On tap at Ambulance, tannic ruddy amber Flemish-styled red ale (aged in red wine barrels) drapes balsamic vinegar atop oaken cherry tartness and leathery barnyard funk. Sharp cherry-cranberry-crabapple souring submerges musky grape skin tannins and dry limey bittering.
On tap at Ambulance, lemon-fizzed sour cherry pucker sustains sharpness as mild lime-salted acidity and vinous oak tannins prop up sour edge of dryer than expected Flemish red ale.
On tap at Ambulance, blended mixed culture sour ale (with sedate 12% ABV) coalesces tart oaken cherry Flemish red ale to date-dried Flemish brown ale with great success. Lightly acidic green grape tannins and piquant raspberry wisps seep into dried fruited pleasantry.
On tap at Abominable Snowfest (aged two years in French oak barrels), heavily acidic sour ale ain’t for the faint of heart but will delight all brettanomyces punks. Oaken cherry tartness heightens vinous yellow grape tannins, sharp lemon-juiced Italian vinaigrette pungency and sour red raspberry pucker over leathery horse-blanketed acridity.
Seemly ‘Flanders meets Chicago’ collaboration between America’s Two Brothers and Belgian’s Urthel Brewery places up-front hard cider sharpness next to Flemish-styled cherry sourness. Beet-sugared cranberry tartness seeps into funky fungi-molded wildflower yeast midst while tart hard-candied green apple backdrop fortifies lemon-dried white grape piquancy and dehydrated orange lull.
Brewed specifically for Philadelphia’s terrific Monk’s Cafe, indelible russet ruby Flanders Oud Bruin plies vinous green-yellow-red grape tannins to lactic-soured oaken vanilla insistence, allowing puckered lemon-dried apple, cranberry, and cherry tartness to reach fruition over leathery horseblanket acridity. Tertiary white peach, banana and raspberry melee begets dry sherry finish of debonair moderation.
Busy oak-cask matured ‘red-brown ale mix’ brings surprising brandied cognac waft to snappy orange-grape tartness, expansive cider souring, and distant banana-clove respite. Sweet red apple and cherry confluence envelops dry wheat spine of lactic ruby-hued Flemish sour ale.
Brusque pale-clouded honey-fermented ale aided by syrupy corn-malted cocoa powdering. But residual moldy orange mustiness and root vegetable tinge may be off-putting to lesser acquired tastes. Impending tart grapefruit-lemon bitterness enlightens sour yeast heft of subtle fresh watered peculiarity.
Complex flaxen-hazed pale ale with explosive carbonation and whimsy 9% alcohol flow evokes expressive wild yeast perfuming. Initial lemony orange-bruised mandarin orange zest spreads across floral-herbal breadth, bitter juniper snip, and leathery dry-corked horse blanket waft. Tropical pineapple-mango-peach-cherry medley turns sour at crowded midst. Orange marmalade, dried fig, sharp cider, and ginger-clove-eucalyptus nuance enliven vanilla malting to mineral-grained bottom.
Moldy prune-nosed cherry-soured lemony grapefruit tartness initiates mouth-puckered oak-aged alcohol-fumed garnet-hazed Flemish red ale. Bitter-hopped finish inundated by vinous yellow grape tannins, tangy tangerine-apricot charm, and dry white wine fizz.
Rich burgundy-like 8.5% alcohol-fueled puffy-headed brown ale clusters buttery whiskey-dabbed caramel sweetness alongside sour-doughed floral-hopped nosing, pouring like a root beer float (leaving yeast sediment in its wake). Tart apple dances on tongue before exquisite barleywine influence adds further depth and complexity.