Red Bonnet Sour Cherry

6.5% Alc/Vol. Bottle and Keg Conditioned. 12-30 months old at release, further aged for 6 months on sour cherries.  Nano batch brewed, 220- 660 litres from one or more barriques, blended. Vegan. Gold medal, Dish magazine tasting panel 2017. Gold, AIBA 2017.  Label art: Donna Demente. Core range.

Flanders Red ales are a classic style of sour ale, traditionally brewed in the Flemish speaking province of West Flanders. It is a regional curiosity that has survived the pressures of modern tastes. Red Bonnet Sour Cherry usually has a hazy ruby hue from a complex grain bill,  barrel aging in a Waitaki pinot noir barrel, and from the fruit maceration. The unique multiple yeast strains impart a lactic sourness, and  hop bitterness is replaced by a puckering tartness. This beer has been aged for one to two years  in oak, and has then been blended with a younger batch, prior to bottling. The beer is then racked off onto Sour Cherries grown locally at Maheno by the Newlands family. The cherries add tart stone fruit complexity, with almond,  sweet vanilla and coconut flavours from the memory of the cherry stones. The character of this beer will become more complex and sour over time.   Unlike some of the Belgian originals, our beer is not pasteurised, nor back sweetened. Ideal for cellar aging.

Food pairing: Lunch AND dinner, but only if you’re in Roeselare, Belgium.
Proper bread and butter. Witloof, and other strong temperate climate vegetables.  Mussels, soft goat or strong blue cheese, Indian curries, fruit desserts, rich chocolate dessert, jenever.