Flanders Red Discovery

Vander Ghinste should be relatively easy to find.

 

I had New Belgium's La Folie while travelling through the denver airport, so my tastes my be skewed by vacation travels, but I found it to be really well done.

 

Also not a Flanders red but you may like Ommegang Rosetta and it’d be in your area. If you haven’t already had.

I actually do not like rodenbach grand cru for its balsamic qualities but I do enjoy oude bruin a lot so Rosetta is nice.

 

I second the Rodenbach, especially if you can find Alexander or Caractere Rouge.

 

Apparently next time I go to the store I am looking for a beer with balsamic notes. I'm open to new things, I wanted to try the French's Mustard beer which I'm sure was vinegary.

 

I would say to try the Oud Bruin too, as the line between Flemish Red and Oud Bruin is often thin. The following are all relatively common and good examples of the styles:

Rodenbach Grand Cru
New Belgium La Folie
Deschutes The Dissident
Liefmans Goudenband
Petrus Aged Pale (kind of a Flemish Pale)

 

Rodenbach Rodenbach Rodenbach.

Caractere Rouge and Vintage are some of the finest beers money can buy.

 

Great and often under explored style. I am guilty of this myself with these, should probably be trying more! Cuvee des Jacobins is my favorite of the ones I’ve had, looks like you are already on par to drink that one soon.

But in regards to your discovering styles later into your beer drinking career Id say that certianly possible. As you mentioned we are inundated with American craft styles, which largely consist of hoppy pale ale variant styles and adjunct stouts. If looking for “new” to you styles I’d suggest diving into some traditional European styles.

 

Yeah, Rodenbach Vintage is as good as it gets, but Grand Cru isn't that far behind. And at half the price it's the one that I go to most often.

 

Ommegang makes Brunetta that is a bit more similar to The Duchesse. They are both excellent, though. I have them both in my fridge although I save Rosetta for Sunday morning breakfast.
No, I don't have beer for breakfast, I have beer with breakfast.
Rosetta instead of way too sweet OJ!

 

this is a bit off topic but I do love how for many of the European styles that if you want to try one of the elite standards of the style they usually are just sitting on shelves at beer stores. and that’s not just for obscure styles, quads,Tripels, Belgian strong dark ales, hefes, various light lager styles, etc.

 

This is true. Let's try to keep it that way

 

When I first tried Duchesse many moons ago I considered it more appropriate as a salad dressing than a beer, but now I really enjoy it. Goudenband, as mentioned, is also outstanding. Regarding Rodenbach, they can do no wrong. Grand Cru, Alexander and Caractere Rouge are three of the world's best beers, regardless of style.

 

La Roja from Jolly Pumpkin is pretty solid