Review: Rodenbach Grand Cru

Rodenbach Grand Cru
6.0% ABV

Brewery Rodenbach, Steenhuffel, Belgium
750 ml btl

Served in St. Bernardus chalice glass
Date on bottle: Best before 5/29/16
Reviewed on 1/10/14

This Flanders red ale pours hazy reddish brown color with a good ivory-colored head that quickly dissipates.  Good lacing.

Smell consists of sour dark fruit, some malt, mild hops, oak, fresh flowers, syrupy sugar, cherry liquor.

Taste consists of sour cherry, honey, mild malt, mild hops, thin whiskeyish oak, fresh flowers, slight syrupy sugar, mild alcohol.

Mouthfeel has sourness on the palate that quickly becomes mild bitterness. A touch of champagne-like dryness.

Overall, this is a pleasant tasting sour with a complex profile of flavors. Sour cherry, honey, and oak flavors come together with fresh fresh flowers and syrupy sugar to create a nice drinkable beer that's almost like fine liquor. The sour bite is there, but it's mostly at the beginning and fades nicely to a mild bitterness, tweaking the palate enough to make you want more.

My score: 92