Rodenbach Caractère Rouge
Brouwerij Rodenbach N.V.

 

 

 

Copenhagen 25/1 2019. 75 cl bottle from Ølhandleren in Give (webshop). Bottle all dressed in red. Sporting a gold and silver medal from World Beer Awards. Apparently the Worlds Best Flavoured Beer 2016.

Pours almost clear red with a small pink head. Bubbly. Disappears really fast. No lacing.

Aroma is sharply intense. Unripe berries, vinegar, green apples. Sweet red cherries lurking in the background. Acerbic quality.

Light carbonation. Sticky, oily, slightly thick texture.

Flavor is sour followed by a more moderate but notable fruity sweetness. Aftertaste is sour sweet. Lingering. Nicely balanced. The sweetness gets stronger as the beer warms up.

The fruit provides a nice sweet backbone that can balance the strong sourness. Nice one.

 

 

 

Hazy, reddish brown color. Medium-sized, off-white head. The amazing aroma of raspberries, sour cherries, cranberries and malt. Tart with mild sweetness. Fruity and vinous. Masterpiece!

Absolutely delectable. The smell alone makes me happy and I could smell this beer all night. The taste is rich and sour, packs a bit of a punch but only just enough to tease you into a sense of comfort then the raspberries march into the flavor wave.... oh my god. I would drink this all day if I could.

 

Review: 1996
Name: Caractere Rouge
Brewery: Rodenbach
Location: Roselare, Beligum
Style: Flemish Ale
A.B.V.: 7%
Date: 2020
I am drinking Caractere Rouge today using a tulip glass. I served it at 46 degrees. The pour created an airy, foamy, half-fingered, off-white head with poor retention. The color is light brown, with reddish hues, charting around S.R.M. 22. The beer is clear with bits of yeast floating. The dissipation left no lacing on the glass. The appearance is average for this style.
The initial aromas are cherries, horse blankets, barnyard funkiness, and fruity sweetness. Swirling the glass a few times, I smell lightly toasted malt, acetic acid, berries, and yeasty and lightly toasted malts. The fruity aromas are intense and compete with the sourness of the beer.
I thought this beer would have an intense sourness, yet the macerated berries mellow it out. I taste berries, lightly toasted malts, yeasty, barnyard, earthiness, and fruity sweetness. Well, balanced beer.
The mouthfeel is tarty, finishing crisp. The body is medium with medium-plus carbonation.
I have looked for this beer for quite a while. I found it a small town in Montana. This is an exquisite beer with bright, fruity flavors balanced with sourness. I am glad I picked this beer up.

750 mL corked & caged bottle from the LCBO; best before 02/07/2020 and served slightly chilled. This review is mostly for my own personal interest, given the fact that it's like 3 years past due.

Pours a foggy, reddish-burgundy colour with some flaky sediment that eventually settles at the base of the glass. Nearly an inch of bubbly, off white-tinted head dissipates within a matter of minutes; a thin collar is the only noticeable remnant. Potent aromas of cherry juice and raspberries, paired with hints of oak, baking spice, vanilla, cranberry and red grapes; restrained suggestions of balsamic vinegar and funk.

A masterful fusion of sweet red fruit flavours and sour, oaked red ale notes - the cherry and raspberry come through first, joined by notes of cranberry and red grape shortly thereafter, making for a decidedly fruity forefront. Hints of oak, vanilla, baking spice and subtle balsamic acidity develop later on, with a touch of earthy funk lingering into an aftertaste of cherry pit, apples, oak and red fruits, especially cranberry. Medium-full in body, with moderate carbonation that feels gentle and frothy; smooth, soft mouthfeel. Normally these 750 mL bottles of Rodenbach are overkill for a single person, but CR is so easy drinking, and the abv is so well-integrated, that polishing it off should be no trouble at all.

Final Grade: 4.35, an A grade. I honestly don't think Caractère Rouge is the #1 example of its style... however, there's a strong argument to be made that it's the best *introductory* Flemish red available. Its ample red fruit flavours add a prominent juicy-sweetness to the profile, counteracting the innate sour/funky qualities of the underlying red ale. It's also worth mentioning that the base ale itself is much less assertively acidic and funky than, say, Rodenbach's Grand Cru or their Vintage series, making for a more approachable & drinkable glass of beer (though perhaps not as complex). Still an excellent sour - likely not worth cellaring, but based on this experience a (properly stored) 5-6 y.o. bottle will hold up fine. Highly recommended.

 

 

 

375ml bottle, can't find a bottling year or best-by date.

Look: beautiful clear ruby red, but points subtracted for the visible sediment at the bottom of my half pour. Basically no head. No carbonation visible.

Smell: red wine, dark and fruity and tart.

Taste: Cherry changing to raspberry, with a sweetness that comes and goes. The cranberry appears most in the aftertaste. Not as dry as my nose was expecting; in fact, it's pretty sweet. I took this out of the fridge but I'm not getting the complexity I hoped for.

Feel: a little tingly even though I can't see any bubbles. Moderate mouthfeel, not particularly light or heavy.

Overall: tasty and fun, good balance between tart and sweet, but I have to admit I was hoping for more. I have no idea how old this bottle is or how it has been stored. I'm perfectly willing to believe that a well-stored bottle would have more to say for itself.

 

750ml bottle into a tall glass. Bottled 2/19/2018 after 30 months on foeders, the last 6 resting on cherries, raspberries and cranberries.

Looks good in the glass. Dark reddish brown body. Small off white bubbly head fizzes away quite quickly, no lacing.

Splendid mixed berry fruit aroma.

On tasting, the cherry and raspberry tart sweetness comes through very cleanly before the drink effortlessly moves into a drying sour berry fruit taste.

Mouth between medium and full, finish sour tart and drying with a nice berry residue.

Overall, another suberb Flanders Red from Rodenbach. The care and time that goes Into producing this beer is worth every penny to this drinker.