Verhaeghe Duchesse De Bourgogne

Brewed by Verhaeghe
Style: Sour Ale
Vichte, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

I was a wee infant when I rated this beer the first time. Now that I am a graduating to the world of sours I find that I do enjoy the Duchess very much. Reminds me so much of sweet tarts. Fruity, tart, sweet, woody. Good stuff.

Bottle. Gorgeous Flemish Red aroma, loads of tart sour cherries and not too close too vinegar. Deep red pour, dark and barely translucent, with a quickly dissipating beige-brown head – rocky while it lasted, though. Taste is much sweeter than anticipated, even over the strong levels of sour cherry tartness, but just under cloying. Some sweetened kriek notes, a gentle wash of oak in the bg, and a solid malt base. Mouthfeel is slickly malty with edge crispness, body medium-full, and aftertaste lip-smacking fun! One of the better examples available in the States – but a blend with toned-down sweetness would break the 4.0-barrier.

Red-brown with a small white head. Vinegary aroma with sour fruit. Very sweet with a little bit of sourness. Bitter finish with lots of earthy funk. Not that great. Way too sweet. I’ve had better flemish sours.

Dark, dark mahogany pour with generous light tan foamy head. Sweet and sour grapey aroma. My wife said "like a grape Nehi gone bad" to which I replied "... or gone good." Tastes of sweet/sour grapes, cherries, malt vinegar, kombucha (good call, AlabastorJones). Palate flatter than expected. Slight metallic finish takes away from finish significantly. Wish it had a dryer, tarter finish. A unique beer. Probably priced too high for me to drink often, but very nice.

Molasses, raisin, grape juice smell. Beautiful, deep dark amber. Persistent head with excellent lacing and mild carbonation. First taste is very much like grape juice, sweet and acidic. Medium- to full-bodied, but champagne-like. Certainly unique.

Clear red body, small beige head; Very simple cheap cane sugar nose with only a very small fruity sour touch; Slightly sour but overpowered by way to much cane sugar sweetness; Long sugary slight metallic finish almost no sourness. A very poor attempt to make a Flemish Sour Ale

Deep, but dull reddish brown color. Very sharp aroma, almost too sharp. Very tart but reasonably sweet flavor at the same time... much sweeter than the other flemish reds I’ve had so far.

deep rouge brown coloring, tan head, laced, champagne aroma, dark fruits, raisins, dates, grape flavor, champagne, black tea, mildy bitter, acid, kombucha, complex ale