Flat Earth Rode Haring Flanders Red Ale

Brewed by Flat Earth Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale
St. Paul, Minnesota USA

Bottle thanks to bu11zeye. The smell is fruits, wood, tart, brett, funk, and decent. The look is clear, golden in color, with a beige colored head. The taste is tart, fruits, yeast, wood, and funk.

bottle 482/500 thanks to bu11zeye. deep amber pour with a cream colored head. nose is slightly sour with a hint of wood in the back. great on the palate with a smooth flavor of wood and funk.

Bottle number 482/500 thanks to bu11zeye. Pours with an off-white head over a slightly hazed amber body. Aroma is earthy with wood, plastic, light fruits, raspberry and caramel. Taste is lightly sour with earth, plastic, CO2 and light leather. Light carbonation.

Bottle 482/500. Body-light almandine with a thick ring of bubbles and a thin film of bubbles. Nose-light urea, unassuming, cherry, lively CO2, sharp, apple skins, light funk, not a lot of horse. Taste-cottony, rye, cotton seed oil, apple skins, Sprite, dusty. All in all, very unassuming and boring. In a nutshell: slightly acidic, slightly funky seltzer water.

Sampled March 2009
A steady pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces an almost three-finger thick, amber tinged, light tan colored head. The beer has a dark cherry color to it that shows a brilliantly clear, copper tinged, red stained hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells of fruit, musty earth, toasty malt and a touch of sourness. The sourness seems to accentuate a cherry like aromatic as well as a touch of cranberry and some other tart berry notes. This has a bit of a malt backbone to it, though perhaps not quite as much as one migh expect in the style, that reminds me of a touch of biscuit notes, a hint of caramelized malt and perhaps even a hint of walnuts. The tartness here is fairly light, but does seem to have a hint of acetic character to it along with the slightly more noticeable lactic character. A touch of musty, earthy aromas hint at a Brettanomyces presence, but this doesn’t have a full on barnyard funkiness to it. Not a bad aroma, though it does seem a touch tame.

Pretty light bodied with a fairly high level of carbonation, the combination produces a fizzy, watered down effect after the first sip. Releasing some of the carbonation helps a bit, but this remains fairly light bodied; it is not quite watery though as it does have a touch of heft to it as it rolls across the tongue. This has a light, but persistent tartness to it that tastes of lactic acidity; there is a touch of a grapefruit effect here as well as some flavors similar to tart pomegranate and perhaps a touch of other berry like notes. There is a touch of astringency in the finish that mixes with the tartness, but tastes a little plastic like.

Not bad, but somehow not all that interesting either. This has a hint of complexity to it in the aroma, but the flavor is fairly bland for a beer of this style. It definitely needs more acidity, and more, even some, funkiness would be a welcome addition.

Bottle pours dark brown with off white head. Has mild funk aroma, with some fruit and tart smells on the side. Has a medium light mouthfeel with a fair amount of carbonation. Flavor was a little subdued. Has funk, fruit, tartness, biscuit, and a smooth subtle tart finish. Overall a nice brew. Just didn’t hit home with me the way other brews in this style have. Thanks Cliff for sharing this one.

22. Thanks, SuzyGreenberg! Cloudy dark brown with bright caramel highlights. Loose, clotty gray film. Nice tangy balsamic and strawberry nose. Creamy medium body--mild berry/vinous tang on the mid-palate. Not bad, but lacks power and personality. And flanders reds generally don’t.

I’m having a lot of trouble rating this much differently than the Dark Horse Primordial Geuze which I had so much of last weekend. Both efforts are early stage, artificial. In this beer, the base is there with a wet white bread flavor, and the yeast is tart, a little lactic, layered on top in bursts of acidity. Somewhat acetic or sour in the same way as Petrus Aged Pale or Rodenbach or JP La Roja Grand Reserve - but a little lighter than that to me. Aroma has some pineappley, perfumey flowers ala Brett, but thin. Nice slightly dark color. The beer is very effervescent - would it blow the bottle if aged?! Would it mature? I have no idea. Right now it is forced but has nice elements. Thanks so much, Eugene.