A Flemish Red/Sour Ale
Brouwerij Strubbe in Belgium 6.5% ABV. Systembolaget Article Number 11719. 59.50 SEK (750ml bottle)
A 'rummy' looking colour with a cloudy body and red tinge under a thin tan head.
OMG (Oak My God)! There's so much toasted oak nose on this beer I could swear someone's slipped some New World Chardonnay into it. Underneath the wine there's more than a splash of vinegar, some light berry and red onion aromas and old leather. This beer's smell is all over the place!
There's a lovely level of carbonation to this beer. It's a little spritzy and fizzy, just like very young wine. Up the front end there's some malty, raisiny sweetness that quickly makes way in the middle for some sharp acidity that reminds me of tart freshly picked lingonberries. There's load of wood throughout and the finish is tannic, dry and long.
As you can see from the picture I paired it together with some French onion soup, using yellow rather than red onions (although I suspect the sweeter red onions could work even better). When pairing acid with acid the result is often sweet, as was the case here with the soup making the beer slightly sweeter. A great match! Flemish reds also work with rich fish dishes, preferably with a lemon-based sauce. Why not try it with prawns dipped in home-made lime aioli?
Nerd note
Flemish red ales come from west Flanders and are sometimes referred to as the Burgundies of Belgium. I wouldn't go that far but there are certainly more than a few similarities to wine in this beer. The dominant flavour here is wood from the use of unlined oak vats that are home to dozens of wild yeast and bacterial strains that add a certain 'funk' to the flavour. If you're new to the style you may wince at first but stick with it as this sweet and sour beer can be wonderfully refreshing and uplifting.
Rating
3.0 of 5
