Monk’s Cafe Flemish Sour Ale

For those interested in sour beers, Monk’s would make a splendid introduction. It’s not too sour, not too minerally, not overly vinegary, and not exceedingly tart.

Which, unfortunately means I found it quite boring.

It comes in a handsome bottle for about $10 and pours a big fluffy head.  The immediate aroma is that of metal. Think old, cold pipes under a house and you’re pretty close. I also picked up some lactic acid and sour notes, but the prevailing smell was metalic.

At first drink, Monk’s tasted like a nice Oud…a proper blend of old and young beers with a nice twinge of sourness at the front and very little of the metal in the nose. However, the flavor died immediately and turned quite bland at the back.  I was drinking with another sour fan and she noticed the same thing. Nice at the front, dead at the back.

There was decent effervescence to Monk’s, thank you, as I could only imagine how bland it’d be without the fizz.

This beer grew on me a bit. I left it alone for ten minutes and when I returned there was a deeper appreciation of the flavors and the subtleties of the style.  However, the blandness was still there to ruin it all.

Was the nice sour at the front worth the disappointing finish? No.  This simply isn’t an exotic enough beer for me to justify spending $10.