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Friday, July 31, 2020

Flanders Red Status Report - 2020

It has been over a year and a half since my last tasting of the 12 fermenters of Flanders Red style beer I've accumulated over the last 5 years (read about my 2017 and 2018 tasting notes).  It is a beer style that become more interesting as it ages due to the effects of oxygen exposure and the slow work of wild yeast and bacteria.  It seems that the Belgian sour beer producers typically only give their beer 3 years as they find that it becomes too acetic after that.  I'm past that age in many of the beers right now.  Belgians use barrels which tend to allow a lot of oxygen exposure though while I'm using a mix of Glass Carboy and plastic fermentation buckets.  Will be interesting to see if I'm building up too much harsh vinegar acidity


I plan to make 4 blends of beer this year:  Plain, Cherry, Raspberry, and a Raisin & Tamarind version.  I'll use the more boldly flavored interesting beers to make up the Plain and then the more mild flavored ones in the fruited blends.  I'd like to try to use a fair amount from each fermenter to leave room for some fresh top-up beer in each so that I can feed all of them with fresh beer.

Additionally, I think I'm going to try to empty a couple fermenters (by blending any remaining beer from them to the other fermenters) so I can bring in a couple new cultures so that I'll have a wider variety of blending ingredients going forward.

Anyway, onto the tasting (have a good couple days work ahead):



Fermenter #1
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
    • Primarily fermented with Wyeast Roeselare Blend.  Also have used Belgian Trappist yeast and Lacto for some beers in this fermentor
    • Malt bill consists of Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna base malt and then CaraMunich, Aromatic, and Special B specialty malt.  I also started using corn in the top up batches which is something Rodenbach does for mouthfeel
    • It has been aging with about 1 oz of oak which I'd previously used in my 2018 Barleywine
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Fruity with and earthy and leathery character.  Also has a kind of mineral aroma
    • Appearance:  Light reddish brown and a little murky
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour with a bit of fruity flavor.  Slight earthy character.  Get a bit of bready malt.  Maybe a bit of mineral flavor as well
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and pretty dry.  Has a bit of prickliness on the back of the throat on a big swallow
    • Overall:  Flavors are pretty mild but nice.  Has a fair amount of complexity

Fermenter #2
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
    • Primarily fermented with Roeselare Blend.  Also have used Belgian Trappist yeast and Lacto for some beers in this fermentor
    • Malt bill consists of Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna base malt and then CaraMunich, Aromatic, and Special B specialty malt.  I also started using corn in the top up batches which is something Rodenbach does for mouthfeel
    • It has been aging with about 1 oz of oak which I'd previously used in my 2018 Barleywine
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Quite fruity with some earthy brett character as well as some mineral character
    • Appearance:  Reddish brown and fairly clear
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour.  Has a really nice fruity flavor up front that suggests a sweetness.  Earthy brett character comes in with the finish.  Some bready malt comes through as well
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and pretty dry. Has a prickliness that hits the tongue and back of the throat.
    • Overall:  Pleasing fruit flavor is pretty bold.  Nice level of complexity

Fermenter #3

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
    • Primarily fermented with Roeselare Blend.  Also have used Belgian Trappist yeast and Lacto for some beers in this fermentor
    • Malt bill consists of Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna base malt and then CaraMunich, Aromatic, and Special B specialty malt.  I also started using corn in the top up batches which is something Rodenbach does for mouthfeel
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Overripe fruit and earthy & leathery brett character
    • Appearance:  Brownish red and pretty clear
    • Flavor:  Light sourness.  Has a bready malt character which hits in the beginning.  Some fruit character comes next and earthy brett comes in the finish.  Something like a bitterness in the finish although this couldn't be hops at this point.  Also has a somewhat chocolate like character to it.
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and pretty dry.  A bit of acidity prickling but in way harsh
    • Overall:  It has some nice bold flavors and is an interesting and complex beer.

Fermenter #4
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
    • Primarily used Yeast Bay's Mélange for the beer in this fermenter but also have some Roeselare fermented beer as well as some using Belgian Trappist yeast and Lacto
    • Some of the beer in this fermenter used Pale Malt and Victory instead of the Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna base malts.
    • This beer has been aging with with oak from my first Raspberry Wine since 3/7/20
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Fruity with a earthy and leathery brett character.  Also get some mineral character from it
    • Appearance:  Brownish red and a little murky
    • Flavor:  Light sourness.  Has a strong fruity flavor that lingers into the finish and lingers.  Also get some earthy brett character that lasts - although it is quite a bit less prominent than the fruit.  Maybe get a bit of chocolate from this one.
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and dry.  A bit prickly on the back of the throat
    • Overall:  Richly flavored and delicious.  Has a fair amount going on to bring complexity.

