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'''Flemish red-brown beer''', also known as "Flanders red brown beer" or simply "Flemish brown beer" <ref name="lostbeers_1">[https://lostbeers.com/flemish-brown-red-or-red-brown/ "Flemish brown, red or red brown? How Michael Jackson invented a beer style out of thin air," by Roel Mulder. Retrieved 08/29/2020.]</ref><ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/?post_id=3819410974753755&comment_id=3819670174727835&reply_comment_id=3821688484526004 Casey Wellman. Milk The Funk Facebook thread on Flemish Red-Brown beer. 08/30/2020.] </ref>, is a classic Belgian beer style that is currently produced only by a small handful of breweries in Flanders, Belgium today. Some breweries outside of Flanders and Belgium aim to produce comparable beers <ref name="snauwaert">[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168160515301896 Microbial diversity and metabolite composition of Belgian red-brown acidic ales. Isabel Snauwaert, Sanne P. Roels, Filip Van Nieuwerburg, Anita Van Landschoot, Luc De Vuyst, Peter Vandamme. 2015.]</ref>. These beers, red to brown in color, are characterized as being sour and sometimes sweet, with malt flavors and fruity complexity from the mixed fermentation and sometimes hints of oak. They have often been described as "wine-like". Non-Belgian beer writers, beginning with Michael Jackson, have split these beers into two categories: "Flanders Red Ale" and "Oud Bruin". with The the arguable distinction between these two has arguably been them being that "Flanders Red Ales" are generally brewed in West Flanders and are aged in oak, while "Oud Bruin" is generally aged in steel fermenters and brewed in East Flanders, and the "Oud Bruin" version is less acetic and more malty in flavor (. Before beer writer Michael Jackson wrote about these styles, Belgian brewers did not make no such the same distinctions. Today, some modern Belgian brewers see the distinction between these types of beers differently from Jackson and even amongst each other <ref>[https://www.belgiansmaak.com/ep043-oud-bruin-flanders-red-brown-flemish-sours/ Belgian Smaak podcast EP043 | Roundtable Discussion — Everything Oud Bruin, Flanders Red, and Flemish Sours. Feb 2023. Retrieved 02/27/2023.]</ref>(~50 mins in). Rodenbach, Brewery Verhaeghe, Liefmans, and De Brabandere are examples of some of the most well known Belgian producers <ref name="lostbeers_1" /><ref>[http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000217.html "Belgium's Great Beers". The Beer Hunter, Michael Jackson. 1999. Retrieved 01/27/2016.]</ref><ref>[http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf 23B. BJCP 2016 Guidelines. Flanders Red Ale and 23C. Oud Ruin.]</ref>. Classic Belgian examples have been flash pasteurized or sterile filtered and are not alive in the bottle<ref>[http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/the-sour-hour-episode-9/ Rudy Ghequire from Rodenbach on the Sour Hour]</ref> (~35 minutes in) (also ref Mad Fermentationist dregs list). Belgian brewers are seeking to protect the term "Flemish Red Brown Beer"; see [[Flemish_Red_Brown_Beer#Protection_Seeking|Protection Seeking]] below.
==History==
* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/3643720645656123/ MTF thread with thoughts from Roel Mulder, Lars Garshol, and others on the history of Flanders brown beer.]
* [https://lostbeers.com/flemish-brown-red-or-red-brown/ "Flemish brown, red or red brown? How Michael Jackson invented a beer style out of thin air," by Roel Mulder.]
In April 2011, a group of brewers within Belgium called HORARB ("Hoge raad voor de authentieke Vlaams Roodbruine bieren", or the "High Council for Authentic Flemish Red-brown Beers") formed and intends to seek to make this style a regionally protected style within the EU (Protected Geographical Indication). This group is made up of four brewers in Belgium: Brewery Rodenbach from Roeselare, brewery Verhaeghe from Vichte, Bavik from Bavikhove and Bockor from Bellegem. The proposed name for this style is "Flemish red-brown beer" <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170701162839/https://www.toerisme-leiestreek.be/nl/rondje-roodbruin/roodbruine-bieren "Red-brown beers". Toerisme Leiestreek website. Retrieved through Google Translate on 10/29/2018.]</ref><ref>[https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/jd39iqv6&prev=search "Rodenbach, Bockor, Bavik and Verhaeghe join forces". Martin Tytgat. Het Nieuwsblad. 04/30/2011. Retrieved through Google Translate on 10/29/2018.]</ref>.
