Zoetzuur Flemish Ale

 This was a nice surprise at one of the Pizza Port festivals a while back -- 12 Hours Of Belgium fest in `05, was it? Either way, this rather unpronounceable beer (previously unknown) was a surprise hit, even with Flemish beer nit-pickers like my bud dukedebourgogne. So, when I saw that they ended up bottling this, and when I saw it for sale at Holiday Wine Cellar, I knew I'd bite the $8.99 bullet and grab a 750mL of this, for sure. Popped this open on a quiet Sunday evening, while watching an old Jimmy Stewart western with my wife.

Ruddy-red in the body, with enough head formation to matter, but not so much that it got in the way. Stuck around `til the end, too.

Seemed a touch funkier in the nose than what I remember from a year ago. This is perhaps due to the fact that this time I was using a glass with a tapered mouth, thus concentrating the aromas into a rather small(er) opening. Either way, an appealing prelude to the principle performance. 

Comes across a bit sharp and fruity on the first sip, with the sourness only making an appearance later on, in the middle and the backend. As odd as it sounds, this particular beer helped my sore throat (that I've been fighting since last week, after working in the Pentagon). But to merely classify this beer as a nice throat lozenge would do it a disservice.

Rather, this went down nice and easy, with even my wife (who normally prefers the fruity-tooty Lambics to the more esoteric Flemish sour-bombs) giving it a thumbs-up. Three chalices of this, and it was gone all-too soon. 

Nice beer, though I do wish it followed De Proefbrouwerij's normal modus operandi, and was offered for a bit less than $8.99. But for an occasional change of pace, I'd have no qualms recommending this. 

//TB