Petrus Oud Bruin

Brewed By: Bavik-De Brabandere in Harelbeke, Belgium

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Oud Bruin, 5.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

Continuing with Sunday Funday....About Petrus: 

The Brewery Bavik (Brouwerij Bavik) was founded in 1894 by Adolphe De Brabandere. One of his sons, Joseph De Brabandere, brewed his first beer the same year the brewery was founded. Before 1950 the brewery's beer was sold primarily to cafes and individuals, but post-1950 the beer has been sold to merchants. The Bavik Brewery is a family run business, and is one of the largest independent breweries in Belgium. For more info, check out Bavik's history page.

The Petrus Oud Bruin/Old Brown/Old Dark is an Oud Bruin aged for 24 months in oak barrels. Punching in at 5.5%, this beer is both readily available and relatively cheap.

Petrus Oud Bruin

The cork came out cleanly, and the beer pours into a nice dark, ruby red body, with three fingers of khaki/tan head. The head is soapy and foamy. When you shine a bright light onto this beer, you can see that the body is swampy brown, hazy, and murky. It looks like chocolate milk. The lacing is good, and head retention is also good.

The aroma features tons of vanilla, cherry coke, cherry, oak, and wood. I'm also getting apples, pears, apple slaw salad, grape and apple juice, and a hint of spice.

Unfortunately, the taste doesn't follow through with the aroma...I'm mostly getting wheat and apples, one-dimensional apple/raisin/wheat sweetness, some hints of cola, and very little tartness if any. A touch of wood no real oak.

There's some oxidation here...with the wheat-apple punch being the dominant and only force driving this cola-esque beer. This is super disappointing for a Belgian Ale. It's very drinkable at 5.5%, but where is the flavor? The light to medium-light body is driven by lively carbonation, with one-dimensional palate depth and complexity. You get carbonated wheat/apples up front; apples, wheat and raisins in the middle; apples and wheat in the back with a hint of wood and some faded oak and oxidation. Very little sour, very little tart, very little flavor or character. Booo.

Rating: Below-Average (2.0/5.0 Untappd)

This is a Strong Below-Average. This beer is below average for the style. Unlike the Petrus Aged Pale Ale which featured delicious and gripping tartness, this beer just falls flat in delivering that cherry-cola-oak goodness. The oxidation contributes some paper/cardboard, which doesn't work against the flavorless backdrop. I would not pick this up again, even at the price of 10 dollars a 750ml. There are much better Oud Bruins out there. I bought this to pair with leftover pulled pork sandwiches, but I'll probably butt chug the rest and switch to a more flavorful beer.

Random Thought: The Bears ain't got no run defense. 

Petrus Aged Pale

Brewed By: Bavik-De Brabandere in Harelbeke, Belgium

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2013 (2012 bottle?)

Style/ABV: Sour/Wild Ale/Flanders Red or Oud Bruin, 7.3%

Reported IBUs: ?

I've been meaning to get to this beer for a while, so here we go. About Petrus: 

The Brewery Bavik (Brouwerij Bavik) was founded in 1894 by Adolphe De Brabandere. One of his sons, Joseph De Brabandere, brewed his first beer the same year the brewery was founded. Before 1950 the brewery's beer was sold primarily to cafes and individuals, but post-1950 the beer has been sold to merchants. The Bavik Brewery is a family run business, and is one of the largest independent breweries in Belgium. For more info, check out Bavik's history page.

The Petrus Aged Pale is a "dry hopped, oak aged, sour ale." Aged in one of the fifteen 25,000L oak vessels in the Petrus Aging Cellar, this beer is brewed and then aged in the aforementioned vessels for between 20 to 30 months. This beer was originally used as a base beer for other blends, but apparently, the late Michael Jackson (beer writer) visited the brewery and suggested they sell this commercially. The rest is beer history. 

Petrus Aged Pale

The beer pours a hazy orange color, with two fingers of lightly off-white head. In bright light the beer looks less hazy, and takes on a vibrant gold/orange vibe that glows like radioactive water. There's some lazy carbonation, and a centimeter of sustaining, funky white head. You get lacing and all that.

Like the body, the aroma is kind of average. There's some musty oak funk, old attic, woody tannins and assertive vinegar, red wine vinegar, subtle white wine, and ghostly notes of chocolate/grape/apples that are vague and hard to place.

You get a lot of malt body in this, and this is surprisingly smooth. This isn't overly sour, with mild tartness. On the other hand, this beer isn't very sweet either. I appreciate that, a lot. It seems like this style veers towards overly sour or overly sweet. You get a lot of oaky tannin and subtle malt kisses up front, which eventually turns into that red apple cider vinegar punch. There's some hops in the mix as well, and the back end lays big citrus and apples on you. The finish is slightly bitter of all things, with lingering malt and a hint of...grain? The sourness comes in two waves: up front with the oak and tannin, and towards the mid to back palate with some citrus.

This hides the 7.3% very well, and is drinkable. It's not too sour, or too sweet, and is smoothed out by nice carbonation. I'd call it light-to-medium bodied. Palate depth is good, complexity is low. This is a very standard Flanders Red-esque beer, and doesn't really run away with anything. Tart, warhead sour up front, with big oak tannin, cherries, apple cider vinegar, and malt kisses; that roles into some hops, apples, pineapple, citrus, orange, more vinegar and sour; the back end is lingering sour, lingering malt, hint of bitter/grain. I can feel this one crushing my teeth.

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

This is a Light Above-Average...practically average, if not for the restrained levels of sweetness. This has an incredible balance, with pronounced oak, wood tannin, malt presence, sour kick, and sugars that are held in check. This has a some subtle nuances as well, and seems to hold up to short-term aging. I can easily recommend this, especially as an entry-level sour. This beer is cheap, it's available, and it's pretty damn tasty. You owe it to yourself to pair this beer with strong cheeses, grilled meats, fondue, or anything along those lines. This beer is much better than the standard Petrus offerings.  

Random Thought: My goal this week is to decompress a bit...we'll see how that goes.