The Craft Beer Geek reviews the Vichtenaar Flanders Red, a Sour Red Ale from Verhaeghe Brewing in Belgium.
5.1% ABV
From The Brewers Website:
The “Vichtenaar” is a beer that is brewed on the basis of deeply burned malt, spicy and fruity hops, yeast and soft water pumped from a well with a depth of 172 m, which is a guarantee of the quality and the purity of the water. After the main fermentation and the second lagering the “Vichtenaar” undergoes a third fermentation in oak casks for several months. The oak casks are large vats with a capacity ranging between 5000 and 25000 liters.
The “Vichtenaar” is a traditional and typical beer for West Flanders, in the Northwest of Belgium. The taste of the “Vichtenaar” can be described as slightly acidic and complex and this through the long fermentation in oak casks. The fresh taste of the “Vichtenaar” makes it a particularly thirst-quenching beer, especially during the summer months.
The “Vichtenaar” is also one of the last old-Flemish red-brown beers which are matured in oak casks and is especially appreciated for its authenticity by the beer connoisseur. In 1958 “Brewery Verhaeghe” obtained for its beer “Vichtenaar” the first prize in the international contest for beers in Ghent.
• Type of beer : West-Flemish red brown ale
• Color : reddish brown
• Fermentation : mixed fermentation
• Alcohol : 5.1 % alc. vol.
• Wort extract : 14 Hl°Plato
• Packaging, bottles : 25cl, 33cl
• Packaging, kegs : 15l, 30l