“Madame Rose is a crimson colored Belgian style brown ale fermented with wild yeast and aged on cherries in wine barrels. Layers of malty complexity, sour cherry, spice and wood notes make Madame Rose an ideal beer to suggest to Bordeaux enthusiasts and beer drinkers fond of Belgian Kriek and Flanders Brown Ales.”
Glassware: Stemmed Tulip.
Appearance: Deep amber almost light mahogany coloured body with a finger of finely beaded foam capping it off. It snaps back to the rim and leaves a spotty lace down the walls of the glass.
Aroma: Nicely built up with dank cherry overtones, musty red wine barrels, oak tannins, farmyard, tart berries and a subtle hint of cocoa powder. Certainly getting a tangy red wine vinegar coming through along with a rather juicy blood plum character. As it warms it starts to reveal more of its malt profile which sits somewhere between toasty and wheat/grainy.
Flavour: It opens with a short and sharp burst of lip puckering sourness emphasised by vinegar and acetic lacto funk. It follows on with sour cherries, musty oak and a line of vinous fruit cutting down the middle. Again it hits a strong vinegary note late in the piece as it finishes slightly dry and tannic with a hint of green apple on the back end.
Mouthfeel: Fairly tart, dry and well weighted. Nicely carbonated with just enough booze (6.8%) to keep it interesting.
Overall: It’s like a lovechild between a kriek and an oud bruin. Displaying traits of both with its macerated cherry and hints of cocoa and toasty malt. A lovely sipper but a difficult one to session on.