Flanders red ale or Flemish red-brown, is a style of

sour ale Sour beer, also known as Sours, is beer which has an intentionally acidic, tart, or sour taste. Traditional sour beer styles include Belgian lambics, gueuze and Flanders red ale, and German gose and Berliner Weisse. Brewing Unlike modern brewin ...

brewed in

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Flanders red ale is

fermented Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...

with organisms other than ''

Saccharomyces cerevisiae ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungus microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have been o ...

'', especially ''

Lactobacillus ''Lactobacillus'' is a genus of Gram-positive, aerotolerant anaerobes or microaerophilic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria. Until 2020, the genus ''Lactobacillus'' comprised over 260 phylogenetically, ecologically, and metabolically diver ...

'', which produces a sour character attributable to

lactic acid Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has a molecular formula . It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as well as natu ...

. Long periods of aging are employed, a year or more, often in oak barrels, to impart a lactic acid character to the beer.Bouckaert, Peter, "Belgian red ale" in Oliver, Garrett (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to Beer'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2012), pp. 119 & 120. Red

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...

is used to give the beer its colour and the matured beer is often blended with a younger batch before bottling to balance and round the character. Flanders red ales have a strong fruit flavour similar to the aroma, but more intense. Plum, prune, raisin and raspberry are the most common flavours, followed by orange and some spiciness. The sour or acidic taste can range from moderate to strong. There is no hop bitterness, but

tannins Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', f ...

are common. Consequently, Flanders red ales are often described as the most wine-like of all beers. Notable examples include Duchesse de Bourgogne,

Rodenbach Rodenbach may refer to: * Rodenbach Brewery, a brewery from Roeselare, Belgium Places * Rodenbach, Hesse, in the Main-Kinzig district, Hesse, Germany * Rodenbach, Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, G ...

and .

Examples

Rodenbach Brewery Rodenbach is a brewery in Roeselare, Belgium, now owned by Palm Breweries. It is noted for its barrel-aged sour beers in the Flemish red style. Brewery In 1821, the four Rodenbach brothers (Pedro, Alexander, Ferdinand and Constantijn) investe ...

: Rodenbach * Rodenbach Brewery: Rodenbach Grand Cru * : VanderGhinste Roodbruin * Omer Vander Ghinste Brewery: Cuvee des Jacobins *

Brewery Verhaeghe Brewery Verhaeghe (Dutch - Brouwerij Verhaeghe) established in 1875, is a small brewery located in Vichte, West Flanders, Belgium. They specialise in Flanders red ales including Duchesse de Bourgogne, an internationally renowned Flemish red. In a ...

: Duchesse de Bourgogne * Brewery Verhaeghe: Vichtenaar

References

External links

Beer styles Beer in Belgium Flanders {{Beer-stub