Iron Hill Flemish Red (FRED)

Brewed by Iron Hill West Chester
Style: Sour Red/Brown
West Chester, Pennsylvania USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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F.Red at BCTC 2007. 60-70% opaque, brown, muddled appearance with practically no head. Funky nose, not exactly brett but something close, the blue cheese funk is certainly present, and overall the aroma has a slight resemblance to what I consider Flemish sour ale (oud bruins and of course La Folie). Very lightly biting peppery yeast hits the tongue, with some lightish sour oak notes, and I found myself seeing this as a toned down duchesse de bourgogne. Wet, slick palate, and overall it just doesn’t impress me too much when lined up next to some of the other fantastic experimental sour ales being poured at BCTC. Still a tasty beer, though, no complaints about that.

UPDATED: OCT 14, 2007 murky brown pour small tan head. Almost like a sour sprees aroma lots of sweet sugars odd and quite interesting. Palate is lightly tart and small. Flavor is a sour sugary at the same time very candiy like some berries. odd and Ok.

Courtesy of peter. Brown color/ tan head. Sweet malty pit fruit, nutty aromas. Sweet n’ tart brown sugar, chocolate, sour cherry flavors. good.

Tap at BCTC. Very dead brown pour with no head. Light sour skirts the nose, with a touch of cherries, and some veggies, something I don’t often encounter in sour beers. Some german malts used? Flavor has a good sour but is surrounded by boiled vegetables. Cucumber, red pepper. A bit watery.

Quickly fading tan head dark amber with brownish notes... Winey vinegary dark fruits cherry lightly astringent aroma, mildly sweet... Very earthy the sweet and sour is very muddled light... Moderately lively quite thin almost watery watery finish dry... smells better than it tastes, not as pungent as it should be...

dark red, thin beige head, no lacing. Light pineapple, dry paper, lightly acetic, cinnamon cherry cheese-cloth, light plum and dryness. Nice blend of flavors, probably due to low-moderate carbonation, bit slick, but not nearly the malt I’d like in a flemish ale.

fonefan tasting. Clear dark red with an off-white head. Aroma is sweet, bretty, cherries and woody. Flavor is medium sweet and light sour. Dry and light sour finish. 300911

Bottle. Pours hazy ruby maroon, small tan head that settles quickly. Aroma of plums, prunes, cherries, subtle balsamic vinegar. Taste is sour but not overly so, with summer fruits. Low carbonation. Not bad.

Poured a light brown to amber color with a nice head (but not impressive lacing). The aroma was only light and somewhat tarty, but no apples or cherries or any specific fruits (disappointing, as was the light not red color). Sweet and sour was not the feature of this beer, as it was mostly of caramel malts, bready and flat out malty with a touch of acidic sourness in the finish along with a bittery yeastiness in the aftertaste. The flavor and mouthfeel were too light for the best of this style and this was way too drinkable for the style (ie. I can’t session the best of the Flemish Sours out there, but this one I could). A week showing for the style, imo, but a decent beer.

750 ml corked and caged bottle poured a clear reddish amber with a lingering ring of amber foam. Aromas of sour cherry, vinegar, leather, citrus and light barnyard. Palate was light bodied and crisp with a dry tart finish. Flavors of barnyard, citrus and light cherry with a crisp dry tart lingering funky finish. Too bad the taste does’nt live up to the nose.