First thoughts on the Flanders
Sunday, September 14th, 2008
I couldn’t wait any longer to open a bottle of the Flanders Red I brewed with Tim and Jacob back in June. It was bottled three weeks ago and I was curious to see how it was progressing.
It pours nicely. The photo to the left is a little cloudy, as it includes the sediment from the bottom of the bottle, but before that sediment hit the glass the body was glowing red with a hint of brown. The head was a bit of a deeper tan than expected, but not too out of place.
The best aspect of this beer right now is the nose. It lacks the acidity of Rodenbach Grand Cru, but I wouldn’t hesitate to compare it to Rodenbach Classic. There is some very nice cherry-like acidity and a bit of lemon. The malt balances that out nicely, with notes of caramel and lighter toffee. It has what I’ve previously thought of as a woody character, but this beer didn’t spend any time on wood.. So what the heck is that? It it just a combination of brett & malt?
Flavor wise.. well, we knew it wasn’t going to be too complex, since we went for the ‘quick’ 8-week method rather than the 2-year aging period. The acidity is somewhat overpowered by the malt (this guy ended up at 1.018! BJCP guidelines put the upper limit at 1.016) and it ends up being too sweet for my liking. The recipe doesn’t have much in the way of hops; the acid and low expected final gravity are supposed to balance it out. Its not bad by any stretch (if pressed to compare it to something commercial I guess I’d say Bios vlaamse Bourgogne AKA Monk’s Cafe Flemish Sour) but not as great as it could be. I’m curious to see how this changes over time. I’ll probably open a bottle every few weeks to check it’s progress. For a first time using wild yeasts I can’t complain. Besides, a lot of the joy of homebrewing is the experiments… and I’ve got 2 more packs of this yeast in the fridge.. 
-rudy