Longshot Neighborino Flanders Red Ale
Samuel Adams (Boston Beer Company)

Very simple beer, I get a little cherry followed by a strong tartness and a little dryness, it's almost oakey. Overall this beer is average, it's just not complex enough for me as a sour.

I am down to my last four Samuel Adams beers in the Chez Woody Bottle Backlog. I had every intention of finishing them last night, but I simply ran out of steam.

From the bottle: "This Flanders Red was brewed the traditional way. With 'younger' beer blended with mature beer that has been aged in wood for several months while Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus labor to produce fruity, tart and acidic flavors."; "Brewed by: Colin Foy, OH".

Colin may have made a Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy) for me on this one! It begins, as always, with the Pop! of the cap. I was relatively gentle in my pour, but I still got a pseudo-cascade which became three fingers of dense, foamy, light-tan head that just suddenly fell like a soufflé when the oven door is banged shut! Color was Deep Amber/Light Copper to Copper (SRM = > 13, < 17) with NE-quality clarity. Nose had a tart funkiness along with a distinct oaky woodiness. I was working toys & games at Barnes & Noble today and there is a kit for making your own sour candies. I will try to write down all of the potential levels tomorrow. Edit: From lowest to highest, including French, since the kit was either French of Canadian: "Pucker up/Grimace!; Wow! Super!/Super!; Yikes! Oh!/Oh!; Ahhh!/Ahhh!; Help!/A L'aide!" I can always amend this review later. Done. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was tart, not sour, and had a definite cherry flavor along with an oaky woodiness. Finish was dry, but only lightly puckering. I am not a tart/sour beer drinker as a routine thing, but this was palatable for me. My personal test is how long I can go without needing water and in this case, I was well over halfway through it before the thought really began to kick in. I would rate it as "Wow! Super!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPEARANCE: A fairly clear red ale with a half finger of quickly dissipating, khaki, foamy head. Lots of medium sized bubbles rising. Not a bad amount of lacing, considering the head retention.
AROMA: Quite a pungent, tart, fruity red wine-like aroma, and woody. Berries or cherries. A smidge of the horse blanket quality. Lots of tart fruit/cherries.
TASTE: Red wine-like, Quite tart, Cherries, woody, nice maltiness.
FEEL: Exceptionally dry, medium full body, above average carbonation.
OVERALL: I really like this. Quite tart, lots of sour cherry, very dry, nice full mouth feel. A winner.

Part of the 2016 Samuel Adams Longshot Pack - $9.99 at Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Appearance: Pours a lightly bubbly, darkish amber-hued body with a thin, off-white head.

Smell: Sweet-scented caramel, prominent cherry aroma, a little wood, a little vanilla and some sprinkling of berries.

Taste: Toasty, sweet caramel stirred up with sourish black cherries and ripe currants. A lightly wooden touch and hint of vanilla precludes the burst of acidity. Gets another boost of sweet cherry, finishing with a taste of Luden's Wild Cherry lozenges.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation with a slight zip to it.

Overall: A little sweet leaning and in some ways more restrained than other examples, but still acceptable. I accept this beer.

 

 

Served on tap in a pint glass

Appearance - The beer pours a deep brick reddish color with a one finger head of white foam. The head has a good level of retention, fading over time to leave a little bit of lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma of the brew is rather strong of a sour cherry and plum aroma mixed with a good hit of vinegar and a little bit of grain. Along with these aromas comes a light showing of yeast and a good showing of funk.

Taste – The taste begins with a nice sour but slightly cherry fruity taste mixed with a decent showing of apple cider vinegar. Along with these tastes comes flavors of a light hay and a little bit of grass. As the taste advances the vinegar gets stronger with the fruitiness decaying a little bit. In the end with a huge increase in the funk, one is left with a moderately soured and lightly cherry fruited taste to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is average with a carbonation level that is average as well. For the sour flavors and the bit of fruit the feel is rather nice and creates a rather easy drinking sour.

Overall – Sours are never really my style, but this was very easy to drink all while still having a lot of nice sour characteristics.

This brew is a copper colored liquid with a medium-sized white head. The aroma is fruity, with grape, berries, and plum scents, along with a little sour notes. The taste is sweeter than the aroma presupposes, and the flavor is not as complex. Still, there is plenty of fruit, subtle malt, a bit of spice, and some vanilla. The body is medium-light, with a little tartness. Clean and approachable, but is suffers a little in it's complexity and in traditional Flanders characteristics. Still, worth a try.

Scratched the itch one would want is a cheap Flanders red with nice tart flavor and smooth brown malt body. Decent flavor but nothing I would want to revisit.

6.3% ABV, 10 IBU's. No specs per the website, other than it is blended, young and old. Pours out to a clear medium amber (not red), forming a limpid head with no retention and no lacing. Carbonation ~2.0 carbs or so, kinda low. The nose is wonderful...a little barnyard, a little vinegar, some tart fruits (think cherries), no off aromas. Mmmm, brett and lacto. The mouthfeel is BONE dry and medium sourness, watery. The smell is wonderful, but unfortunately, the taste is quite one dimensional. Of course it's sour, and thats about it...some vinous notes, and then nothing....gone before you know it. Mild bitterness. The best examples of this style pull off a sweet/tart mix, like Duchesse and Rodenbach and this doesn't have it. It's just dry dry dry and sour, and more bitter than I would expect for the style. I can't recommend this and wouldn't buy it if it were available outside of the longshot competition.

Nice copper color. Smells like cherries. Nice sourness. Malty sweetness. Very clean. It's no Duchesse de Bourgogne or Grand Cru. But it's a nice attempt from an american brewery.