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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7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle. Tart lactic acid, oak, sour cherry nose. Nose is more funky than the regular or the chocolate cherry, and almost lambic-like, with leather and horse blanket. Bright, deep, scarlet with a pink head. Rich cherry flavor, lots of oak, funk, some vinegar, vanilla. This is amazingly oaky compared to the regular, or is that something else? Nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jan 2022
at 10:29
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle. An almost clear one, burgundy in color, with a small, dense beige head. The aroma has a nice touch of cherry and almond, with vinegar notes, oak, dark dried fruits, some balsamic vinegar and ripe fruit and berries. It's full-bodied, tart and lightly sweetish, with some carbonation. Oak, vinegar, dark dried fruit and cherry, ripe fruit and some generic fruityness. Long finish. Nice indeed, but prefer the regular version. 211231
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Dec 2021
at 21:23
8/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Clear deep red. Aroma is cherry oak sour citric frshness light yeast funk traces of balsamico. Taste is sour fresh cherry with some sweet underlying balsamico. Very inviting and fresh. Nice.
Tried
on 26 Dec 2021
at 22:15
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle, 0.33l. Deep amber pour, thin off-white layer on top. Minimal lacing. Sour and fruity on the nose, cherries, caramel, candy, apple vinegar. Medium body, lively carbonation. Average mouthfeel and texture, fizzy, somewhat light but nice smoothness to it. Sour fruity taste balanced with subtle sweet notes in the background. Aroma of sour cherries, candy, molasses. Apples, vinegar. Some acidic notes. Short to medium lasting finish, tart, sour, slightly dry. Good one.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Dec 2021
at 16:09
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
[10/24/2021] Draught sample at Taphouse in Copenhagen. Nice clear red. Cherry, marzipan, a bit of oxidation, funk, cobwebs, caramel, sweet and sour. Good.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Nov 2021
at 14:05
6.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
25th October 2021. Shrewsbury Beer Share in Chez Sophie; 5 guys splitting beers and talking bollox, great fun. Cheers Mike for this 33cl bottle: BB 1st June 2023. Red bodied, white head. Cherry's (surprise, surprise) rule the roost here, sour and tart from start to finish. Yet with a hidden sweetness if you sip slowly enough.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Oct 2021
at 10:27
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
330ml bottle @ monthly tasting, Chez Sophie, Oct 21. Thanks Mike for this one. Misty pale pink pour, small white head. Aroma has vibrant cherry, continuing to taste, alongside a settled acidity, interesting oak-aged wild moments with a good ripened sweet cherry presence. Sits mid-way between a sharp lambic kriek and Kasteel Rouge.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Oct 2021
at 17:37
6.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6
0.33 l bottle at the Valhalla Craft Beer Bar, Zagreb. Clear darker ruby red, small head. Quite funky and acidic at first, a touch of cherry, yeah, but there might have been a hint of that without adding the fruit itself. Juicy, ripe cherry, high carbonation, moderate to high sourness. Moderate finish. Some sweetness. Sour cherry candy juice feeling to it.
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Oct 2021
at 19:40
8.2/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle from Bert, thanks! Dark brown red with a reddish-tan head. Tart sour cherry nose with hints of oak. Great smooth, rounded flavor with big cherry taste, oak tannins, and nice tart acidity. Nice complexity and sweet-sour balance without anything overwhelming the other flavors!
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Oct 2021
at 18:07
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottled 330ml. -from Valhalla Zagreb. Deep dark red coloured, medium sized off-white head, fizzy, vinager and whiff of cherries in the nose. Sweet and sour vinager cherry taste with notes of brett and touch of red apples. Bit too sweet.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Oct 2021
at 20:34