On 2010-06-25, Doug Freyburger > wrote:

> I tried the 750 ml bottle over the last weekend. It was much to sweet
> for my tastes. Or maybe I should describe it as having citris tones not
> just sweet? I get that it was very well crafted but it happened to
> clash with my personal tastes.

It's considered a Flanders red ale, which is a sour ale. I consider
it a sweet n' sour ale, so sweet as to be, IMO, a dessert beer.
Definitely something to be taken in small doses. I can imagine one
losing one's taste after trying to down 750 ml of it! I drank five 8
oz bottles in a period of 2 mos and have lost my taste for it, too.
But, I've done the same thing before and will no doubt come back for
more.

My brewing mentor tried to brew it. It requires one part, the sour
part, to be aged for 18 mos and then mixed with the other part. It's
the only beer I've ever seen him fail to not only duplicate, but
better. Neither of us were surprised.

> I get that we were college students in a dorm doing the tasting.
> Experts would get different results.

Not necessarily! I happened to catch a radio interview with Anthony
Dias Blue, a World renown wine and spirits critic, who had just come
from the San Francisco Spirits Competition. This back in the emerging
heyday of high end spirits. He cracked me up when he asked his
interviewer, "I just came from judging the vodka competition. Do you
know how hard it is to judge premium vodkas?" In short, he had the
same complaint as I do. The higher the price, the less character.
What's to taste!?

The only time I ever bought Belvedere and Grey Goose Vodka is when
Albertson's had some sort of vodka insanity sale and was selling all
their stock of high end vodkas for $20-24 per btl. Otherwise, I wouldn't
even bother with Vodka. I figure all the rage over it is because if
you spend enough money, you don't have to taste it. Buy the most
expensive tasteless vodka you can get, then freeze it to near ice
temps so when you drink it, you taste nothing at all. Real popular
with young people who are still too wimpy to actually embrace the
strong unique flavors of good booze.

nb