6.5/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 4
Overall 7
Vineous/vinegar and lemon notes. Burgundy red/brown with a beautiful color gradient, not that much head. Fruity (lemon and strawberries) and almonds. Full taste, but quick finish.
Tried
on 22 Mar 2003
at 13:30
6.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Well-named, as its burgundy colour would indicate. Mix of woody lactic notes, tomato, pomegranate, apple skins and acetic notes. Sweet maltiness in the palate, alongside icing sugar, caramel apples, and a light acetic note which spoils an otherwise clean lactic undertone. Sweet & sour, quite drinkable, but I do find the acetic notes to be rather off-putting. You have to love acetic acid (vinegar) to love this beer. If you don’t, it’ll go down the drain.
Tried
on 09 Feb 2003
at 21:12
6.8/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Vinous, slightly vingary sourness. Appearance like cola: Red brown, quickly dying head and heavy carbonation. Sweet fruityness (grapes) on a sour background. Thinbodied, some fizzyness but mostly refreshing. Style should probably be flemish sour ale. Rated bottle was a bit past its expiration date.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Jan 2003
at 11:53
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
Sour beer but not overly done. Pleasant to drink and generally a good beer.
Tried
on 21 Dec 2002
at 09:22
9.4/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 10
Texture 8
Overall 9.5
This is the best beer I''ve ever tasted. It is deep read with a fantastic head. The aroma is a little sour and sharp like the wild fermented aroma of a gueze. The flavor is soft and rounded at first with a good sweetness and great malt blend. It ends of in a sharp aftertaste just like a gueze. I drink this beer every time I get the chance - try it - if You get the chance.
Tried
on 17 Nov 2002
at 16:39
7.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Fresh: Rich ruby colour. Acetic, lactic aroma with cherry candies. Oaky, fat, tangy, voluptuous. Port-like accents. Slightly candyish finish, with a hint of acetic acid.
Aged, Vichte Vera, rated November 22/08
Light brown. Hazy. Rich, almost malt vinegar nose. Wood and sweet fruits on the palate, only a little bit of sourness. Strange stuff, but this is also really old stuff so the fruit is muted and the weirdness accentuated. I rated this aged version 7-3-7-3-14 = 3.4
Aged, Vichte Vera, rated November 22/08
Light brown. Hazy. Rich, almost malt vinegar nose. Wood and sweet fruits on the palate, only a little bit of sourness. Strange stuff, but this is also really old stuff so the fruit is muted and the weirdness accentuated. I rated this aged version 7-3-7-3-14 = 3.4
Tried
from Can
on 25 Aug 2002
at 16:28
8.9/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 10
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Sampling of the 1998 version in 2002. Very dark brown. Wonderful balsamic, slightly acidic aroma. Medium bodied, vinuous. Perhaps not the most complex of beers, but I just love it.
Tried
on 26 May 2002
at 03:25
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Served from tap. Dark copper coloured. Nice balsamic vinegar aroma. Very vinuous, fruity, rather sweet. Well balanced and moreish.
Tried
from Draft
on 30 Apr 2002
at 00:48
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
For a flemish sour ale, this one is better than the Rodenbach Grand Cru IMO. A bit more yeasty and malty compared to the extremely sour taste some other flemish reds have. This one is a bit more subtle and balanced.
Tried
on 03 Feb 2002
at 07:53
9.2/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 10
Texture 8
Overall 9
2024-08-14, bb 09/06/05, possibly bottled in June 2003, 21 years old, 8-4-8-3-17=40
Dark mahogany colour, rather impenetrable; it seems undercarbonated, and therefore there's just a small collar of large bubbles. Gentle aroma of balsamic, caramel. Ah, here's the sweetness that Duchesse de Bourgogne used to have 20-25 years ago! Decent body strength, sweet balsamic reduction, not too intense, and absolutely no sign of oxidation; the finish seems a bit thinner.
Amazing, even after so much time.
2023-08-30, bb 17/03/2012, possibly 13 years old, 7-4-7-3-15=36
As expected, no oxidation; but it's less vibrant, there's no bitterness; still mildly sweet and sour, fruity; maybe there a touch more of acetic acid than I could remember; good start, weaker finish. Still pleasant.
2013-07-10, bb 2012-03-17, possibly 3 years old, 8-5-8-4-17=42
Dark mahogany color with some red shade, medium sized head, mix of cream and big bubbles. It has the classic aroma, with fruity malt, balsamic, touch of vinegar; but it's also lightly metallic and dusty. Soft body, there is a sweet and sour caramel flavor, with notes of balsamic; the bitterness is quite low.
Overall, it's in good shape, with a reasonable degree of complexity, and with a fresh feeling, but lacking of a bite in the final.
2010-12-24, fresh bottle (bb 2012-10-06), 7-5-8-4-16=40
Brown color; medium sized head. Nice aroma, balsamic vinegar, caramel, prunes, but also very light acetone. Good flavor, caramel, with moderate sweetness, building a respectable body; good acidic and fruity level, with light vinegar too; low bitterness. Very good.
2003-02-01, 4 years old, 9-5-10-4-18=46
Dark amber color, with ruby shades; thick creamy head. Beautiful aroma, malt, caramel, liquorice, Porto wine, sweet & sour, notes of wood.
Full mouth, perfect balance of sweetness and acidity, fresh & fruity, grapes, raisins, wood, candi sugar, grapefruit; a faint astringency at the end. A 10 because in this style can't ask for more.
The bitterness doesn't succeed in dominating the palate, which is still pretty sweet.
One of the beers that I drink with the highest pleasure, my favourite summer thirstquencher, a classic.
2001-11-30, 8-4-9-4-15=40
Wonderful example of Belgian red sour ale. Strong winy aroma; sweet flavour, bitter-sour in the mid, then the sourness is back in the final. Complex, fruity, sweet, sour, bitter… All!
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Nov 2001
at 21:04