Mestreechs Aajt (Dutch - Saccharin Version)
Gulpener Bierbrouwerij B.V.

Served in a clay mug at Het Lagerhuys in Amsterdam, all I can see is its tan foam head slowly settling down to a brown coffee-like surface.

Smell starts off like straight balsamic vinegar, but taste is sweeter and smoother with a sort of smoked maple dampening the acidity. Though a little tobacco comes out in the exhale, it's still got a little crabapple pucker.

 

Draught @ De Zwarte Ruiter, Gulpen. Clear deep dark ruby brown colour. Dense light beige head, rocky, with good retnetion and lacing. Aroma's: sour, balsamic vinegar and wood. Retronasal: sourish, (balsamic) vinegar, light grain and wood. Flavour is above moderate sweet with light sourness. Light bodied, but not at all thin. Long finish. I remember this had more sourness back in the day, but maybe it's just my ever evolving taste. Still very nice.

The look and smell of this beer are very comparable to a Rodenbach, even the hint of acetic acid is there. The taste is another story. Due to the backsweetening with Saccharin it gets a Cola-like taste to it. However it is far less sweet and it is more like the cola nut taste that you get from some alternative soda brands rather than Coca-Cola. I like it because it is easy drinking and light on ABV.

75cl bottle. Dark ruby pour, clear, with a thin tan head. Notes of caramel, vinegar and subtle cider. A bit too sweet and one-dimensional. Only for the really curious folks.

Had this on tap recently in Amsterdam poured into a tulip glass.

Color is a "brick red" right in the middle of a deep amber and brown. Head retention was nice. Aroma was somewhat mild with notes of sour cherry, grape, and slight funkiness. Taste was more of a balance between caramel sweetness and the sour yeast/fruit flavor. It had a nice body and finish.

Overall this is an interesting brew and glad I ordered one on the recent trip!

2025: Draft sample at De Arendsnest. Blech.

Reviewed before the sweetened/unsweetened versions got their own listings.

look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Jan 17, 2012

Recently sampled this on tap, after it's extended hiatus from the US. Haven't seen any bottles show up yet.

Dark brown body with tan suds that lingered for awhile. Astringent tart and sweet grape aroma, seems backsweetened. The taste confirms this, it's a bit thin and caramelly sweet, with a muddled grape/cherry tartness to it. Some cardboard notes hint at oxidation. Not as good as I remember, little to no acidity here, no oak woodiness or anything remotely wild. Seems dumbed down from the old version, little more than a second-rate Duchesse knockoff. Wouldn't be surprised if this had saccharine added. Can't say i'll be drinking this over Rodenbach/Jacobins anytime soon. Sadly the Dutch Oud Bruin style is dying out, if only they quit adding saccharine to it, maybe it would have a chance.

Finally found this beer. You can only find it in a couple of cafes in Maastricht. So a trip here finally solved the search. We found it in t Pothuiske. The beer was served in a special stein made for the beer.
It was worth the wait. A very delicious flanders oud bruin with a good tangy taste combined with a nice sweet tone.

 

 

 

 

 

This beer poured out as a really nice brownish red color. The head was sticky, foamy and tan in color. The aroma smells like a lambic, it's got a good funkiness on the nose. The taste is very surprising. Sweet flavor upfront with some really subtle tartness. The beer is hardly a sour. The flavors of earth and some sweet cherry. Also some mild oak flavors in the aftertaste. The mouthfeel is smooth and fairly light on the tongue. Good carbonation. Overall I personally think this is a very good beer. It's not often that I order more than one of the same beer in a sitting. I'm on my second right now! Great tasting brew!

Man o' man, does Rich O's get some tasty stuff on tap! A great Belgian Red with an abundance of cherries, berries, grapes, and with a musky, vineous underlayment. A mohogany hue with a creamy carbonation that fades to a trace rather quickly. Richly tart and mildly wine-like, with, perhaps a vinegar flavor. Malts are lightly soured and moderately bodied for easy drinking, and a mouth waterin puckering. Mysteriously dry and mildly sharp in the finish. Any Belgian beer fan would surly love this beer.

This beer came as a beer-of-the-month offering in either 2002 or 2003. Today one is opened to see what has come of it. Immediately the resemblence to flemish sour beers is noted in the aroma. Label states that this beer has saccharine - so is this the saccarin version even though I got it in the US? Mods. please move this review as appropriate if it isn't. A date on the back label says 05-2004 - is this date one year post-bottling?

The sour is so strong in the smell that the taste is actually underwhelming - there is a malt undertone that seems to reduce the sourness and it feels like you took a rodenbach and cut it 30% with a non-descript brown malt ale. It is also quite sweet.

At 3.5%abv this beer is very drinkable and still very tasty with nearly 3 years of age in the bottle. Perhaps my affection for rodenbach grand cru and other flemish sour ales makes the actual taste vs. smell of this beer underwhelming, but it is very enjoyable and I look forward to finishing the remainder of my stock.

Dark brown to coca-cola black with a decent beige head, decent carbonation, and thin lace sheets. Interesting sweet and sour malt aroma without being fruity. Sour malt flavors with some slight oak character... A bit overly sweet. Light bodied.

Per Label: "De Zwarte Ruiter" & "Water, barleymalt, hop, caramel, saccharine"

Best Before (end of): 05/2004
Tasted: 08/29/05

(33 cl / 11.3 oz)

Wore a scarlet letter with this one on 10/20/2004. ?-oz. pour at ACPH in a stunning long-stemmed goblet.

Initial two-inch pillow of fluffy, root beer-like, head that simply refused to subside for close to four minutes. It was a lesson in patience to sit and watch things settle, and one well worth the wait. Ripened crab apple, cherry, and a hazy veil of rock candy sweetness coalesced in my nasal passages as I stuck my snout in the goblet. It possessed a deep, dark blood hue that I was just able to see through when held to a burning candle. Finally taking a sip, a noted light cherry sweetness was omnipresent at the start, with a slightly chewy malt following and a hint of bitterness, as if some orange rind had made its way in to the pour. Overall, a pleasant offering, although a slight fizziness to the mouthfeel left me feeling somewhat disconcerted.

It is a nice dark red beer in color, I didn't have much of a head on mine because I poured it slow to keep out the sediment. It is bottle condition. There is somewhat of a nutty oak pine smell to this one and when you take a drink it just explodes with flavor. A little plum, raisin, sweet carmel malty taste with slight cherry at the end and somewhat sour.The odd thing is that there is no fruit added to this beer, you wouldn't think that by tasting it. This is a different style that I ever had. I liked it alot. Don't think I could drink to many at once, but one every now and then would be just fine.

I won this bottle in a raffle so I wasn't sure what style it was before I tried it. It only took one smell to figure it out and the Flanders Red/Oud Bruin happens to be one of my favorite styles.

My first impression was a good one and it reminded me a lot like Duchesse de Bourgogne. The appearance was a dark ruby color with a rapidly disappearing head not unlike others of this style. The smell was sour cherries which to me is a good thing.

The taste was OK but I like mine with a little more sourness. I tasted sweet cherries with a light tart acidic undertone. It had a medium body that felt silky in the mouth.

This was a very drinkable beer that I would definitely try again.