Fermenter #5
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
    • Primarily used Roeselare for this batch.  Also used Belgian Trappist yeast and Lacto
    • Played around with a malt bill of 2 Row and Dark Munich for this batch.  Also have some with the standard grainbill and corn.  Used maltodextrine in this beer as well.  
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Very musty with brett character of earth and leather dominating.  Overripe fruit comes in in the background 
    • Appearance:  Reddish brown and a little murky
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour  Overripe fruit flavor hits up front followed by some bready malt.  There is then a mild earthiness which rolls into the finish
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  Pretty smooth as far as these beers go - not much prickling
    • Overall:  This beer has some nice bold flavors and a fair amount of complexity

Fermenter #6
    • Aroma:  Very fruity.  Also has a mineral aroma along with earthy and leathery brett
    • Appearance:  Reddish brown and pretty clear
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness.  Fruit comes through first followed by leather and earth from Brett.  Also get bready malt  
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  Some prickles the back of the throat on the swallow
    • Overall:  Some nice bold flavors with enough going on to bring some complexity

Fermenter #7
    • Aroma:  Over ripe fruit and a mineral character.  A bit musty as well
    • Appearance:  Light reddish brown and a little murky
    • Flavor:  Light sourness.  Has a lemon like character.  Some overripe fruit and a bit of earthy brett character comes through.  
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  A little prickling acidity
    • Overall:  Flavors are pretty mild.  Not terribly complex range of flavors in this one

Fermenter #8
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a bucket fermentor with vented silicon bung
    • Beer is a blend of Roeselare and a Culture built up from Rodenbach Foederbier.  Also used Belgian yeast and lacto on some of the batch
    • Used Maris Otter at the primary base malt, Maltodextrine for added carbohydrates for the long aging, and a cereal mash with corn grits
    • Aging with 1 oz Cabernet soaked oak
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Overripe fruit.  I think I pick up some oak and wine in this one - vanilla.  Get a bit of earthy character as well
    • Appearance:  Light brownish red.  A little murky
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness.  Has a bit of overripe fruit and a fairly substantial funky flavor which is a bit different than the others - not entirely pleasant
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and pretty dry.  Fairly smooth for one of these beers - not noticing much in the way of prickle
    • Overall:  Fairly boldly flavored.  Has an interesting flavor profile but not super complex.

Fermenter #9
    • Aroma:  Overripe fruit and a bit of mineral character.  Also get earthy funk
    • Appearance:  Reddish brown and a bit murky
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness with a fruity character.  Some mineral flavor along with earthy and leathery flavor.
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and pretty dry.  Has a bit of prickling acidity that hits the back of the throat on the swallow.
    • Overall:  Fairly mild beer with a bit of complexity

Fermenter #10
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a bucket fermentor with vented silicon bung
    • Brewed with a mix of Jolly Pumpkin, Lost Abby, and Russian River dregs.  Also used Belgian yeast and Lacto in some of the beers
    • Base malt was Maris Otter.  Also used Corn and Maltodextrine in some of this beer
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Strong overripe fruit and a bit of earthy and leathery funk.  Also has a sort of spiciness to it
    • Appearance:  Reddish brown and fairly clear
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness.  Has a fruity flavor fairly well balanced with earthy and leathery brett.  Has a fairly prominent bitter bite in the finish which is pleasant
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and dry.  Prickles the back of the throat slightly.
    • Overall:  Boldly flavored and has a nice bit of complexity.  Quite a pleasant beer.

Fermenter #11
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a bucket fermenter with vented silicon bung
    • Brewed with East Coast Yeast Flemish Ale Blend
    • Used Maris Otter and Munich as the base malts.  Also used some corn
    • Took 2 gal from this fermenter in 2018 and didn't top it up so the fermenter is a bit more than half full.  I don't remember if this was a deliberate decision but it would have left it with extra oxygen exposure and less to eat
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Has a fruity and wine-like aroma.  Smells pretty boozy as well.
    • Appearance:  Light brownish red and pretty clear
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness.  Has a really unusual, funky, fruity flavor and a pretty firm bite in the finish - maybe the same as the boozy character in the aroma (it may be I've picked up some Acetone which would be a first for me).  Get a sort of aged cheese character from it as well. 
    • Mouthfeel:Light bodied and dry.  Has some prickles on the back of the throat.
    • Overall:  Very boldly flavored but a bit too rough around the edges on it's own.  I think a little of this blended into a more mild beer could be a benefit

Fermenter #12
Yes, that is mouse poop.  I can assure you that there is none in the beer and that its presence here is 100% essential
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a bucket fermenter with a vented silicon bung
    • Brewed using Roeselare along with Belgian yeast and Lacto
    • Used Pilsner and Munich as the base malts.  Also used Corn in this batch
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Overripe fruit and leathery funk.  Get a bit of mineral character as well
    • Appearance:  Brownish Red and pretty murky
    • Flavor:  Light sourness.  Has a really bold fruit flavor with the leathery and earthy brett character coming in a close second
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and dry.  Smooth drinking as far as these beers go
    • Overall:  Boldly flavored and very lovely taste.  Pretty complex beer.  I'd say this is the best of the bunch this year.
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