Flanders Red Ale
The Sour Note Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from a bottle into a tulip.

A: Pours a lovely medium brown with red-copper highlights. A thick, off-white head is long-lasting and laces beautifully.

S: A whiff of funk, dried fruit and light woody notes are non-stop and get your mouth watering.

T: Tart cherries, sweet red wine notes, and both light funky sour and sweet tartness hit your palate all at once. The sweetness stands out, then fades and leaves the tart sourness behind.

M: Its slender figure glides easily across your tongue, a touch of carbonation dances a little. There is puckering of the mouth from the tart sweetness.

O: "Delicate" is the term I would use to describe this beer. It won't turn your face inside out and isn't too sweet. I think there's a a great counterpoint between sweet and tart sour here that nicely balances out and makes this beer by 18th Street an impressive Flander's Red.

 

 

 

 

Sampled at CBC 2016 - second day. Dry sourness, vinegar, dark fruit, red wine.

Not sure how people can drink Rodenbach, Cuvee des Jacobins, Duchesse or other staples of the style and consider this a true Flanders. It lacks all the standard markers - the sharpness, the intense fruity sweetness, any complexity. This is thin, tepid, lacking sourness or balancing sweetness, with an odd licorice back note. It's drinkable but pales in comparison to the real thing.