Draught at ACBF 2011. Light red in the glass, small head. Sourish aroma. Starts fruity like cherries, not too intense, modest sourish, quite mild. Very well balanced, some berry hints. Finish warming-fruity. Excellent!

Thanks to Urbain for the kind gesture of sending this our way! Bottle pours caramel with no head. Aroma is bready with light apple notes and just a tad of funk. The flavor in this is divine. It’s sour and funky without making you pucker, and the barnyard wood and earthy apple skin and thin red wine vinegar flavors all work so well. A special beer.

RBWG 2010. Big thanks to the guys at Struise for sending this. Pours hazy copper color with white head. Sour, vinegar aroma. Slightly sweet and moderately sour with cherries and oak. Medium body with mild carbonation.

Re-rate, July4th 2011 @ Struise. Side by side tasting, 1983 bottle brewed in 1978 and a 2005 bittle kindly of Urbain. A gem of high quality regardless of the age. 1983 bottle: old dusty bottle where the yeast had even started to eat away at the inside of the bottle. Pours a nice copper color with a nice white head that shows how well this beer has aged. Mellow aroma and sourness that has dissipated a bit leaving some place to a maltier profile still retaining some cherry goodness but coupled with what could be seen as candi sugar. Mouthfeel has a light carbonation near minimal, some nice earthly dry notes, tartness has been eaten away byy the aging process and yeasts. Drinks like a nice cognac. 2005 bottle: color is immediately what struck me, a nice burgundy, deep cherry color, lightly opaque, which was a departue from the copperish 1983 version. Musty notes with whole cherry goodness of kernel, pulp leaving ample tartness. RBWG’10, cheers to Fata. pours amber, few sporadic white bubbles. aroma and flavors, vinegary / yeasty some sour notes up front along with fruits, light berry tartness, apple like note with some barrel/oak mouthfeel. Interesting malty and grainy mouthfeel with a tart cherry/berry finish. The whole sour/lactic aspect remain smooth and enjoyable for what I had anticipated would be an overly sour beer. Too bad this one won’t be made again.

Hazy amber with a tiny off white short lasting head. Sour aroma with sour cherries, lacto and raspberries. Flavour was medium sour with sour cherries and lacto. Oxydized and sour. Reminded me a bit of an old Alexander or vintage Kriek. Nice one.

Bottle courtesy of Urbain at the schoolhouse brewery in Oost-Vleteren. Urbain brewed it in 1983 and bottled it in 1988. "It’s our calling card." A: Deep copper color with a few large bubbles. Bottle had significant diesel marks. Aroma of dark sour cherries with notes of vanilla, a hint of anise, and musty earth. Incredible deep sourness, dark fruits, bits of dust and must. Amazingly complex and totally unique. Body is slightly lighter than expected, but still rich. What can I say? Urbain said it best: "Life sucks...but not here!!" Addendum: tasted on tap at the pre-ZBF 2010 in Ruddervoorde, again courtesy of Urbain. Brighter, more lively than in the bottle. 3 bubble head. Richer body, slightly less sourness but same great character. 4.8. Third tasting, 750 ml auction bottle (#20 of 250), courtesy of tarheels86, originally courtesy of Urbain - thank you both! This version was not as sour as the previous version, and has less body, but that same great nose. This was the first time I drank this without Urbain to share it with, so maybe that’s what was missing! 3.6.

Tap @ Borefts Beer Festival 2009. Hazy ruby red colour, off-white head. Aroma is sour cherry, horseblanket, oak. Flavour of sour cherry, tart, yeasty and redberries.Very smooth and balanced. Very enjoyable.