VanderGhinste Flanders Sour Ale 11.2 oz

Tart, Refreshing & Balanced

Brewed by: Omer Vander Ghinste Brewery
Country: Belgium
Style: Sour/Red Brown
Color: Red Amber

ABV: 5.5%
Ratebeer.com rating: 81
BeerAdvocate.com rating: 91

Omer Vander Ghinste Brewery's VanderGhinste Flanders Sour Ale (5.5% ABV) is a regional classic which was originally called "Ouden Tripel". A traditionally brewed Flanders brown ale is blended with 18-month-old oak-aged lambic to create this tart, refreshing, medium-bodied ale. Reddish-amber with a tan head, the aroma has hints of tart fruit and an underlying light lambic sourness. The palate has apple and raisiny fruit notes offset by a touch of brown ale caramel sweetness and a toasty-woody finish with just a light touch of hops. This is an outstanding "starter sour" a good place to begin exploring the fascinating and delicious world of spontaneous and mixed fermentation* beers. At the World Beer Awards in 2015, VanderGhinste was judged World's Best Dark Beer.

* Called "mixed" fermentation because a large proportion of spontaneously fermented sour beer is blended with a "normally" fermented beer.

Brewery Information:

The Omer Vander Ghinste Brewery, named for its founder, began commercial brewing operations in 1892, and has been continuously in family hands since then. Still located in Bellegem, a village in the Flanders region of Belgium near the French border, the brewery released its very first ale to high acclaim and its fortunes have flourished ever since.

Helmed by five generations of the Vander Ghinste family – of whom all first-born sons are by tradition named Omer – Bockor depended upon a combination of brewers' craft, innovation, marketing savvy and tenacity to grow into an international brand, yet still it maintains close ties to the village in which it was born, striking a balance between modernity and tradition.