Slight oak character hides by vinegary, sour cherries in the flavor. Nice and smooth, but effervescent palate. Slight dessert-wine hints (ruby port?) at the mid-palate. The heavy sourness balanced with some faint dark chocolate sweetness at the end. Remarkable, unique flemish sour.

Bottle courtesy of thirdeye11. Dark amber pour that is rather clear. Smell is tart with some light woody notes. Sweet flavor that does not have much of a sour element to it. Finishes sweet with fading notes. This is a solid sour. Enjoyable.

Pours an amber/red with thin head that sticks to the edges. Aroma is barnyard and alcohol. Much more balsamic than others, but yet not as horribly balsamic as Duchese. Flavor is sour and tart, yet malty. Not my favorite sour.

330 ml bottle @ Kaisla. Pours dark reddish-brown with scarcely any head. Has a sour aroma with ripe, sugary, red fruits. The flavour is vinegary sour but fruity sweet at the same time. The characteristic taste of oak is easy to notice. Sweetish aftertaste.

330ml bottle thanks to glougoburb. Thanks Dany! Pours a dark red-brown with a small off white head. The aroma is a very interesting mix of vinegar, sour cherries, and sugary sweetness. The taste is mouth puckeringly sour... But extremely complex as well. It starts off with sour wild cherries, then moves to white vinegar, a slight bitterness in the mid palate, oak, with a sharp and crisp finish reminiscent of green apples and cherries. The palate is very soft and effervescent. Every sip is as enjoyable as the next.

Very dark red with a good but none lasting head, sour fruit aroma, taste is sour bitter cherries and it is very dry, it is still not to my taste but doesn’t taste as off as the 5.2 % Rodenbach.

750ml bottle courtesy of daknole. Pours hazy dark amber with a 2 finger creamy beige head. The nose is unripe cherries, red wine vinegar and wood. The taste is sweet malt, sour cherries, light vinegar and wood with some light funk in the finish. Medium lightly prickly mouthfeel. Very tasty stuff and very drinkable. Thanks Dak!

750 ml bottle from South Bay Drugs. Pours brown with ruby tints and almost no head. Aroma of cherry, wild yeast, balsamic vinegar, wood. The flavor is so nice- sour, tart, sweet, woody, with some of that balsamic coming through. Sour aftertaste. Medium bodied, with nice balance of such different elements. The first sour ale I had was the Monk’s Cafe; this is more what I had in mind when I imagined what these beers could be.