Zoetzuur Flemish Reserve Ale
Flemish Ale / Flanders Red Ale Brewed with Cherry Juice
This beer was developed in collaboration with Michael Jackson for his Rare Beer Club in 2004. Zoetzuur - meaning sweet-sour is a beutifully balanced Flanders Red Ale. The sweet component in the beer is the light addition of Belgian Kriek (cherry) juice, while the sourness comes from the use of the lambic-like Brettanomyces yeast (sic!). This is a reddish-amber ale with an off-white head. It has a complex aroma of fruit as well as a spicy earthiness from the yeast. It is medium-bodied on the palate wiht sweet notes followed by lightly sour notes and a surprisingly dry finish. This subtle and elegant beer is a classic example of the brewmaster’s art.
This beer was developed in collaboration with Michael Jackson for his Rare Beer Club in 2004. Zoetzuur - meaning sweet-sour is a beutifully balanced Flanders Red Ale. The sweet component in the beer is the light addition of Belgian Kriek (cherry) juice, while the sourness comes from the use of the lambic-like Brettanomyces yeast (sic!). This is a reddish-amber ale with an off-white head. It has a complex aroma of fruit as well as a spicy earthiness from the yeast. It is medium-bodied on the palate wiht sweet notes followed by lightly sour notes and a surprisingly dry finish. This subtle and elegant beer is a classic example of the brewmaster’s art.
3.7
436 reviews
Hijfte, Belgium
Community reviews
Bottle from old backlog notes 07. Pours a hazy/cloudy reddish amber color with a medium sized off white head. The aroma and flavor have a nice sweet/sour thing going on, apples, cherries, oak, tannins, acidic, when I say sour I really mean tart, drinkable,decent.
Super clear reddish brown. Nose is very floral (jasmine), wood, sweaty funk. Tart, sour cherry finish, with some light smooth wood. Good with a roast and gravy.
Bottle sample at a sour tasting at Noam’s office. Thanks DSG. Cloudy brown with bubbles. Vinous, toffee aroma and a delicate sourness and sweetness in the mouth. Medium-bodied, smooth, long and delicate sour finish.
Bomber from Wilbur’s. Appearance: finger of khaki head that does not last, amber color, light cloudy, light lacing. Aroma: vinegar, cherry, light molasses,. Palate: light body, average carbonation, dry finish. Taste: sweet fruity tartness to medium bitter. Overall, hoppiness was unique, but a little to sweet for me.
At a tasting, thanks DSG, small stable bubly head, very hazy dark red to light brown colour, aroma of sour malt, caramel and almonds, malty oxidised flavour, with toffee and teriaki, medium sweetness, light sourness, almondy bitterness. Nicely balanced and highly enjoyable.
Bottle - Sweet cherry and oak. Cloudy orange with a small beige head. Cherry, oak, light tartness and mellow sweetness. Mellow and nice, well balanced.
Bottle sample at a sour tasting at Noam’s office. Thanks DSG. Pours orange to brown with a medium head, aroma of vinegar, malt, fruits, caramel and chocolate, flavor is bizarre with oxidation, malt and caramel, medium bodied.
Bottle shared at a sour tasting at Noam’s office. Cloudy red-amber with an off-white head. Aroma of malt, caramel, some cobwebs, mild funk, cherries and some oxidation. Sweetish and mildly sourish flavor, a bit oxidized, with cherries, malt, caramel and a bit of cellar-y touches. Medium-bodied. Nice.
Dark brown / ruby in color, with small beige foamy head and lots of soapy lacing. Cidery aroma, sharp acetic taste, but smooth enough to enjoy . lingering sweetness and a bit of tartness.
Red/brown pour with a light beige head. Aromas of malt, yeast, tart cherries, and subtle acidity. Flavor is tart cherry with malt. Very easy drinking, just slightly sour. Perhaps not as complex as I would have liked but still pretty tasty.
750ml bottle - pours a cloudy lighter brown. Some sweet cherry aromas with a faint sour aroma. Taste is mild malt, tart cherry with a medium sourness. Very drinkable, nice.
Very drinkable sour. Nice malty flavor. Flavors muddle a bit between sweet and slight tangy cherry wood. The woody sour yeast comes through in the smell as you drink and leaves a moderate blanket on the tongue.
Taster at DBS. Aroma of cherry and a some grape. Brown with a hint of red in color. Lots of grape flavor. Super smooth on the palate. Nice!!!
Bottle pour at DBS. Aroma and flavor is Larry King purple grape juice and grape candies. Not too impressed here. Fair beer.
Bottle opened during New Year’s eve. Pours mahogany with some beige head. Aroma is mild of cherry skins and caramel malt. Thin body yet caramel malty flavor, sticky sweetness that sort of masks the mild lactic notes. Some cherry in the finish. Sort of a watered down flanders red with a bit of crystal getting in the way.
