Duchesse Cherry
Verhaeghe in Vichte, West Flanders, Belgium 🇧🇪
Flemish Red / Bruin Regular|
Score
7.49
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“Duchesse Cherry“ is as its name suggests a cherry beer. Brewed only with real Belgian cherries (no flavor enhancers or cherry extracts). The fruit comes from the region of Sint-Truiden in Limburg (Belgium).
Unlike the more famous Kriek beers, the basic beer of the "Duchess Cherry" is not a Lambic. but a Flanders red ale of mixed fermentation. This beer has a top fermented base and is then matured in oak casks where it undergoes a second wild fermentation. The tannins in the foeders (very large barrel used for the storage of great Bordeaux wines) give the Duchess Cherry its sweet, fruity, refreshing and bittersweet taste.
Once the base beer is ready, the master brewer adds 20 Kg of "Kriek Gorsem" (Belgian sour cherries) per 100 liters to the beer. For 6 months, the beer macerates with the cherries. The cherries give a fresh and fruity taste to the beer which has a sweet and sour base. After 24 months of process, the beer is ready to be filtered and racked .
Unlike the more famous Kriek beers, the basic beer of the "Duchess Cherry" is not a Lambic. but a Flanders red ale of mixed fermentation. This beer has a top fermented base and is then matured in oak casks where it undergoes a second wild fermentation. The tannins in the foeders (very large barrel used for the storage of great Bordeaux wines) give the Duchess Cherry its sweet, fruity, refreshing and bittersweet taste.
Once the base beer is ready, the master brewer adds 20 Kg of "Kriek Gorsem" (Belgian sour cherries) per 100 liters to the beer. For 6 months, the beer macerates with the cherries. The cherries give a fresh and fruity taste to the beer which has a sweet and sour base. After 24 months of process, the beer is ready to be filtered and racked .
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5.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
Bottle, ty ?. Pours red-copper. Aroma and flavor are cherry, sour, malt, sweet, cherry stones, acidic. Overall: drinkable, but prefer original.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Apr 2019
at 17:58
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
New cherry-flavoured version of the classic and famed Duchesse de Bourgogne - I assume following the same method as their Echte Kriek, an old glory that, along with the deceased and now revived Rodenbach Alexander, embodied a tradition of cherry-enriched Flemish red, in a kind of parallel with the cherry versions of lambic beers further east. Regularly shaped, very vaguely pale lilac-tinged off-white head, mousy and ring-shaped with a thinning middle eventually reduced to some flat islands; cristal clear (until the end - filtered!) deep burgundy-hued ruby red robe. Aroma of cherry but in a somewhat artificial way (cherry ice cream, Mon Chéri candy, cherry jam), though reminiscent of the juice of ripe cherries as well, subtler notes of wood chips, yoghurt, bread crust, blackberries, maracuja, some sweet sherry, caramel candy, chewing gum, dry tea bags, subtle raspberry vinegar touch. Crisp, fruity onset, quite tart, with indeed a lot of cherry juice but some artificial cherry ice cream flavouring as well, sugary sweetish core, side notes of light banana, pear and red apple; lively but 'refined' carbonation, slick mouthfeel, caramelly malt core - slick and smooth, but dried by that cherry juice tartness. Dryish finish with still gently prickling carbonation, tannic effects from wood aging - with even a light vanilla scent - and lingering yoghurty lactic effects mingled with the cherry sourness. Still some residual sugar is noticeable, and so is a dash of earthy, late hop bitterishness. Nothing out of the ordinary happening here: this is likely inspired by the revival of the legendary Rodenbach Alexander, with which it has its basic profile in common - including filtering, and this light artificial cherry jam or cherry ice cream touch and sugary aspect in an otherwise tart environment. I was hoping for a completely 'natural' cherry oud bruin but this is a bit compromized by commercial considerations, like Alexander, yet somehow Verhaeghe manages to present us with a fine cherry sour in spite of those considerations. Simpler than expected, and though the flavours are well-balanced, the artificial cherry candy aspect - however subtle - is a point lost for me.
Tried
from Can
on 08 Mar 2019
at 20:14
7/10
Lepsze od podstawki, wisni duzo, disc kwasnych, pestkowosci nie ma, jakies inne czerwone owoce kapke, minitaniny, dlugi posmak, bez octu,3.8
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Mar 2019
at 16:45
7.9/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Intransparent reddish to brown colour. Small pinkish head. Nose: natural cherry, funky yeast, malts. Light plus body. Lively carbonation. Taste: tart cherry, funk, malts. Nice effort. Tasty.
Tried
on 22 Feb 2019
at 17:29
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7.5
Texture 8
Overall 8
Pours darkred, clear, small , lightly tanned ( to a pink shade ) head. Smell is full, fleshy cherry. Taste is full, tart, medium dry, medium sweetness, fruity, woody, wine-like complexity we all know from the basebeer. overall, the beer is good as a total , but the extra aroma of ( sweet ? ) cherries hides the basebeer I so came to love. Very much carbonation ( should be tones down about 25 % for me) . Nice, but i'm not in love.
Update : 2019 version ( with more cherries ) was a lot better. Upping the score. Carbo seems much more on spot now as well.
Tried
on 27 Nov 2018
at 23:01
7.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Imported from my RateBeer account as Verhaeghe Duchesse Cherry (by Verhaeghe):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 16/20, MyTotalScore: 3.7/5
19/XI/18 - 33cl bottle @ Horeca Expo Gent, BB: 13/VI/20 - (2018-1679)
Clear deep ruby red to purple beer, creamy off-white head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: lots of real cherries, some marzipan, soft oxidation, nice stuff going on here. MF: ok carbon, medium to light body. Taste: nice acidity, lots of cherries, cherry flavoured candy, bit of lemon juice, nice fruitiness. Aftertaste: little oxidized, some almonds, lots of sour cherries, oxidation happening, soft bitterness, some tannins, cherry flavoured candy, but nothing sweet though.
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 16/20, MyTotalScore: 3.7/5
19/XI/18 - 33cl bottle @ Horeca Expo Gent, BB: 13/VI/20 - (2018-1679)
Clear deep ruby red to purple beer, creamy off-white head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: lots of real cherries, some marzipan, soft oxidation, nice stuff going on here. MF: ok carbon, medium to light body. Taste: nice acidity, lots of cherries, cherry flavoured candy, bit of lemon juice, nice fruitiness. Aftertaste: little oxidized, some almonds, lots of sour cherries, oxidation happening, soft bitterness, some tannins, cherry flavoured candy, but nothing sweet though.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Nov 2018
at 20:16
7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle from Total Wine in Sacramento, CA. Pours dark and ruddy with a pink tinged head. Aroma is tart cherry with some musty wood notes. Med body at least. Flavor is tart cherry - but there's a slight sweetness - with musty wood. Malt is well hidden. Take my word for it - it is extremely delicious. Not exactly dry. Mildly sour. Not bitter. Quite cherry. Very, very tasty.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Nov 2018
at 04:19
9/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Oct 2018
at 20:06
9/10
Delishious sour funky ultra sweet tasty
Tried
on 13 Oct 2018
at 15:37
7/10
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Appearance 2
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Red currants and black cherry nose. Clear red, thin head. Cherry, tangy. Musty notes on the back end.
Tried
on 26 Sep 2018
at 22:28