Brouwerij Rodenbach N.V. - Caractère Rouge

Flanders Reds are a fantastic style. Because they're not too sour, too hoppy, or too high in alcohol, they're a fantastic starter beer for pretty much anyone. Hand a Cuvee de Jacobins to someone who says they've never had a beer the liked and you're pretty much guaranteed to get a positive reaction.

Rodenbach is a name that's pretty much synonymous with Flanders Red. It's all they do and they do them insanely well. They may not make a wide variety of beers, but the ones they do make are world class. So when a beer from them that I had never seen called Caractère Rouge hit stores a few months back, I knew it was going to be something special. Rodenbach decided to mix things up a bit with this one, adding sour cherries (typical for a Flanders Red), raspberries (not typical for a Flanders Red) and cranberries (What?!?!?) to a beer that has been aged in oak vats for 2 years. After a 6 month aging with the fruit, the beer was ready to go. At #145, Caractère Rouge.

Caractère Rouge pours a crimson-tinted apple cider color with a nice amount of haze to it. It's capped off by a tightly bubbled cream-colored head that held up nicely through the beer. From a distance, the first smell you get is a spicy oak barrel note. But the second you get closer, that fades and you're pulled in by huge amounts of ripe, jammy fruit. Overripe raspberry and tart cranberry notes lead, with just a kiss of vinegar and some syrup soaked black cherry notes. Vanilla, lemon meringue and a touch of spicy oak round things out. This beer smells fantastic.

It's not easy to do when a beer smells this good, but somehow Rodenbach got the taste of this one to match the smell. A sweet cranberry note opens things up with just a tug of tartness to it. This slowly fades into a sweet raspberry jam note. Ripe blueberry, cherry skin tannins and some silky malt notes appear before the finish. The beer closes out a touch dry with some oak and lingering dried cranberry and black cherry skin notes. There is a ton of sweetness in this beer, but the prickly carbonation and the slightly tannic finish keep things in check perfectly. This beer is a masterpiece and probably the best Flanders Red I've come across. Well done, Rodenbach.

 Final Grade: A+

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 129

Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen - Oude Kriek

Alright, I think it's time we got back to some good beer. Enough with Anheuser Busch's strange, fruit beer-like abominations. Let's take a moment to check out a beer from a place where the best fruit beer in the world comes from- Belgium. If you ask a group of beer geeks which brewery makes the best fruit beers, it's likely that they won't be able to agree on an answer. However, it's also likely that you'll hear the breweries Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen come up a lot in the conversation. The brewers at Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen are remarkably good at lambics, geuzes, and fruit beers and when their beers do end up on shelves around here, they tend to go very quickly. Luckily, there have been a good number of Drie Fonteinen beers hitting shelves in San Diego recently and I was able to pick up a beer I've been wanting to try for a while- Oude Kriek.

Oude Kriek is a fruit lambic brewed with cherries. According to ratebeer.com, the brewers allow whole cherries to ripen in young lambic for between 6 and 8 months. Then the beer is left to spontaneously ferment for another 4 months before it is ready to drink. Drie Fonteinen makes another version of Oude Kriek that only uses a type of cherry called Schaerbeekse, which is wild growing in Belgium and widely regarded as the perfect cherry to use in lambics. That bottle tends to be a bit more expensive, so I'm waiting for a special occasion to open that one up.

Oude Kriek pours a deep ruby color that really reminded me of pinot noir. The head was pretty much nonexistent, but that didn't really bother me because I couldn't get over how beautiful the color of this beer was. The smell is a rich blend of sour cherries and oak, with some sweet raspberry jam notes emerging as the beer warms. I definitely got a bit of a vinous character as well.

The taste opens with a nice snap of sour cherries and lactic tartness. A touch of unripe raspberry makes an appearance in the middle before a rich, jammy sweetness takes over. The finish dries out a bit and leaves hints of lemon and some tannins. If you're looking for a great fruit beer (or for a beer that will convert your wine-loving friends from the dark side), you really need look no further than Oude Kriek. I'm really looking forward to trying more from Drie Fonteinen soon.

Final Grade: A

Top 100 Beers Tasted: 38

Brasserie Cantillon - Classic Gueuze

I don't know that there's a brewery out with quite the reputations that Cantillon has. If you're thing is big stouts or double IPAs, you're looking in the wrong place. Cantillon makes lambics, and maybe the best lambics in the world at that. There's only one problem with Cantillon's beers- They're nearly impossible to find. I've only seen Cantillon beers on two occasions. The last time was about a month ago, when I was able to pick up a bottle of their Classic Gueuze from Texas Liquor. I was waiting for the right occasion to try it and the end of finals (plus the start of the US Open) seemed to be as good a time as any.


Cantillon Classic Gueuze pours a beautiful clear apple juice color with a one finger white head. I noticed a lot of bubbles of carbonation rising from the glass, almost like a sparkling wine. The smell has a ton of that cheesy, barnyard funk that gueuzes tend to have, but this one seems a touch more restrained. Along with the funk, I got a lot of lemon and wood with some faint notes of pear and green apple.


The taste opens with a bit punch of sourness that has an edge of funk to it. That sourness is soon met by some lemon, a faint touch of spice, sour plum and a bit of green apple. The funk carries through the taste and lingers on your tongue forever. The carbonation is tingly and light and works fantastically with the sourness. I really, really love this beer. Now I just have to figure out how to get some more. If you can find anything from Cantillon, I highly recommend getting it. Just be sure to let me know where it is!


Final Grade: A+


Top 100 Beers Tasted: 38