==Microbes and Flavor Compounds==
====Introduction====
While most beer styles are fermented using one culture a monoculture of ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' or ''S. pastorianus'', Flanders Red Ales are fermented with a [[Mixed Fermentation|mixed culture fermentation]]. At one brewery (presumed to be Rodenbach) studied by Martens et al.(1997) and then later by Dusart et al. (2022), two beers were produced using mixed fermentation and blended together. The first "light beer" was 11°P and was less acidic, while the second "heavy beer" was 13°P and served aged unblended as an Old Ale. Both beers were inoculated with an acid washed yeast slurry that was harvested from a previous fermentation of the "light beer". The yeast slurry contained about 5% lactic acid bacteria after the acid wash. The fermentation of these beers had three stages<ref name="Martens">[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2050-0416.1997.tb00939.x/abstract MICROBIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF A MIXED YEAST—BACTERIAL FERMENTATION IN THE PRODUCTION OF A SPECIAL BELGIAN ACIDIC ALE. H. Martens, D. Iserentant andH. Verachtert. 1997.]</ref><ref name="Dusart_2022" />: # A seven day ethanol fermentation at 21°C dominated by ''Saccharomyces''(also present was lactic acid bacteria which was kept to a minimal population due to the acid washing process). After this seven day fermentation, the yeast is harvested and washed for the next brew <ref name="Dusart_2022" />. # A four to five week lactic acid fermentation at 15–21 °C in epoxy-covered tanks dominated by ''Lactobacilli''<ref name="Dusart_2022" />. # The 11°P "light beer" is then blended with aged Old Ale, pasteurized, and packaged (1/3 young "light beer" to 2/3 Old Ale), while the 13°P "heavy beer" is transferred to large wooden vats (foeders). At Rodenbach, this blended and pasteurized product is the Rodenbach Grand Cru <ref name="Dusart_2022" />. # A The "heavy beer", which becomes Old Ale, is then aged for a twenty to twenty-four month period of time. During this time, the beer undergoes a long and slow fermentation that is dominated by ''Brettanomyces'', ''Lactobacilli'', ''Pediococcus'', and acetic acid bacteria (''Acetobacter''). Most of the aged Old Ale is blended with fresh "light beer", but a small amount is packaged unblended as "Rodenbach Vintage" <ref name="Dusart_2022" />.
The development of the third stage with ''Brettanomyces'' and ''Pediococcus'' was similar to the development of these microbes in [[Lambic]] fermentation. The "light beer" was never allowed to go through the third phase of fermentation, and was instead chilled to 0°C and then used to blend with previous batches of the "heavy beer" and then pasteurized during packaging for stability <ref name="Martens">[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2050-0416.1997.tb00939.x/abstract MICROBIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF A MIXED YEAST—BACTERIAL FERMENTATION IN THE PRODUCTION OF A SPECIAL BELGIAN ACIDIC ALE. H. Martens, D. Iserentant andH. Verachtert. 1997.]</ref>.
====Primary Fermentation====
===Modern Analysis===
A more recent study by Snaewaert et al. (see reference <ref name="snauwaert"></ref>) looked at the microbial and metabolic composition in the finished beer of the same brewery as Martens et al., as well as two other Flemish red-brown beer breweries using "state of the art" DNA sequencing methods. Three samples were analyzed (A, B, and C) from each brewery (1, 2, and 3). As expected, there were both similarities and differences between the three breweries tested, as well as some differences between the individual beers from each brewery. See [[Flemish_Red-Brown_Beer#Microbial_Populations|Microbial Populations]] below. In 2022, Dusart et al. analyzed and compared flavor compounds of a bottle of 2015 Rodenbch Vintage, a 2021 bottle of Rodenbach Grand Cru, and a 2021 bottle of Liefmans Goudenband, using solvent-assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE) and static headspace analysis, followed by GC-MS analysis. They also included n-Hexanol extraction of short-chain fatty acids and HPLC analysis of iso-alpha acids <ref name="Dusart_2022" />. See [[Flemish_Red-Brown_Beer#Rodenbach_vs_Liefmans_Analysis|Rodenbach vs Liefmans Analysis]] below.
====Microbial Populations====
Overall the flavor of these beers was dominated by ethanol, lactic acid, acetic acid, ethyl acetate. Across the samples there was also a presence of isoamyl alcohol (31-150mg/L) and isoamyl acetate (1.99-6 mg/L), and an absence of 2-phenyl ethanol and 2-phenylethyl acetate in both the matured beers and the bottles versions. Small amounts of propionic acid, isobutyric acid, ethyl hexanoate, and ethyl octanoate were found. Higher levels of ethyl acetate were found compared to the Martens et al. study, and no ethyl decanoate was found, which is a typical ester found in gueuze. Just as the microbial populations of Brewery 2 differed from Breweries 1 and 3, so did its overall metabolite content. Higher levels of acetic acid were found in Brewery 2, which was attributed to high levels of ''Acetobacter'' populations. Additionally, all three of the samples from Brewery 2 differed from each other as far as metabolic content, which was also attributed to the microbial population differences between each of Brewery 2's samples <ref name="snauwaert"></ref>.
