The youngest Verzet oud bruin to date, with walnuts; already launched last summer and tasted at that time at BXL Beerfest, but I found it to be a bit young and astringent still and decided to cellar my bottle for another half year – so this rating concerns only a six month old bottle and not the young sample I had in Brussels in August. Snow white, moussy, lightly lacing, medium thick, large-bubbled and slowly dissipating head, cloudy deep mahogany brown robe with ruddy hue. Aroma of unripe plum, wet old wood, overripe grapes, old mouldy walnuts collected straight from the ground, damp tree leaves on a forest floor, dry sherry, tea bags, blackberries, passionfruit, raspberry vinegar, acorn shells, hint of rotten fruit, vanilla from oak wood. Tart onset, but considerably less sharply acidic than I am used to from Verzet oud bruin variants; estery, a bit ‘dirty’ and drying with hints of blackberry, sour plum, wild apple, some medlar and light passionfruit, softly carbonated; brown-bready malt core with slight caramelly edge and even some sweetness balancing the tartness, but remaining strong in drying lactic acidity. Pronounced woody tannins as well, in this case very likely enhanced by tannins from the walnuts; vinous, earthy, tart, woody, complex and red-fruity finish with additional notes of dry sherry, dead tree leaves and – more outspokenly and more importantly – something very herbal and tea-like, showing up late to the party but connecting with the tea-like aspect from the nose and most likely somehow related to the walnuts. After all this is passed, an astringent effect of green walnut bolsters remains, so in the end, the added ingredient becomes indeed recognizable, more so than in the beginning. Quite a lot happening here, clearly this bottle benefited from an extra half year of cellaring like I predicted; this is one of the better Oud Bruin variants by Verzet for me. Very interesting and multi-faceted sour.

7/XII/22 - 75cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ Zythos class, BB: 15/VI/32, harvest 2021 (2022-1723)

Clear red brown to chestnut beer, small aery irregular off-white head, unstable, falls down quickly. Aroma: very floral, a bit soapy almost, sourish impression, hint of caramel, earthy, forest floor, hint of raspberry. MF: soft to no carbon, medium body. Taste: pretty sour start, hint of vinegar, a bit lemony, bitter touch. Aftertaste: sourish, earthy, lemon, bitter, dry, some tannins.

Hapu, äädikane, funky.