Brouwerij Omer Vander Ghinste NVBellegem, Belguim
Independent
Flanders Red Sour Ale 5.5 % ABV
Brown Glass Bottle 330 ml.
IBU: 8
$3.95 (Canadian) At LCBO
Twitter: @OmerVDG
My first Flemish Red for the blog, and I am quite excited. Sour beers seem to be hot right now and quite frankly I am a big fan. Lots of local breweries have been playing with brettanomyces, generally cultured instead of wild inoculation. This beer tonight is open top wild fermented (like a lambic) so the the brettanomyces is naturally occurring. The brewery in Bellegem is a fifth generation family run business that started in 1892. Their first beer was Ouden Trippel, which they still produce under the name Vander Ghinste Oud Bruin. They also produce a kriek, a gueze, a framboise, and a Bock in addition to our beer tonight.
Onto our tasting...
Pours a reddish chestnut colour with a short off-tan head made of tiny bubbles. Aroma is a beautiful sour red cherry with bright red fruits in the background. Hints of brettanomyces, touches of cinnamon, and clove. First sip is WOW! sour! Tart cherry, cranberry with some underlying sweetness. A touch of spice cinnamon clove mostly from the cask ageing.Aeration brings out a woody note with some oak and vanillas
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order: 6/6 EXCEPTIONALExperience: 5/6 PASS
Final Thoughts:
Super sour but bright and fruity, this is a great beer. If you are a sour fan like me you will enjoy this. If you are on the fence about sour beers... work your way up to this one, because this packs a face puckering punch.
On a sour note.. Sawdust City Brewing Company in Gravenhurst Ontario, is hosting its inaugural Funk Fest on July 2 2016. 17 local breweries will be demonstrating their sour beers, and yours truly will be there to report on it. Stay tuned for my post on that.
Cheers
CJT
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