Whoa, man. Whoa. Flemish Sour Ale they call it… I call it a style like nothing you’ve ever had. Meaning, to be very clear here, you’ve never had. I’ve had Sour Ales (yes, Flemish Sour Ales!) before, but never this one. And this’n is better than any other I’ve ever had. Some of you may have had your lambic’s or various fruited ales and you may think “Oh, Captain, I’ve tried everything out there. I’ve seen the sun rise over four different oceans. I’ve crossed the Sahara in a hot air balloon. I even fought off a mountain lion with a sharpened comb and a box of cigars!” To which I would say… you are awesome. You are so cool. I will wash your car for you if you want. I bet it’s like… like totally a Rolls from the 50s, too. Damn. You’re shweet.

ANYWAY! The beer…

They call it Sour and hoo-boy! It is. From the moment I cracked open the bottle, I knew this was gonna rock. It pours out into a deep red, almost wine-like color. The head? It’s OUTTA here. It dissipated after less than a minute, even without a sip to break surface tension. I gave a good long series of sniffs, and indeed… sour. An oaky, sour, fruity—mostly berries—and winey aroma and a slight… uh… ale-y scent. Can I say “ale-y?” Do you know what I mean by that? Whatevah.

The mouthfeel of this brau is surprisingly light and the finish crisp. The taste… well… it’s sour. And amazing. This beer really does have an oak-aged, wine-like character. Not shocking as a portion of it is… aged in oak. The carbonation is low and the 5.1% A.B.V. moderate, letting the sour fruit and complex malt dance over them taste buds. And in this beer, much more than in others, you can tell how much the yeast defines the flavor. The beer is made of a mixture of 75% “regular” ale and 25% aged ale. That aging, and the yeast strains—and a special “micro flora”*—coaxes all the flavor possible out of the barley and hop. Like many beers from Belgium (think Lambics and various White and Wheat beers) the hop character is very low. Just a little bit of crispness as the sourparty recedes in a long, delicate finish.

*if you know what, exactly, that means… tell me. Then I’ll smugly tell you that I already knew that.**

**which is flagrant misinformation. Wait! I could use the internet! Or… put my head down on my desk…