Sour Holiday

Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, overeating and good drink. For all of this I ventured westward to Pittsburgh to celebrate the holiday. My Turkey Day was fairly routine, in attendance were my parents, sister, grandmother, uncle and fiancee. The food consisted of the grand bird, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, collard greens, cranberry sauce, corn pudding, rolls, green beans, apple pie and sweet potato pie. For this grand meal I brought a bottle of Rodenbach Grand Cru from my beer fridge. The sour ale complimented the meal and created an interesting if not perfect pairing with both slices of pie. I ended up being the only one to partake in the big bottle. Everyone else found the Flemish Red Ale far too sour and my uncle commented the aroma from the glass was, "very odd". That just meant the entire bottle was all for me. Not a problem =).

If you are not familiar with Flemish Red Ales they are aged in large oak vats that are home to wild yeast and bacteria. With aging the beer takes on and acidic, vanilla, oakiness on the palate. Older and younger beers are blended, Rodenbach Flemish Ale, creating a light, tart, fruity taste. The Rodenbach Grand Cru is not blended and is aged for 2 years giving it an acidic tongue prick with flavors of oak and passion fruit. Both beers can be an acquired taste. I suggest if you're going to try them search for the smaller bottles if you don't have someone to share them with.