Blended in 2015.

Pretty familiar with this beer, been drinking it on and off for the best part of 20 years. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this beer feels a lot – I mean a lot – like Goudenband, one of my favorite beers of all time.

The pour is deceptively attractive. At first it seems like a muddy brown color that honestly doesn’t look very attractive but with a little stronger light it turns out to be a lovely, dark golden brown color. Beautiful clarity.

Nose and initial tastes never bring a huge cherry note. Is it generically fruity? Sure, and does it bring some light tartness? Yes, but this is not a cherry based beer perhaps because of its age at this point. Like Goudenband, it offers a lovely, sweet and sour balance and the beer is amazingly drinkable, and that’s the take away, the ‘sweet and tart’ note. It rounds out in the finish with some oak notes and the whole beer comes together beautifully.

At this age the carbonation might be a notch or two down, but don’t get me wrong, the beer is not adversely affected because of it. A sheer delight at this age and also much younger. It’s not that complex a beer, but it is lovely, drinkable one.