Rare Vos - Brouwerij Girardin

cpetrone84

Pennsylvania

3.23/5  rDev -18.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a dark golden amber, transparent, creamy off white head and a lot of lace. The nose offers sweet caramel and candied fruit with a touch of a metallic twang and some light cherry behind. The taste is a little more put together, still very sweet. Notes of lemon zest and some lightly soured cherry on top of caramel and candied sugars. Lighter body, soft on the palate and very creamy. Decent carbonation and a semi dry finish.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2012 16:57:12 | More by cpetrone84

brendaniel

Pennsylvania

4.35/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Golden orange brown pour with minimal head and lacing. Spicy aromas that carry into the flavor along with candied fruit - some nuttiness too ... reminding me of a port without the wine backbone. Good body and a long lasting terrific finish. Can’t wait to have this one again!!

Serving type: bottle

12-06-2011 01:57:59 | More by brendaniel

Gueuzedude

Arizona

3.63/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Sampled July 2010, from the tap at Rare Vos
This arrives with a frothy, one-finger thick, pale, lightly tan colored head. The beer is a red, brilliantly clear color that shows a dark amber sheen to it. This smells of caramelization, somewhat beery (not very Lambic like), has a hint of tartness to it and somewhat fruity with a berry like character that comes through softly. This is interesting, if a bit industrial smelling somehow.

The beer tastes nicely tart as it first hits my tongue; it is very refreshing and maybe even has some hop character to it. It finishes with a slight bite that is a mix of hop bitterness and carbonic acid. This is somewhat sweet tasting, but this is pretty well balanced by the soft tartness. This is very cool and refreshing on this muggy, hot day. The texture is somewhat viscous and has a light-medium body.

I really wonder how Girardin makes this beer, it is likely a blend with a bit of Lambic in it and some caramel color; quite weird in some ways, I am really not quite too sure what to think. In the end this is a bit simplistic, but still nice.

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2010 16:38:34 | More by Gueuzedude

Domehead

Indiana

4.22/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Rare Vos--"Sly Fox"
Nice amber look to it when it poured into a pint glass.
Left a nice lacing with excellent retention.
I could detect yeast and a slight bananna aroma, a nice sweet smell to it.
Very enjoyable beer, would definitley try again.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2010 12:58:19 | More by Domehead

gonzo46and2

Florida

3.78/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Pours amber. Big yeast bananna bread aroma. Thick and foamy head. Good retension. The yeast smells and tastes much more like the strains used in Hefeweizens rather than most belgian beers I've had. Still very good. Fruit, malt, wheat-yeast.... goes down very smooth.

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2008 22:39:56 | More by gonzo46and2

hyland24

New York

4.22/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750 ml bottle into a tulip glass.

A- The beer poured a cloudy amber into a tulip glass with a beautiful 2 to 3 inch fluffy white head that left minimal lacing on the side of the glass..

S- The beer smelled sweet, slightly fruity with hints of raisins and bready malt.

T- Tasted fruity with hints of fig and raisin and slight banana flavor somewhere in the middle. The beer finished with heavy malt and breadlike flavors.

MF&D- The beer was medium bodied, chewy and breadlike. Coated the mouth well with its slight thickness. Definitely a great beer and worth hunting down. I drank the entire bottle while watching the NCAA championship game and looked for more when I was done.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2008 04:09:12 | More by hyland24

Poppypitbull

New Jersey

3.63/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I had this with a friend this past weekend after we finished a bottle of chimay red label. The vos has a similar smeel, taste and feel to it but it has a little more bite than the chimay. I prefer the chimay to this one but it is still a very good beer. You can shave with the amount of foam head that comes out of the bottle. Goes down smooth too and like I said with a little more bite than the chimay.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2006 00:57:04 | More by Poppypitbull

GreenCard

Oregon

4.15/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

When I tasted this beer at the Rare Vos cafe, I didn't have my notepad with me, so I didn't take notes. However, I was moved to at least give it a score because I really liked it. I'll go back and do a "proper" review another time.

From memory...

Appearance: coca-cola brown, good clarity, creamy layer of tannish head (served from a nitrogen tap?)

Aroma: wood, hint of lambic sourness and funk, iron, biscuit malt

Flavor: nice balance between a subdued sweetness and a quenching sourness, wood tannin, Girardin lambic bitterness sensed at the back of the tongue, a bit citric in the finish

Mouthfeel: medium-light body, mild carbonation, acidic

Other comments: We had intended on having a late lunch here, but since they only take cash and the KBC bank in the square wouldn't accept my ING card, I had to settle for a beer only. So, I went for this one which I was really looking forward to trying. It was served very cold from the tap in a small tapered glass. Though the serving temperature was probably too cold for a real "tasting", it was fantastic that way. Even my wife liked it (and she doesn't usually like any of the beers I make her try).

Serving type: on-tap

08-02-2004 17:39:59 | More by GreenCard

TheLongBeachBum

California

3.8/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The House Beer uniquely and specially produced for the famous Rare Vos Lambic Cafe in Schepdaal by Girardin. A lambic blend for sure, with added (dark?) sugar possibly as it was sweetish, but not sickly, and darker than an unblended lambic. Lightish brown in color, the additional sugar must produce some refermentation which gives additional carbonation making a lively beer, as well as an additional 0.5% ABV it seems. No sourness at all, but the acidity is balanced with some late bitterness in the long lasting aftertaste. This beer really grew on me after a few mouthfuls.
I was told by the older lady behind the bar that this is a one-off by Girardin, a blend of Lambic and Faro. The lack of flemish and the fact that our party was 30+ people on a quiet Saturday prematurely ended the discussion at that point. Thats all I know of this beer. Different to most blended lambics, and quite simply - quite unique, it seems.

Serving type: on-tap

10-01-2002 01:17:53 | More by TheLongBeachBum