Flanders Ned Ale
The Grumpy Troll Restaurant and Brewery

I had plenty of samples at the brewery, but this one stood out (though I had a glass of the great wit as well).

A: Deep brownish red with an off-white head, very little retention or lacing.

S: Huge sour cherry & dark fruit aroma with hints of fruit bread.

T: Plenty of plum & sour cherry flavours with a crisp tartness. The bready maltyness is a little surprising, but it's still overwhelmed by the fruits.

M: Moderate body is lightly carbonated; the finish has a hint of puckering tartness.

D: It's not very funky, but while it's intriguing, I couldn't drink much of it.

glad to see them breaking out the more unusual styles.

A- dark murky red, pretty intriguing and had a light red strawberry colored head on top.

S- strong cherry and rasberry charachter. hugely entiicing. a pretty strong tartness is every step of the way as well

T- very strong tart charachter, not as sour as i was thinking, nicely fruity at the start but it stays too sweet at the finish which is a little off-putting, however some of my friends realy liked it.

M- pretty full body with a good medium level carbonation, lingers on the tongue awhile

d- little too sweet for me, but a couple tweaks would make it awesome.

$4.00 pint glass at the brewery.

Named for the Simpson's character Ned Flanders.

Appearance: Turbid purple-brown mud with red hues around the glass and throughout when held to light. Healthy off-white head that dissipates to a thin, very minimal skim.

Aroma: Huge dark malt presence, twangy cherry, apple vinegar.

Taste: Tootsie roll chocolate maltiness combines with twangy cherry to offer sort of a tootsie-pop flavor. Dark malt flavors are huge and unfortunately dominate the various fruit flavors, particularly sour apple and pear

Mouthfeel: Wet. Earthy. Medium bodied. The front hits with a soft sourness, the middle is all malt, and the finish leaves just a touch of grapefruit like bitterness. Could use more of that bitterness.

Drinkability: Easy top drink but I'd like something drier if I were to session it.

I'm thrilled that the Troll took on this style. This is really a beer I would like to see more of in the states. Overall I think they did a fair job. I personally could some more funk, and if not funk then some refinement - barrel aging or more aggressive hopping to add some balance. This beer isn't sweet, it's just really too malty - to the point where a lot of the interesting fruit flavors in the beer get overshadowed. I hope the Grumpy Troll keeps up these interesting, underrepresented styles and makes this one again, maybe with some more funk next time.