====Rodenbach vs Liefmans Analysis====
In 2022, Dusart et al. analyzed and compared flavor compounds of a bottle of 2015 Rodenbach Vintage (unblended oak aged Old Ale), a 2021 bottle of Rodenbach Grand Cru (blend of 1/3 young beer and 2/3 oak aged Old Ale), and a 2021 bottle of Liefmans Goudenband (stainless steel aged Old Ale blended with young beer). They reported that iso-alpha acid content was low in all three bottles, as expected. Specifically, the Rodenbach Vintage had no detectable iso-cohumulone and only 0.25 mg/L iso-humulone. The Rodenbach Grand Cru had around 1.2 mg/L each of iso-cohumulone/iso-humulone, and the Liefmans had around half that amount. Interestingly, the Liefmans bottle had around 1.5 mg/L of tetrahydroisohumulones, eluding the use of tetra iso-alpha hop extract, which has been found to increase head retention in sour beers <ref name="Dusart_2022" />.
The phenols 4-ethylguaiacol (4EG) and 4-ethylphenol (4EP) were found in the range of 54-385 µg/l, with the Rodenbach Vintage (unblended Old Ale) having the highest amounts. These levels were still less than typical lambic/gueuze levels. The 4EG levels in Liefmans was only 54 µg/l, compared to the 236 µg/l in Rodenbach Grand Cru and 384 µg/l in Rodenbach Vintage. Liefmans had a fairly high level of 4EP (123 µg/l), but it was still below the flavor threshold of 150 µg/l. In addition, Liefmans had high levels of of 4-vinyl precursors, indicating that ''Brettanomyces'' is not present during the Liefmans brewing process. The scientists suggested that the detected 4EP came from the small amount of torrefied malt used in the Liefmans brewing process, which has been shown to produce small amounts of 4EP <ref name="Dusart_2022" /><ref>[https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jf5015654 Scholtes, C.; Nizet, S.; Collin, S. Guaiacol and 4-Methylphenol as Specific Markers of Torrefied Malts. Fate of Volatile Phenols in Special Beers through Aging. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2014, 62, 9522–9528. DOI: 10.1021/jf5015654.]</ref>. Both Rodenbach beers had detectable lactones and other phenols associated with toasting barrels (vanillin, acetovanillone, syringalde-
hyde, and eugenol). Surprisingly, the Liefmans bottle also had some of these phenols (vanillin and lactones), indicating that perhaps some of these came from the specialty malts used <ref name="Dusart_2022" />.
Esters and alcohols were also measured in all three bottles by the scientists. Ethyl acetate, which is a byproduct of yeast fermentation (especially ''[[Brettanomyces]]'' fermentation) and has an odor threshold of 30 mg/L in beer, was considerably high in all three beers: Liefmans had around 100 mg/L, Rodenbach Grand Cru had around 132 mg/L, and Rodenbach Vintage had 237 mg/L. By comparison, clean ales have around 8-48 mg/L, pasteurized gueuzes have around 33-67 mg/L, and unpasteurized gueuzes have around 61-167 mg/L. Noticeably, the Rodenbach Vintage had considerably high ethyl acetate, even when compared to gueuze. As expected, isoamyl acetate was below odor threshold (1.2 mg/L) in the Rodenbach beers, but above odor threshold in the Liefmans (1.73 mg/L). Isoamyl alcohol was above odor threshold in all three beers. The ester 2-phenylethyl acetate was also below threshold in the Rodenbach beers but not the Liefmans, while its alcohol precursor was high in the Rodenbach. Both esters, isoamyl acetate and 2-phenylethyl acetate, are known to be degraded into ethyl acetate by ''Brettanomyces''. Ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, and ethyl decanoate esters had levels similar to typical ''Saccharomyces'' fermentations. The Liefmans bottle reached the odor threshold level for oct-1-en-3-ol, which has an earthy/mushroom/musty odor and is considered an off flavor in beer <ref name="Dusart_2022" />.
The short chain fatty acids [[Isovaleric_Acid|isovaleric acid]] and hexanoic acid were also measured. Isovaleric acid can be produced by ''Brettanomyces''. It can also be produced by the oxidation of hop acids. The levels of isovaleric acid in the Liefmans and Rodenbach Grand Cru was around the same as it is for regular ales (0.98 mg/L and 0.96 mg/L, while the Rodenbach Vintage reached the odor threshold (1.5 mg/L in beer) of isovaleric acid at 1.53 mg/L. By comparison, gueuze has been measured to have up to 2-3 mg/L of isovaleric acid. Hexanoic acid (also known as caproic acid, and is fatty/sweaty/cheesy/goaty), however, was found at much higher levels in all three beers. At an odor threshold of 8 mg/L in beer, Liefmans measured 10 mg/L, Rodenbach Grand Cru measured 11.26 mg/L, and Rodenbach Vintage measured 11.8 mg/L <ref name="Dusart_2022" />. Pentanoic, octanoic, and decnaoic acids were found below odor threshold <ref name="Dusart_2022" />.
