Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale | Brouwerij Van Steenberge

What has a bubbly, fast-climbing froth like root beer, smells like Branston Pickle and red wine, tastes like the moment you bite into a cherry tootsie pop, and leaves the taste of pennies on your lips? This beer. So without further ado, here's goes my weirdest brew review yet...

Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale

Brewed by: Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V. | Belgium

Style | ABV: Flanders Oud Bruin | 5.50% ABV

I'd heard of sours, but never had one. I decided to fix that with a bottle of Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale. The ale poured a dark, ruby brown with a quickly-rising, bubbly two-fingers of toasty beige head, which settled fairly quickly into a foamy film and left pretty lacing quite high up on the large wine glass I drank from. It smelled rich, malty, and of dark fruits like black cherry and plum. A red wine kind of fragrance, too. And it faintly reminded me of Branston Pickle. (I know, super weird description for beer!) The first taste made me pucker a bit. True to its style, the beer is sour. Sweet, too. I could taste the dark fruit, cherry, and plum that I smelled. It also had a red wine kind of taste along with a faint hint of milk chocolate. The taste reminds me of that fleeting moment when you bite through the cherry candy of a tootsie-pop and into the tootsie-roll center. Yum! It left flat, acidic, bitter (NOT in a hoppy way), coppery/metallic aftertaste on the tongue and lips that I'm not too fond of. It was thin-bodied, but tart and mouthwatering. For my first sour, this brew has piqued my interest and my taste buds. I like the taste, but not the aftertaste it leaves behind. It's definitely unlike anything I've ever had. More of a sipping, dessert-like beer to me. If it weren't for the aftertaste and thin body, I'd like it a whole bunch!

3.93/5 | look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Have you ever had a sour?