Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge

Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge, brewed by Bockor Brewery, is a barrel-aged Flanders Red Sour Ale from Belgium.  Wait, what?  Yeah, this is a completely different animal from everything else I've reviewed here.  This may actually be a fairly short review, because, well, you kind of just need to taste it to understand it.

My first experience with sour ales came a few years ago at Beer Advocate's Belgian Beer Fest Night of the Funk.  I was immediately hooked.  Let me be clear, though, these aren't for everyone.  Obviously, you need to be a fan of sour flavors.  I mean real sour.  But wait, beer isn't supposed to be sour!  Why not?!  I actually find this style to be incredibly refreshing.  It's definitely a warm weather beer for me.  My first experience with Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge was only about a week and a half ago at Eulogy, an amazing Belgian beer bar in Philadelphia.  I tried it, loved it, and reserved myself to the fact that I'd never find it in a store.  Four days later, I found it in a store, Julio's Liquors in Westborough, MA.

This 5.5% a.b.v. beer pours a beautiful reddish-brown, with a fairly small head that dissipates rather quickly.  It smells a bit sour and fruity, but until you take a sip, you're completely unprepared.  It is fantastically sour!  I swallowed my first mouthful and my mouth just started salivating from the sourness.  The dominant flavor is sour cherry, but there's a bit of crisp, tart apple in there too.  The label mentions vanilla and cocoa, but I don't taste that at all.  They're way too subtle to stand up to the sourness.  The beer is a bit reminiscent of a tart champagne.

This is not a session beer...you won't be drinking bottle after bottle of it (which is good, because it's not cheap).  But, if you're looking for something new and interesting, I really do suggest you try a sour beer, and if you can find it, Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge in particular.  I will say, there are a lot of times where I would have no interest in drinking this beer, but when I want something bright and refreshing to wake me up, this will be way up on my list.  I give it an A, with the above disclaimer.