Verhaeghe Duchesse De Bourgogne

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

On tap at the Bulldog, St. Paul. Deep ruby color, good lacing and a small but resilient head. Smells of sweet cherries, apples, and some plum . . . but definitely some must, too. Bold sweetness lingers on the palate, lively carbonation. Tastes of sour cherries, caramel, and maybe a sweet merlot/burgundy. Hints of cinnamon, almost like someone mixed in some apple cider. Hard to suss out all of the flavors and complexities -- I enjoyed this in a limited quantity, but anything more would be a chore. My girlfriend absolutely loathed it -- not for everyone!

Rich brown, nice beige head with good lacing. Aroma is woody and young wine. Tastes fruity and then mellows to a tangy light hoppy aftertaste. Lightly carbonated. A treat

(dk-gn-btl, bk-lbl w/girl, Kasteel Gaasbeek, Brouwerij Verhaeghe, "exp 12/09" on cork, 750ml, 6%)

opq-br-top lct-mhgy-bottom, thn-soapy-wh-hd, med-body, ^co2,

red-wine-vinegar aroma,

T1 sweet-cherry-wine
T2 fruity mtlc-musty-funk co2
T3 §warm §vngr-sour §funky

bland for style potential, could be pretty good with the right food

11.2 oz bottle. Tart aroma; this is going to be a beer like no other, I can already tell--I keep going back and forth between "It smells so exotic and complex!" and "It smells like a rank gym locker." It kind of smells like Raisinettes candy covered in Sour Patch Kids sugar (for those in parts of the world where there are no Raisinettes, they are chocolate-covered raisins; Sour Patch Kids are a sour, fruity candy) . Very funky. Pours brown with beautiful lacing. Obviously, it’s sour, but not as sour as any of Lindeman’s Lambics. A little thin, maybe. Starts sweet, finishes sour.

Pours a clear amber color with almost no head, just some slightly foamy bubbles. Complex aroma of red wine, vinegar, leather, wood and cranberry. Nice flavor that is a delicate balance between sour and sweet with hints of red fruits. Slightly sour, short finish. Medium carbonation.

My first sour! Aroma is just like balsalmic vinegar. Pours a reddish brown with a thin almond head. Taste is, wait for it, sour. A really nice taste, completely different to anything I’m used to in beer. It’s going to take a few of these to develop my palate. I’ll probably have to come back to this and re-rate once I understand this style better.

A reddish-brown beer with a pretty good looking head that dissipates. The aroma was like a balsamic vinaigrette at a fancy restaurant. The taste was sweet, acidic & salty. The sweet balances out the acidic pretty well with a thin palate.

That’s a really different and very special beer. You drink this beer once, you love it. Very complexive aroma and taste that surprises you till the last drop. Very nice work.