Saturday, May 5, 2012

Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge (Brouwerij Bockor, Bellegem, Belgium)

My last beer to taste in its own glass from the Brown Bag Blind Tasting, and hopefully its going to end with a good Flanders Red Ale.  For those not familiar with the style, Flanders Red is an ale that is exposed to the air in coolships and spontaneously fermented with the natural yeast.  In addition, Cuvee des Jacobins is aged for at least 18 months in an oak barrel.

Dirty light brown head falls quickly enough that it's dropped by half by the time I get a picture.  Distinct sourness in the nose along with a sharp cherry supported by dark fruit, malt and clean oak.  Puckering sourness, fresh cherry and sweet malt in the taste the lingers pleasantly.  Acidic punch lessens and the oak expands as it warms, improving the balance.

Oddly, this is a name I recognize, but I had never tried it or any beer from Brouwerij Bockor.  Assertive and well blended, Cuvee des Jacobinsis a classic of the style and I intend to keep a look out for it and other beers from Bockor.

4 comments:

  1. I don't think I had tried it either, until recently at a blending seminar put on by Artisanal Imports (specifically Lanny Hoff). As I understand it, Lanny's done these in the Twin Cities previously and if you hear of more being offered I'd highly recommend making plans to go. We started off tasting "young" beer, which coudl hardly be considered beer, worked our way through 1/4, then 1/2, then 3/4 and finally fully blended beer. Great, great stuff!

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  2. That sounds spectacular--I'll keep an eye out for it.

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  3. Cal, where'd you get that glass? All the ones I have at the bar have black logos, not white.

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  4. It's one of the free glasses from Artisanal Imports that I won at the Brown Bag event by BBS in January.

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