Top 100 Rated Beers of 2017

#2

97
by James Link
Vintage 2015
Brouwerij Rodenbach

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Brewery Impressions
by Rodenbach master brewer Rudi Ghequire

BC: Who came up with this beer’s recipe?
Vintage 2015 is aged for two years and is unblended – something that consumers had always asked us to produce. Every year, I have the privilege to select the single foeder (from our 294 foeders) containing the best beer. All beer for the vintage comes from that single foeder – this year it was foeder #195, which we used for Vintage 2015. 

BC: What sets this beer apart from other examples within the style?
The uniqueness of Rodenbach comes from the aging of our beers, and no two vintages are the same as the foeder matures beer differently with every passing year. This is thanks to our 200-year-old yeast strain and foeders that are 150 years old, and the micro flora that has been naturally cultured within the foeders. 

BC:  What makes this beer truly World-Class?
It's quite an honor to be one of the most awarded beers globally. We’re very pleased that consumers have enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed making it.

BC: What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
It’s highly complex and extremely well-balanced at the same time, so we’re very proud of this beer. It drinks like a fine wine, but it has the refreshment of a beer. Even though we only produce small amounts of our vintage beers, it's wonderful to share the best of the brewery with our great fans.

BC: How popular is this beer among your faithful fans?
Every year, our fans look forward to the new year’s vintage offering – in fact, I get many emails every year from fans who collect them and do a flight of Rodenbach Vintages from years past. While it’s meant to be enjoyed now, many age the beers even further and find great pleasure in collecting a bottle every year.

Judge's Second Opinion
by James Link

The second World-Class beer from Rodenbach in 2017 was its Rodenbach Vintage 2015. Unblended with younger beer and aged in oak for two years with a 7% ABV, Vintage 2015 has a complexity that few can emulate.

Some of the oak foeders employed are more than 150 years old and untreated, thereby allowing bacterial cultures collected in the raw wood to have their way with the unfermented beer, resulting in a wine-like, aged red ale that is both tangy and fruity in character. The body is medium, well attenuated and finishes dry.

As beer connoisseurs we must simply delight in the fine assortment of beers brought to us by the master brewers of Rodenbach, and in 2017, they produced many wonderful additions to their repertoire.