Thirsty Boy
ICB - tight shorts and poor attitude. **** yeah!
- Joined
- 21/5/06
- Messages
- 4,544
- Reaction score
- 106
I m a patient man and I don't drink a lot, so I am still going on swap number one beers (didn't notice the second coming until it was too late...)
Q's Flanders red
Poured a hazy (but not too bad) Red/Brown into a Chimay goblet @ 7C - Glass was either not properly cleaned, or the beer has no head retention whatsoever. It was very fizzy on the pour, almost like pouring a glass of soda water, but the head lasted no longer than the initial fizz, gone almost immediately. Left it looking a little limp and flat in the glass, even though the beer is quite highly carbonated.
The aromas are all florals, grape and maybe a little stonefruit, with a hint of vinegar, but subtle and woody like a good balsamic. Bit of Brett barnyard stuff, at the leathery/earthy end of the Brett spectrum rather than sweaty and rank. And I don't know if its brett, malt or barrel - but I get what I think is a touch of sandlewood.
Flavours are really well balanced. There's great acid, but restrained with a nice mix of mainly clean lactic and just a little acetic. Woodiness is more prominent and is giving a tannin structure to the beer like a red wine. Bitterness is just enough to balance the malt sweetness and leave it with a clean acid dominated finish that tails off and leaves you looking for another sip.
As the beer warms up (been going for about 15 minutes so far on this glass) it loses a bit of the fruitiness on the nose and the malt comes out more in both the aroma and the palate, this balances the acid a bit more effectively and leaves the beer more "strongly tart' than actually sour. It could be that I am just getting used to the acid level though.. going to pour glass number two now.
Now I'm getting hint of artificial strawberry on the nose, which would be nasty if it was strong, but in the small amount its there is just pushing the general fruitiness level up, A definite shot of vanilla, a bit of ethanol and I might be getting a smidge of general "hoppy" - but I am really reaching for aromas now and am in danger of starting to imagine stuff.
Softer and smoother warm, finishes with a little acid on the edges of the tongue, vanilla down the center and just the right amount of bitterness on the back palate.
I think this beer is top notch and probably the best Flanders red I have tried, although admittedly it isn't a large sample size. Complex but subtle and with excellent balance that makes it very very drinkable.
Thanks Q
TB
PS - my damn stout has been getting less and less sour as time passes. I don't know why or how, but beer I thought was a perfect candidate for a "funky" beer swap is starting to seriously normalise. If you haven't drunk mine yet, do it now or the damn thing wont be funky at all and I will feel like a swap cheat.
Q's Flanders red
Poured a hazy (but not too bad) Red/Brown into a Chimay goblet @ 7C - Glass was either not properly cleaned, or the beer has no head retention whatsoever. It was very fizzy on the pour, almost like pouring a glass of soda water, but the head lasted no longer than the initial fizz, gone almost immediately. Left it looking a little limp and flat in the glass, even though the beer is quite highly carbonated.
The aromas are all florals, grape and maybe a little stonefruit, with a hint of vinegar, but subtle and woody like a good balsamic. Bit of Brett barnyard stuff, at the leathery/earthy end of the Brett spectrum rather than sweaty and rank. And I don't know if its brett, malt or barrel - but I get what I think is a touch of sandlewood.
Flavours are really well balanced. There's great acid, but restrained with a nice mix of mainly clean lactic and just a little acetic. Woodiness is more prominent and is giving a tannin structure to the beer like a red wine. Bitterness is just enough to balance the malt sweetness and leave it with a clean acid dominated finish that tails off and leaves you looking for another sip.
As the beer warms up (been going for about 15 minutes so far on this glass) it loses a bit of the fruitiness on the nose and the malt comes out more in both the aroma and the palate, this balances the acid a bit more effectively and leaves the beer more "strongly tart' than actually sour. It could be that I am just getting used to the acid level though.. going to pour glass number two now.
Now I'm getting hint of artificial strawberry on the nose, which would be nasty if it was strong, but in the small amount its there is just pushing the general fruitiness level up, A definite shot of vanilla, a bit of ethanol and I might be getting a smidge of general "hoppy" - but I am really reaching for aromas now and am in danger of starting to imagine stuff.
Softer and smoother warm, finishes with a little acid on the edges of the tongue, vanilla down the center and just the right amount of bitterness on the back palate.
I think this beer is top notch and probably the best Flanders red I have tried, although admittedly it isn't a large sample size. Complex but subtle and with excellent balance that makes it very very drinkable.
Thanks Q
TB
PS - my damn stout has been getting less and less sour as time passes. I don't know why or how, but beer I thought was a perfect candidate for a "funky" beer swap is starting to seriously normalise. If you haven't drunk mine yet, do it now or the damn thing wont be funky at all and I will feel like a swap cheat.
. Nicely balanced, just really damn big. Could pick up a little tart/sourness but very subtle. I've still got the stubbie of the unblended sour RIS from you so I'll have a taste of that in a more sober state and I'll do some tasting notes on that.
