Cerezas y chocolate
Brouwerij Hof Ten Dormaal

Poured from 11.2-ounce bottle into a snifter. BB 11/2023. Cola colored body, a wisp of evanescent off-white head. Not sure where they were going with this, but for me it didn't quite make it. There's sour, and then there's vinegary. The chocolate notes are nearly undetectable. Bad batch? I'll go with that for now.

"Best before November 2023"; drank 12/21/21 @ the Yarchives.

Opaque brown/orange appearance.

A rough pour yielded a small khaki head; almost no lace.

Tart cherry, vinegar & mild milk chocolate notes in the nose.

Medium thin mouthfeel.

Vinegar, tart cherry & faint milk chocolate flavors.

Not boring, certainly, but not very pleasant either. I'll pass on this moving forward.

you dont see a lot of sour beers with chocolate, so i was pretty keen to try something weird, and this certainly is. dark from the bottle but not that dark, some light coming in to show a copper backing to the brownish red liquid, thin looking, and just lazy bubbles at first but an aggressive pour got me to a surprisingly robust white head, nice retention too. the aroma is sharp immediately, vinegar and light oak tannins right away, striking, the sour cherry comes right in behind it, and the chocolate element here is left as more of an earthy thing than a desserty one, well in the background, not a ton from the malt either despite the color. this is clearer and lighter and visually more refined, less sedimented than many of their others ive had, especially in these little bottles, and the beer drinks lighter as a result. it is super acidic, but its also exceedingly complex, i love distinctive belgian stuff, and there is a real unique fermentation profile to this even among all the sour, its got some light woody funk, a taffy sort of sweet ester, and an almost oud bruin fruity vinegar element, almost lambic to me for a flash too, very cool. the chocolate is more forward in the taste now, but still well behind the tart cherry. they go well together, but this almost takes on more of a dark kriek character, and as much as i like it, i a little bit wish the chocolate was left on its own here. dry earthy cocoa, no real richness to it at all, and its only there for a flash as the cherries and the sourness come on strong and cover it over on my palate. really interesting mix of flavors here, i think it being slightly less sour would improve its depth and staying power, allow more time to appreciate its nuances, but its clever stuff and another curious offering from these guys. i buy their stuff as often as i see it, they slay!

The cocoa nibs are quite present, the cherries too.
Slightly sour but overall quite balanced. An original take on a fruit sour but less interesting the the Frambuesa version in my opinion