Cuvée Brut by Liefmans

Cuvée Brut. Sour Ale/Wild Ale. Liefmans (Moortgat). Oudenaarde, Belgium.

Winter 2010/11.

My review on RateBeer:

4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
AHTOH (48) - San Diego, California, USA - MAR 3, 2011

750 mL bottle. Cork has the year 2010 on it. Best before: 8/2020 (per top of cork cage). Poured into Duvel tulip.

APPEARANCE: Pours hazy deep amber with burnt orange and pinkish ruby hues. Off-white head has pale pinkish-purple hue, about 1 finger high, and decent duration. Surface foam quite bubbly (eg, looks similar to injera). Some brief lacing.

AROMA: Robust aromas of oud bruin and tart cherry. Personally greatly enjoy this straight-forward aroma because of my fondness for tart cherries. Seems that small portion of the cherry aroma has a perfume-like cherry scent to it. Faint hints of floral sweetness, chalk, vanilla, and earthiness; though aroma is largely just sour brown ale with tart cherries – exactly what it is meant to be.

TASTE: Moderately sour with plenty of tart cherry. Faint hints of vinegar, copper, and light grain on back of palate/finish; though almost entirely masked by the sour brown and tart cherry flavor. Well-balanced between sweet and sour.

MOUTH FEEL: Crisp. Lively carbonation that is champagne-like. Highly quaffable. Semi-dry finish.

OVERALL: Given my keen enjoyment of tart cherries, greatly appreciated this mildly sour ale. Excellent aperitif. Although unable to discern many pronounced characteristics beyond the oud bruin and tart cherry, this was an extremely enjoyable, straight-forward beer.