Sixfold X: Flanders Red
West Sixth Brewing Company

750 ml caged and corked bottle, label says 2018 on it, purchased at West Sixth Lexington in November 2021. Served in a Teku, the beer pours a slightly hazy reddish/copper color with about an inch light tan head. Head retention and lacing are both good. I like the aroma, the brew smells like cherry, caramel, lemon, oak, earthiness and funk. For the most part I think the taste is pretty much just like the aroma, but there's also some brown sugar, green apple and vanilla flavors noticeable. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's coating and easy to drink with a good amount of carbonation. I liked this brew a lot, apparently it aged well! Wonder what it would have been like if I would have been able to try it fresher. I know if I go back there anytime soon and there's still some left, I'd buy it again. Recommended for those who like tart Flanders Red style brews!

 

 

SAVOR DC 2018

 

Marching onward with their "Sixfold" series, the brands quickly raced up the board to number ten. A Flander's red ale with extremely high red wine flavor brings lovers of those wines and sour cherry ale together in only a way that West Sixth brewers can.

Rusty red and with a billowing, spritzy cap, the longevity of foam is short while its aromatic value is high. Strong aromas of red wine, nail polish remover, cherry, peppercorn and balsamic radiate in the nose and involuntarily making the eyes squint and the brow to sweat. Moderate sweetness hits the tongue with hard cherry candy, grape juice, steely caramel, light toast and sweetheart candies rounding out the beer's initial malty impressions.

Sourness builds in as the sweetness dissipates, allowing the middle palate to be awash with sour fruit. Cherries are front and center, but those key sour notes of sour apple, sour grape, lemon and lime, cranberry, raspberry, date and currant all playing a firm role in the beer's balance. The flipside of fresh-cracked peppercorn, strong vinous acidity, spicy alcohol, woodsy bitterness and phenolic funk play counter to the fruit and give a complex but drying and drinkable finish.

Medium-bodied for sour and trending dry, the ale carries a bit more weight and sweetness than most Flemish-style beer but Sixfold's X has a spicy alcohol and brazen acidity that relegates the sweetness to a much lower degree balance-wise. Still, the beer finishes peppery, oaky and warming with acetone, and a medium-deep linger of cherry, leather and balsamic- ideally suited for duck entree with fruit reduction.

 

The second of the Sixfold series to be bottled, this Flanders is pretty tasty, but there's a vinegar note that is a little too forward for me to really love this one. However, it's solid. If you have a bottle, be sure to keep it chilled at least 24 hours before popping the cork, or you may have some mild gush issues that don't detract from the flavor.