Rodenbach Grand Cru

Brewed By: Brouwerij Rodenbach (Palm) in Roeselare, Belgium   

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2012? 

Style/ABV: Flanders Red Ale, 6.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

I'm finally getting around to review Rodenbach's Grand Cru. About Rodenbach: 

Rodenbach is a brewery based out of Roeselare, Belgium, founded by the four Rodenbach brothers (Pedro, Alexander, Ferdinand, and Constantijn) in 1821. You can read about the brothers and family on Palm's website, or get the tl;dr version on Wikipedia. After 15 years, Pedro and his wife, Regina Wauters, bought the brewery. In 1864, their son Edward took over, until his son, Eugene, took over in 1878. Eugene was the owner that traveled to England and saw how they aged beers in oak barrels and blended old and young beers. This method of brewing is what Rodenbach has become famous for. In 1998, Palm took over the brewery. To read more, definitely check out the Palm or Rodenbach website.

Tonight's beer, the Grand Cru, is a Flanders Red Ale that is a blend of 33% young beer, and 67% old beer that is aged in oak vats for 2 years. This is classic stuff, and there's no point in me reviewing this beer except to circlejerk about it, so let's do that.

DAE shitty lighting? This one is deceptively dark in low light, bordering on dark brown or black. In reality, this is a ruby red, semi-transparent, moderately carbonated beer. I kicked up a thin pinky's worth of soda-brown head that quickly dissolved. I would have fears that this is flaccid, but it won't be.

Rodenbach Grand Cru

I want to say my bottle is a 2012, but I'm not sure. Either way, this has a nice developed tartness, with noticeable vinegar, red apple cider vinegar, cherries, and apples. There's also big woody oak on the nose, aggressive fruit skins, and malt sweetness. There's a hint of cherry cola-vanilla sweetness. When you look at this like a wine, it definitely has a vinous, red wine-like character, with hints of grapes. It is reminiscent of a red wine with big tannins.

The taste is initially sour, with big sweet tart candies, cherry skins, and sour granny smith-esque apples. There's some plums and grapes as well. There's big vinegar in this, with apple cider vinegar, and pickled fruits/vegetables. There's also an underlying oak/wood/vanilla profile, with some hints of cherry cola sweetness. This is more sour than the Duchesse De Bourgogne, but not as sour as the Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge. It's also a million times better than the very average Bourgogne des Flandres. 

This is tart, with just enough pucker to make things interesting. This is light-bodied, refreshing, and drinkable. There's some big acidity in this, but it doesn't deter drinkability. The carbonation is soft, but moves things along. Palate depth is good, complexity is okay. You get candy sweetness, grapes/plums, and then tart cherry/granny smith apple up front; that rolls into some sweeter malts, vanilla/oak/wood, light cherry cola; back end is acidic, maybe flirts with raspberry, and finishes with some sour/dry. Nice stuff.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5 Untappd)

This is a Strong Above-Average. This is a lovely beer in just about every respect. One unique thing about this beer is that much of the funk is subdued. There's a hint of earthy Brett in this, but you get much more oak/wood, and vinegar tartness. The funk really plays off the sour. This beer is a classic, is available at many stores, and ages well. It's also reasonably priced. So stock up on a few bottles of these. This beer pairs well with steaks, grilled red meats, grilled meats in general, aggressive cheeses, fruity desserts, maybe even dry chocolate desserts...anything that goes well with a tart, fruity, acidic character.

Random Thought: I'm a big fan of Lou Malnati's, but tonight I had one of their vegetarian deep dish pizzas. It was made with two cheeses, had big tomatoes on top, and had too much garlic or seasoning. It just wasn't that great, for whatever reason. Also, the tomatoes were a bit watery, which detracted from the richness of the cheese. Then again, the other pizza we ordered (thin crust) was fantastic. So there's that.