Verhaeghe Vichtenaar

	Percentile
	93
	overall

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

bottled
common

on tap
available

Broad Distribution
Find this beer

send corrections | shelftag

Ratings	Average	Score	ABV	Style Pctl	Serve in
417	3.63/5.0	3.62/5.0	5.1%	58.9	Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

Commercial Description:
“Vichtenaar” is a beer, brewed with roasted malts, spicey hops, fruity yeast and soft water, pumped up from a 172 m deep well, guaranteeing constant quality and pureness of the liquor. After primary and secondary lagering, “Vichtenaar” gets a ternary fermentation in oak vessels during 8 months. These oak pipes are big tuns with a capacity varying between 500 and 2500 hectolitres. “Vichtenaar” is a traditional and specific Western Flemish beer, from the northwest of Belgium. Its taste can be described as mild-sourish and suitably complex, thanks to the long lagering on oak. This tart flavour makes it eminently suitable for the hot summer months. “Vichtenaar” is one of the last Flemish “Oud bruins” that are really lagered in the oak tuns, and are as such appreciated by the connoisseur, looking for authenticity. As early as 1958 “Vichtenaar” was crowned as the top in an international concours in Gent.

Please Enable Javascript

This site requires javascript enabled and/or approval of googlesyndication.com.

Most Recent

Top Raters

Highest Ratings

Who's Rated This?

apoptosis (1316), Long Island, New York, USA

3.7	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.7	7/10	4/5	7/10	4/5	15/20

Mar 16, 2006

Rich, dark brown body, barely a head around the sides. Highly carbonated, a little too much for me. Figs, plums and cherries in the aroma and the flavor. A nice tart finish (the "sour" in the sour ale). A little thin in the flavor but well-balanced. Overall, a decent sour ale.

Oakes (8093), gone rambling, Vietnam

2.4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
2.4	3/10	4/5	5/10	2/5	10/20

Mar 16, 2006

Reddish-amber colour. Woody, balsamic aroma. The flavour is fairly sweet, with light balsamic acidity, fruitiness and brown sugary notes. I can just get into this company’s beers - too acetic.

Bov (5451), Bienne, Switzerland

3.7	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.7	8/10	5/5	7/10	4/5	13/20

Mar 14, 2006

clear and bright reddish-brown colour, fine creamy beige head; vinous nose; aroma of cherries and vinegar, notes of cocoa; moderate malt body, swet and sour, creamy mouthfeel and with a long fruity, sweet and sour finish - good but too much on the sweet side

Braudog (3762), Dayton, Ohio, USA

2.9	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
2.9	3/10	5/5	7/10	3/5	11/20

Mar 9, 2006

From the bottle, as dark red as it could be, with a gluey top. Nasty vinegar aroma that didn’t appeal to me. The flavor wasn’t quite as off-turning, I guess, but I’m officially not a fan of Sour Ales. I appreciate the artistry, but don’t dig it.

smcd (366), USA

3.7	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.7	7/10	4/5	7/10	4/5	15/20

Mar 9, 2006

(Bottle. 03/2006) Big, off-white (tending toward beige) head that lasts reasonably well and leaves nice lace on the glass. Clear, dark garnet colors complement a nose of balsalmic vinegar. Some lactic notes (a slight hint of old milk or new cheese) in the nose, but balsalmic/acetic notes predominate. Sweet on the palate with notes of cherry, prune, vanilla (from oak?) and dark, roast malts. Some minor hints of chocolate. The acetic qualities continue to predominate the taste profile, but this is also a beer that is quite sweet. Some lactic notes with a very understated bitter orange hint in the background. Not having many old browns to compare this too, I can’t say how it fits into the style, but I could probably have a few of these in my remaining days.

Sammy (4000), Toronto, Ontario, Canada

4.1	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.1	8/10	4/5	7/10	3/5	19/20

Mar 8, 2006

Lovely aroma, dark colour, lots of lace. Great tartness well-balanced, with lots of fruit, yummy cherry and dark fruit.

Aquahop (8), Oregon, USA
does not count

2.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
2.8	5/10	4/5	5/10	4/5	10/20

Mar 3, 2006

Very vinegary and unpleasant finish. Perhaps sat around too warm in transit or otherwise mistreated.

jimhilt (1679), Bow, New Hampshire, USA

4.1	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.1	8/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	17/20

Feb 27, 2006

Pours with a one-finger light tan head that fades slowly and leaves a ton of lace. Clear deep red color. Good carbonation and medium bodied. Nose is fruity. Starts sweet with a citrusy sour flavor in the background, finish is clean. $3.99 for a 330ml bottle from Julio’s Liquors Westborough, Ma.

CONSIDER FREE RATEBEER MEMBERSHIP

Join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community. Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings. Click here to create your account... and give your opinion!

SIGN UP NOW »

View Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42

More Sour Ales By Style
Midnight Sun Good Mojo 80
Jolly Pumpkin Perseguidor (Batch 4) 91
New Belgium Bottleworks 10th Anniversary Wild Ale 85
Thiriez Vieille Brune 63
New Belgium La Folie 94
Bullfrog Liquid Sunshine Reserva 66
Valley Brew Decadence Grand Cru 2009 84
New Belgium Love 86
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja 75
BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru 2008 (Vin Jaune Barrel) 61
Cascade Drie Zwarte Pieten Sang Noir 82
The Bruery Sour in the Rye 68
BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien 2008 80
Cascade Kriek Ale 65
Rodenbach Grand Cru 82

this page requires javascript