Plush pinkish-headed, ruby-marooned Belgian-styled red ale loads emphatic sour-candied cherry tartness into dryly berry-fruited, unmalted-wheated Lambic phenols. Medicinal cherry syruping and oaken cherry esters politely herbal spiced as whimsical raspberry-elderberry-boysenberry undertones complete tartly fruited Flanders Red/ Lambic peculiarity.
On tap at Growler & Gill, traditional oak-casked Flanders Red Ale with puckered Bing cherry tartness riding above dusky powdered chocolate bittering picks up vinous red wining. Oaken cherry continuance gains slight candied glaze.
Finely blended oak-aged Flanders Red Ale unites vinous green grape souring and bitter white wine esters with less prominent brown-sugared dried fruiting. Along the way, strong ammonia esters deepen its sour vinegaring. Below, soily brown leaf astringency sops up sweet-sour cider tease.
Smoothly sour oak-casked Flanders Red Ale retains tannic raspberry tartness, oaken cherry leathering and cider vinegaring over butternut/chestnut-roasted caramelization. Dank cellared water funk provides earthen base.
On tap at Ambulance, wholly soured Flanders Red stays dry as acidic red-wined tannins overrun “tart cherry candy,” vinous raspberry bittering and limey lemon licks. More sour than tart as oaken cherry acridity defines stylistic departure.
On tap at Draught Industries, Flemish red ale (a style originating in Flanders, Belgium) aged in oak wine foeders leaves vinous green grape tannins, puckered green apple bittering and oaken cherry tartness upon raspy lactobacillus acidity above musty barnyard leathering. A bustling wild ale for heady sour heads.
On tap at Ambulance, appealing oaken whiskey barrel-aged Flanders Red Ale brings clover-honeyed red cherry souring to the fore as vinous green grape acidity lowers spicy raisin-prune conflux and charcoaled mocha snip.
On tap at Ambulance, halfway convincing Merlot-barreled Flanders Red Ale saddles tart dark cherries and acidic citric sourness with dry oaken leathering, but dry Merlot tannins almost escape the senses. Lightly vinous balsamic acidity spreads to citric-soured cherry finish.
Vintage oak-aged Flanders Red Ale (2012 – Barrel #170) flaunts leathery cherry-raspberry tartness at the fore as vinous green grape souring, oaken vanilla tannins, green raisin snips and fungi-like saccharomyces yeast sugaring merge alongside dry sherry licks. At the complex finish, sour cherry abundance gains acidic balsamic vinegaring to contrast less prominent caramelized amber graining.
On tap at Ambulance, mildly pungent, yet effervescently sparkling, ‘sour red ale’ (also labeled a salt-watered Berliner Weiss) uses spontaneous yeast to propel oaken cherry tartness, vinous green grape pucker, dried apricot musk and bitter lemon sway above leathery barnyard acridity, gradually heightening its sharp acidity.
On tap at The Oath, elite sour ale with wild brettanomyces-affected yeast acidity and dry oak-barreled raspberry adjunct produces mild Flanders Red Ale pleasantries and delicate Merlot-like eccentricites. Tannic red grape, vinous dark cherry and sour crab apple tartly coalesce beside mild raspberry vinaigrette pucker (above musky cellar funk). Sour heads may find Lilith uncompromisingly splendid.
On tap at Doherty’s, enchanting rum-barreled Flanders Red hybrid adds subtle blueberry, blackberry and raspberry adjuncts to oaken cherry souring and acrid barnyard musk. Though light rum influence flags, soft-toned green grape pucker, unripe peach snip and musky cologne waft add complexity to ‘berry’ good sour ale.