==Style Guidelines==
Note: style guidelines are primarily used to help facilitate beer competitions, or to reflect modern commercial beers as best possible. They are therefore not the ultimate authority on all beer styles and throughout history. <ref>[https://www.bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf BJCP Style Guidelines. Pg v. Bullet 2. Retrieved 03/10/2021.]</ref><ref>[https://www.brewersassociation.org/edu/brewers-association-beer-style-guidelines 2021 Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines. retrieved 03/10/2021.]</ref>
===BJCP Guidelines===
The BJCP breaks this style into two separate categories; see category [http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf 23B. Flanders Red Ale and 23C. Oud Bruin].
===Brewers Association Guidelines===
''Belgian-Style Flanders Oud Bruin or Oud Red Ale'' <ref>[https://www.brewersassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015-brewers-association-beer-style-guidelines.pdf 2015 Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines used with permission of Brewers Association. Retrieved 01/25/2016.]</ref> are copper to very dark. SRM/EBC color values can be misleading because the red spectrum of color is not accurately assessed using these procedures. Chill haze is acceptable at low serving temperatures. Some versions may be more highly carbonated and, when bottle conditioned, may appear cloudy when served. Roasted malt aromas including a cocoa-like character are acceptable at low levels. Brettanomyces produced aromas may be completely absent or very low. Fruity-ester aroma which is often cherry-like is apparent. Hop aroma is not perceived. Roasted malt flavors including a cocoa-like character are acceptable at low levels. A very low degree of malt sweetness may be present and in balance with the acidity
produced by Lactobacillus activity. Hop flavor is not perceived. Hop bitterness is perceived to be very low to medium-low, though acidity and wood aging (if used) may mask higher bitterness unit levels. Overall balance is characterized by slight to strong lactic sourness, and with "Reds" sometimes a balanced degree of acetic acid. Brettanomyces produced flavors may be absent or very low. Fruity-ester flavor which is often cherry-like is apparent. Oak-like or woody characters may be pleasantly integrated into overall palate. Residual wine or distilled spirits flavors associated with used barrels should not be evident. Bottle conditioned versions are often blended old with new before packaging in order to create the brewer’s intended balance of characters. Body is described as a refreshing mouthfeel.
* Original Gravity: (ºPlato) 1.044 - 1.056 (11 - 13.8)
* Apparent Extract/Final Gravity: (ºPlato) 1.008 - 1.016 (2.1 - 4.1)
* Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 3.80% - 5.20% (4.80% - 6.60%)
* Bitterness (IBU): 5 - 18
* Color SRM (EBC): 12 - 25 (24 - 50)
==See Also==
* [http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/the-sour-hour-episode-9/ Rudy Ghequire from Rodenbach on the Sour Hour]
* [http://www.belgiansmaak.com/rudi-ghequire-rodenbach/ Interview with Rudi Ghequire on Belgian Smaak podcast.]
* [https://www.belgiansmaak.com/ep043-oud-bruin-flanders-red-brown-flemish-sours/ Belgian Smaak podcast - EP043. Roundtable Discussion — Everything Oud Bruin, Flanders Red, and Flemish Sours."]
* [http://sourbeerblog.com/designing-and-brewing-a-flanders-red-ale/ Designing and Brewing a Flanders Red Ale, by Matt Miller of Sour Beer Blog.]
* [https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8CshC9nxYHdYXNVbXFHbVJqS0k&usp=sharing CRAFT Beer: Quantitation of the Major Components of Commercially Available Sour Beers Using Time-Domain CRAFT Analysis of <sup>1</sup>H NMR Spectra.]
* [https://embracethefunk.com/2020/03/30/rosa-merckx-the-icon-you-need-to-know/ "Rosa Merckx (The icon you need to know)," by Brandon Jones, Embrace The Funk blog. An article on the first female Belgian brewmaster and brewmaster at Leifmans.]
* [http://www.latisimports.com/assets/uploads/2012/06/FlemishRedBrownbeersCBC3.pdf "Flemish Red Brown Beers", Presentation by Rudi Ghequire at CBC 2012.]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvY-RFYxVbA "Tasting Together: Flanders Red Ale with Master Cicerone Pat Fahey," Cicerone Certification Program YouTube Channel.]
==References==