Arbor Flamboyant Wild Red Ale

Brewed by Arbor Brewing Company Pub & Eatery
Style: Sour Red/Brown
Ann Arbor, Michigan USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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Shared by Dak. Pours a cloudy orange-red color with an off-white head. Aroma is wood and sour cherries mostly. Taste is sour, vinegary and a bit of sweetness. Pretty good beer.

750ml ml bottle shared by jsprime. flat murky brownish red. lightly tart aroma. flavour of red berries and tons of oaky tannins. would have been drinakable with carbonation. drain pour as is. waste of $16.

Murky reddish pour, off white head. Sour aroma, light cheese, vinegar, leathery notes. Flavor is sour, acedic acid, yeasty funk. Nice.

MFB 2010 What a savage place! People piled up like mad to get hooked up with this place. THE HOUR OF SOUR! It’s a total zoo - complete frenzy and raining like I’ve never seen before, People are packed in so tight that you know loads are getting dropped inside jeans as groins and asses are jammed together. Pretty solid aroma, cherry, citrus, not over the top, bit of funk, cheese - definety some cheese cloth and some stink on the nose - something here is reminding me of fishing - like a tackle box. Not quite strong enough - even let this open up for 5 minitues. This is a big sour mess - yum. sour cherry, none of that awful yeasty horse blanket stuff - it’s not that foul - but it’s got some good funk to it just like the nose. Sour lemon, touch of vinegar, pretty good bite. Good beer - this is great drinking. Big in-your-face hard sour finish, mouth burn finish.

750ml bottle. pours a deep, purple color with minimal white head. aroma is a bouquet of berries: tart blackberry, blueberry, and some heavy currant. nice and tannic. wonderful. flavor isn’t nearly as tart as expected. big wood comes through a slightly sweet body. vinegar and sugars muddle out the expected berry punch. alcohol is a bit too evident as well. thin and watery

MBGSG ’10. Nice cherry nose with some caramel and cola. Taste is moderately tart, light to moderately sweet with pie cherries, caramel, light acetic acid and a touch of vanilla.

750ml bottle. Dark, brackish color with a thin bubbly head. Aroma and flavor has that sour funk to it, but not a whole lot, at least not enough to blow me away. Cherries and tartness are pretty prevalent in the flavor. A decent sour but nothing too great.

Thanks Chris for sharing this brew! A- Light foggy cherry wood body. CLoudiness is dynamic. Pours with a 1 finger foamy white head which leaves some lacing behind in the glass. S- Nose is wonderful, complexc, and balanced. I pick up notes of cherry, grape, light tartness, and light oak. Overall impression is soft, slightly fruity and slightly dry. T- A good amount of sour cherry, dusty oak, and a hint of acidic tartness upfront. Finish is dry, slightly dusty, and metallic with a light presence of alcohol in the back. M- Light to medium weight body that is slightly thin with soft carbonation. D- This is a decent Flanders Red overall-but cedrtainly not the best in the world. Its not very sour but is slightly acidic and dry. The only turn-off about this brew really is the slightly metallic presence in the flavor. Above average-decent brew overall. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 06-29-2010 02:58:26

750 ml bottle courtesy beerlando. This one pours a cloudy, deep red color with a thin film of off white foam at the head. Not much lace to speak of. The aroma shows notes of slightly acetic cherries over a base of caramel malt and grain to go with some funky old oak, and earthy brett. There is a touch of vinous character there. The flavor follows with some tart grape skins and sour cherries over the cereal grain malt base. The earthy brett and soured oak push through as well, but the papery component seems to over take everything. I was hoping for more of the red wine complexity. Medium bodied and moderately carbonated that leads to a slightly tart cherry finish. Decent sour overall.

Sampled November 2010
A solid pour into my Lost Abbey Teku tulip produces an almost three-finger thick, amber-tinged, tan colored head. The beer is a dark plum-red color that shows an almost brilliantly clear, bright cranberry hue when held up to the light. The beer smells tart up front, but then picks up a strawberry jam like note to it towards the finish; interesting I thought there might perhaps be some fruit used in the brewing of this beer, but I wasn’t expecting strawberry. Though I expect this is a note picked up from something other than actual strawberries. Other notes of spicy oak, some light woody notes, a touch of buttery oak character as well as a general berry character that I associate with a fruity red wine. Funkiness plays a fairly significant supporting role in the aroma, contributing notes of musty damp clay, a ripe cheesy note, perhaps just a wisp of baby puke, some muskiness and even a wisp of rotting vegetal character at times. If you really dig around in the finish a toasty grain character starts to come out. At times the nose can really smell like a slightly molding, quite musty, plank of wood. The aroma is quite complex and I am really enjoying contemplating the nose of this beer.

Fairly dry tasting up front, but it picks up a hint of sweetness as it moves across the tongue. The beer really reminds me a lot of an oaky red wine; notes of black currents, bright berries, a touch of strawberry and the tartness here (dominantly lactic in character) also makes me think of wine. The oak contributes a light astringency and tannic bite to the finish that lingers on the palate. There is also a nice level of oak spiciness to this beer that also lingers on the tongue and it is not overly noticeable. The entire oak presence is actually done quite well here, it is not so much that it overwhelms the other flavors found here and I like that it doesn’t accentuate the hot alcohol as so many an oaked beer can be. This has a nice level of carbonation to it, definitely not on the aggressive side, but there is enough of a substantial prickle to support the medium-leaning body that has some viscosity to it as it lingers on the palate. This is definitely a sipping beer though, as the oak, tartness and complexity make it a beer to be experienced in smaller sips (at least for me, though I could see myself drinking this fairly quickly if I was distracted by engaging conversation, so perhaps this is a nicely versatile beer). A touch of toasted grain character adds some complexity towards the finish. At times there is a spicy, not quite burnt, curing plastic like phenolic note to the finish that is neither persistent nor strong enough to get annoying. The flavor has a nice buttery note to it at times and there is a definite, though soft, mustiness to the flavor as well as a hint of muskiness. There is a hint of residual crystal malt and toastiness here in the flavor (which is likely much reduced from the base beer) that helps to add additional complexity and interest.

It is quite interesting how wine like this beer is (definitely red wine too), the nose has a touch more malt focus than the flavor, but even it is really evocative of a fruity, oak aged red wine. My second pour sees me noticing a melding of buttery oak and slightly overly ripe, funky cheese character in the aroma. I really like the lactic acidity that is here, it is not as aggressive as would be found in a traditional Lambic, but it plays a really nice off-setting role in this beer. This is a thoroughly enjoyable beer; it has quite a bit of complexity to it as the red wine character, the oak-barrel notes, the tart / funky fermentation character and the supporting malt character all work together quite well. I feel like I should be more critical of this beer for some reason, but it is so well integrated, so complex and it drinks so well that I can’t help but really, really enjoy the experience. This is one that should age very well, I really wish I had a case of this slumbering in the cellar.