Vibrant P'Ocean

Can shared at THT online. Slight hazy deep red with small off white head. Red currants, typical overipe Rodenbach berries and cherries, elderberries, soft malts, light grassy and bitter herbs. Under medium sweet/sour/bitter, soft salty. Just medium bodied, slightly dry finish. OK!

lattina 355 ml, schiuma bianco/rosa fine evanescente, color rosso rubino torbido, al naso agrumi mela acerba, in bocca è ben fruttata mirtillo frutta a bacca rossa mela acerba leggero legno, carbonazione moderata, corpo leggero, astringente e acida, amaro percettibile, asciutta nel finale. A primo impatto non mi ha entusiasmato ma sorseggiandola escono fuori le sue qualità. c. Bottega della birra Arona 16.10.20

Can from Geers. Pours clear red with a quickly thinning, frothy, off-white head. Aroma of sour cherry, redcurrant, elderflower, honey, red candy ('poepkes'), lemon peel, strawberry jam. Taste has sweet-sour cherry, redcurrant, elderberry, perfumey elderflower, faintly herbal with a salty touch of cherry tomato, very, very slightly funky, kept together by fluffy doughy maltiness. Tart, fruity finish, low to no hoppiness, slight red candy & jam, touch of salt again & woody 'foeder'. Medium body, oily texture, average carbonation. Gose? Sour? Bit of everything, not that shabby & quite refreshing.

This Rodenbach collab is solid. Apparently “fleur de sel” is sea salt. With elderflower. Yep. Purt near tasty.

33 cl. can @ home, bought @ Wijzinnig, Gendt. Clear dark red with white head. Vinous red berry aroma. Sweet and sour taste with a hint of salt. Strange sour beer due to the salty taste. Not uninteresting.

One of the 'founding fathers' of American craft beer collaborating with one of the monuments on the traditional Belgian beer map - this I had to see for myself. Apparently a blend of Rodenbach 'foederbier' (still a fixed value in the centuries-old 'oud bruin' tradition) with some kind of elderblossom-flavoured Gose made by Dogfish Head especially for the occasion. From a can bought online from Melgers, a wine merchant in Haarlem, the Netherlands, that also does craft beer now. Audibly sizzling, very mousy, uneven-bubbled, off-white, quickly opening and later completely vanishing head on an initially clear, beautifully deep glowing copper-coloured beer with vermillion red hue. Aroma of candied cherries, cranberry compote or indeed a whiff of elderberry jelly, hard caramel, indeed a slice of lemon but subtly so, that typical cooked meat- or tofu-like aspect of elderblossom (when used in beer) peeping through but also actual fragrant blossoms (jasmin more than elderflower, actually), whiff of manure, faint hints of some full-bodied rosé wine, (well-made and beefy) bolognese sauce, beetroot, sweet paprika powder. Crisp onset, well-carbonated in a prickly way, sweetish and sourish, with that - I cannot seem to get this out of my mind - bolognese sauce-like meatiness recurring, probably related to the elderblossom; much less candied cherry in the mouth than expected based on the nose, tempered by the salt I assume, which is clearly present and kind of accentuates the beefiness of the elderblossom; still enough fruitiness around, though, reminiscent of red apple, beetroot (I know this is not fruit but you get my drift) and - unsurprisingly because actually used here - elderberries, the way I remember them from childhood, but not too strongly so. Supple, slender body, bit resinous caramelliness softly dried by yoghurty Rodenbach lactic-tartness while the salty and sweetish-fruity aspects linger about; ends with more of that 'beefy' elderblossom, lingering saltiness again reminding me a bit of bolognese sauce (or sliced and salted tomatoes) and caramelly malt sweetness, but remains low in tannic woodiness, which one would expect to come from the used 'foederbier'. No discernible hoppiness worth mentioning. Well, I had it now and I am glad that I did, but this is what it is: a Dogfish Head 'Florida' (in this case elderberry) Gose infused with a splash of Rodenbach 'foederbier', but only a splash - I never had the Dogfish Head beer as such, but everything here points at an only minor contribution by Rodenbach. Feels more like a postmodern American kettle sour than anything sincerely Rodenbach-related (apart from that beautiful colour, which indeed reminds me of Rodenbach from the days when I first started drinking it, somewhere in the end of the previous century); that said, there certainly is a very clear Rodenbach flavour element lingering in the end, very distinctly so even, but I am not at all convinced that both beers blend all that well. Interesting one and certainly tasty enough, but it keeps feeling like two beers thrown together all the way through, rather than one concise whole... European tradition meets American craft and clashes with it a bit - this does kind of sum up the current situation in artisanal brewing in Belgium, on the other hand.

26/VII/20 - 12Fl. Oz. can from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ Cybu’s place, BB: X/10/20 (2020-691)

Clear ruby red beer, small aery off-white head, unstable falls down quickly, non adhesive. Aroma: red fruits, some lactobacillus, some cinnamon, bit malty. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: soft bitterness, bit metallic, slightly salty, some banana peel, pretty dry. Aftertaste: dry and metallic, fruity touch, hint of tannins. Not as good as I would’ve hoped for.

Sample at Daily Growler Powell. Clear maroon-red color with a medium pinkish-white head that burns away steadily to an outer ring. Short strings of lace. Aroma of berries, yeast and malt. Light-bodied with flavors of tart berry, herbal yeast and doughy malt. The finish is tart with a cherry and berry aftertaste. Decent overall.

Can from Bremans, Tongeren. Hazy reddish colour, white foam. Tart fruity notes, lots of berries, some herbs (elderflower), lemony tartness. Rather thin, fruity, refreshing. Not great, not bad either.