Cuvée des Jacobins Flanders Red Ale

Nothing makes my mouth water quite like a sour beer. It's usually the first whiff that sends my eyes to the back of my skull and the glands under my tongue gushing. The same thing that makes others squirm and scoff brings me true delight in the form of turning my head inside out. Hah!

Cuvée des Jacobins

BG Poured from a 11.2 fl oz (331ml) bottle into a stemmed tulip, 5.5% ABV, 06/14 - I don’t know if that date refers to bottling or importation. It probably isn't a best by date. 

A Ruby in color with dark hues of maroon. A half finger of creamy white foam springs up as I pour, but it quickly dissipates to a thin ring clinging to the side of the glass. 

A Dark cherries, smarties candy, red lifesavers, plenty of sour Brett, honeyed bread crust, Macintosh apples

T Oh my god… it’s so sour I feel like sneezing! This is bliss! My mouth is watering so much that my eyes are watering, too. This is a sour cherry bomb! There’s a savory, bready malt character on the front, and then you’re suddenly being walloped in the kisser with a boatload of sour cherries. This is a full head experience. My mouth puckers hard, and I ache behind my eyes like a brain freeze. It takes some concentration, but beyond the eye-squinting sourness lies a woodsy, herbal, nutty character. 

M There’s a mouth coating, warming cherry cough syrup-like action mid-palate, but then it’s rudely stripped off by the sourness. My mouth is left quivering from the hard pucker. My brain hurts. I’m in love.

A Fighting through the sour apple toward some semblance of balance in my head. I think this is a form of masochism. 

C Mouthfeel takes the cake on this one. The sourness is so commanding that I have a hard time picking out the different flavors under it. My vocabulary is also very limited when it comes to sour thrashers like this. There’s a bunch of stuff going on here I just don’t know how to describe. But what I do know is that I like it! I also know this is but the tip of the sour iceberg. I need to get on my sour game!

FP Margherita pizza with the freshest possible ingredients. Apple glazed pork tenderloin with deep fried rosemary potato wedges. The richest chocolate cake you can find.