750mL bottle (old, but I don’t see a date). Poured clear, ruddy amber with a well-retained, sticky toasted marshmallow head. The aroma picked up a blend of sweet and sour cherries, charred oak, and soft vinous notes.. perhaps a touch too much sweetness evident, but it smelled like candy in a glass. The flavor found mostly tart cherries along with a little related sweetness.. dry, fruity Brett-like notes and oak on the edges.. picked up some floral and peppery notes on the dry finish. Medium-bodied with fuller carbonation than expected on the palate.. just a hair too sweet, but tasty.
Unknown age on the bottle, but it was in the discount bin, which means it was at least one year on the shelves...
Poured to NB globe.
A: Pours a hazy mahogany ale with little to no head formation despite turbulent pour. Affluent peanut colored film is broken sans evident carbonation.
S: Raisins, prunes,,,,dark fruits dominate the nose. Quite difficult for me to discern. As advertised, sweet and sour. Very reserved as far as flemish ale’s go.
T: More tart than I had anticipated. This is quite nice. However, the fruits continue to limit the appreciable flemish qualities one would anticipate. As the ale resonates, I start to sense the cherries typical of the style.
M: medium bodied, low carbonation.
D: Having a hard time enjoying this one. It’s tolerable, but I wish the bottle wasn’t 750ml’s. ended up pouring half out.
Serving type: bottle
02-06-2011
750ml bottle pours clear ruby red with 1 finger sudsy head that fades to a thin layer and lasts. Nose is funky cherry, strawberry, syrup, vinaigrette. Mouthfeel is light body with good carbonation and a little syrupy. Taste is tart fruity cherry, berry, wine, acetic notes, sweet and sour, cola, soy sauce. Finish is tart sweet berry, meaty, earthy. Very good. (From 10/30 notes)
Pours a reddish brown with one finger head and leaves moderate to heavy lacing. Moderately sour and hint of sweet. Medium to full bodied with soft effervescent . Medium sour finish. Great.
A great Flanders red, I always like the style this is no exception. It had a nice sour cherry not in the nose and taste. I even finished the bomber by myself which can be a chore on some of these brews.
murky red-brown, small off-white head with short retention but nice lacing. dominated by somewhat sweet cherries, sour apple, grape, slight wood, funk, and a little bread. very moderate sour for the style, light sweet. medium body, slight acidic. a sour you could easy drink a whole bottle of by yourself, fairly refreshing.
Hazy red orange with an orangish white foamy head. Sour white grapes, oak, and mineral water. Light sourness with a dry bitter finish. Medium body with a soapy feel and fine carbonation.
At Epic Beer Fest 2013. Clear bronzen under a thin white head. Aroma is quite sour and lactic with an underlying woodyness and earthy malt sweetness. Flavor is quite sour with a long linger, has some earthy yet bright toffee flavors about it, and a complex woody tone. Hard to really explain the flavor on this one. Nice to sip but I don’t think I could take a whole glass.
Bottle from 16 Tons Taphouse, Eugene. Pours a dark medium reddish color, fair amount of off-white head. Aroma Brett, wood, tartness. Some funk and of course cherries. Body rich warm, perhaps not as livelyas one might expect. Finish dry and vinous, yet retaining a strong woody character.
Cork is stamped 3151301.
Appearance: The body has a slight haze in it’s reddish brown body, a tall tan head erupts with good retention, leaving a dense full coating.
Aroma: A sweet aroma is picked up inches from the glass coming off super enticing. With the nose to my glass the beer fully shows it’s sweet side with a cherry aroma, but hints of sour appear with a touch of vinegar and barnyard funk, with a slight medicinal grape on swirling. Holy cow this is complex and enticing.
Taste: Not as sweet as the aroma, in-fact the flavor has a lot of medicinal chloroseptic spray grape from the end of the mid to the finish. Sweet cherry is up-front with a slight vinegar that runs through to the finish with cherry notes underlying this through to the finish. Pretty decent.
Palate: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: This is pretty great but the medicinal grape flavors are odd. This is very drinkable though and I enjoy it much.
This is the sour that all sours should take their mark from. A cloudy golden-red pour with a light brown head. Tart cherries and vinegar dominate the aroma, yet the flavour is far more balanced. Sweet fruit hints balance out the tartness, before giving way to a bitter finish. Each mouthful deserves to be savoured!
Bottle at Novare Res. Burnt red body with a thin cream-tan head. Fruity aroma. Red fruit, caramel, tart flavor. Dry finish. Not overly sour, but very tasty and refreshing. Fine, delicate carbonation.
Bottle pours clear read with nice head. Aroma is sour fruits and berry. Taste is the same, decent for $7.
Bottle from Spirits Crossroads. Pours out a ruby red color with a small tan head. Aroma is of nice sour tartness, light sweet cherries, funk. Taste is tart, acidic funk, sweet cherries, light mothballs, medicinal fruit, lingering sweetness with some tart sour notes that come in with the finish. Nice beer.
A very nice fruity aroma with some earthiness from a murky reddish brown pour with an extremely thin head. The flavor is fruity sweet and Brett sour at the same time. Nicely dry and refreshing.