Cuvée Oncle Pol
Brouwerij De Leite

 

 

 

Bottle from Más que Cervezas, served at home in a tulip glass.
Red colour, big head that lasts forever, good lacing.
Aroma of strawberries, vanilla, cherries, oak, some vinegar.
Medium body, sticky palate, good carbonation. Sour fnish.
Taste follows the aroma.
Interesting, but not great.

Yikes, this is a tough style to rank...powerful and old school feel this is one to try but I cannot imagine putting this style or offering in my rotation.

An exclusive from The Rare Beer Club. I bought this Cuvee as one of twelve magnums packaged as The Club's Belgian Bliss. (And so far, it has been.)

Oncle Pol is described as a "soft sour" and I like that phrase; it helps me get through a style I shy from and rarely drink a magnum of. But this Cuvee' presents itself well with healthy foam and lacing. Smells are red fruit and slightly acidic. But in the Taste, it is nicely balanced. Enough salivation for the mouth to eat food instead of puckering-up. This balance gives a nice cleansing to my mouth.

This is my third from De Leite and gave them a micro-review back in 2019. Their Tripel I panned and a BPA I rated slightly below the BA average. But knowing four years is a long-time in the life of a young micro, I visited the website again and noticed that their section on pairing their also has recipes... which is an addition Belgian-inspired micros should aspire toward. While De Leite's story fits the home-brewer growing-up business model, it has more character than most. For that and the pairing recipes, I give De Leite some pretty good Overall Hugs.

 

Poured from 750 mL bottle into tulip.
A: Pours a dark ruby red with a little light coming through at the edges with backlighting. Nice 1-2 inch frothy/bubbly tan head with good retention.
S: Fresh red berries with tart dark cherries. A definite note of balsamic vinegar with some oak and more subtle caramel malt in the background.
T: Dark tart cherries with sweet red berries hit first. In the mid-palate the notes of balsamic vinegar and soft oak emerge. Some raisin and spicy grain around the edges.
M: Medium body. Equally sweet and tart. Moderately dry throughout. Real nice oat softness. Velvety feel. Lingers nicely on the palate.
D: An excellent example of style. Such a wonderfully blended brew. Layered and fresh and so sessionable. Seek it out!

neat blend here, really well made, distinct from other examples of the style, kind of a flanders red and oud bruin together, less of the vinegar property to the sourness, despite still being quite acidic, i thought this was really nice, worthy of a big year end celebration and another obscure winner from the rare beer club, love when they send belgian stuff! i had never even heard of this operation before this showed up. a nice deep amber color here, dark maple to chestnut tones, leaning brown in dimmer light, frothy tan head rising and receding, not too much sediment in the bottom of the large bottle, very lively, not real viscous, looks great. the nose is vinous to me right away, some old tannic oak here, sour cherry, ruby port wine, fig, and a good pop of lactic sourness, less wild or even lambic type funk than anticipated, but not entirely absent either, and to me rather distinctive on the ferment, even if its subtle. the flavor is similar, tons of cool layers from the malts all weaving together, raisin and dried cherry, toasted almond and dry cocoa on the darkest end, and sweet red berry and cola as well. lots going on, some lemony character to the acidity, sharp but not enough to prevent the whole bottle from being palatable as a solo endeavor. it warms up well, a little more horsey rustic yeast character coming out and some of the sweeter pale malts, but this remains sort of regal and full, spritzing with carbonation, packed with nuance, and really very well refined. i love drinking new stuff from this part of the world, i dont miss the typical vinegar side of the sourness in this take on the style, and overall this was a real treat! hope to get my hands on some more of their stuff in the future!

A Rare Beer Club selection. Pours a medium brown color with a foamy head that lasts quite a while. Aroma is sour and fruity. Taste is sweet, tart and slightly sour; very wine like. Smooth and dry.

 

 

 

Bready and light acetic sourness.