Valley Brew Decadence Grand Cru 2007

Formerly brewed at Valley Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale
Stockton, California USA

Name: Decadence Grand Cru
Date: June 09, 2007
Mode: Hand Bottled
Source: Tasting, Noog 3D
Vintage: 2007
Appearance: clear dark gold, wispy off white head
Aroma: tart wood aroma with a cherry pit character
Body: creamy body
Flavor: caramel and vanilla flavor, lots of woody oak character, nice fruity character

Name: Decadence Grand Cru
Date: June 12, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Vintage: 2007
dry tart flavor is well in control allowing some sweetness and fruity to come through, with enough warming and breathing it becomes a really nice tart flanders red

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Sampled at the second annual Bistro’s West Coast Barrel Aged Beer Fest: Purs a hazy orange amber with a thin-lacing wispy white head. Sweet and tart caramel and light fruity complex oaky nose has nice enticing character. Body starts fairly full with a nice mild caramel sweetness and great, tart light fruity balance toward a crisp, complex drier oaky finish. Very well-balanced and authentic.

Bottle courtesy of aspidites sampled on 9/15/07: Pours a transparent orange bronze with a nicely-lacing spotty white head. Aroma of sweet caramel and tart cherries with good oaky complexity. Body starts fairly full, caramely sweet, oaky, lightly fruity and complex toward a drier finish. Nicely balanced, authentic and very enjoyable. A great Flemish sour.

Bottle... Cloudy amber ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Decent retention. The nose is a wonderful marriage of leather, barnyard-horse blanket-must funkiness with undertones of lemon and aged, sharp cheese. The flavor is very well-balance and suppresses the high ABV quite well. Observations of sweet biscuit and toffee malts, moderate alcohol and hop bitterness along with medium pungency. Full-bodied and very astringent with tingly carbonation. Bittersweet, lightly acidic, bone-dry finish. Thanks to stoutlover72 for shipping this beer from about as far away as a beer can be shipped within the continental U.S.!

Thanks to CaptainCougar for sharing this one. Clear deep amber beer with a thin white head. Sweet malty aroma initially accented by soft sherryish nuttiness. Light sweet fruitiness as well with notes of cherry and other berryish fruits. A bit of sweet mintiness and a light earthy spiciness as well. Soft tart aroma as the beer starts to warm but it doesn’t really make it through to the palate. Honey/hazelnut and orange peel throughout. A hint of wildness but it pretty subtle. Comes across as a cross between Belgian Strong and Flemish sour... which I guess is what it is. Really tasty brew.

Poured an orange copper color with a thin off-white head. The aroma was fruity, tart and acidic. Light leather notes. Some cherry. The flavor was lightly acidic and mildly fruity. Some yeasty notes. Semi-dry and almost woody. Medium bodied.

Nip bottle, extra special thanks to stoutlover72!! Poured a clear, coppery orange with a swirly dusting and a loose ring of white head. The aroma rocked!.. vinegar tartness and funky old dusty barn were accented by pomegranates and white grapes.. additional waves of dark fruit and cherry pits waft through as this warms up. The flavor keeps up well.. beginning with prickly tartness from the pomegranates as well as some metallic notes.. a hit of almost bourbon-like sugar leads into a dark vinous (and still sour) middle.. some dust and enjoyable funk also in there.. the back-end and finish were certainly dry with some warmth and power from the well-integrated alcohol. Sour on the palate, mostly of the fruit skin and metallic kind.. medium-bodied. Really cool brew!

Hand bottled from tap, this Flemish Sour pours a reddish brown color from the bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is malty and sour fruit. Medium bodied Flemish Sour. Malts are fruity and sweet. Tart and crisp. Complex beer, there is a lot going on here, the interplay between the tartness of the pomegranates and the maltyness of the quad is amazing. As big and complex as this beer is, the flavors are rather subtle and delicate. This is definitely a sour Flemish ale and yet it has a nice malt backbone. Hides the 12% alcohol very well. Crisp and tart. Amazing beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is tart and sour.

Thanks to EDA for sharing this at JJPM’s place over the summer. Pours a ruby red with no head. Aroma is woody with light cedar and some oak, and wet black cherry wood, light fruitiness and fruity esters, with some sourness- acetic hints. Nice lactic acid sourness in flavor but has more acetic in there, cherry pit astringency and very tannic in the end. Also reminded me a bit of red wine vinegar- old flemish red-like.