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European Sour Ale / 23B

Flanders Red Ale

Certified Beer Server Candidate Style Profile

Official BJCP guideline sections attached for full style exploration.

Certification exam alignment
Certified Beer Server Certified Cicerone® Advanced Cicerone® BJCP Beer Judge Entrance Exam
Source
BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines

Overall Impression

A sour and fruity oak-aged reddish-brown Belgian-style ale with supportive toasty malt flavors and fruit complexity. The dry, tannic finish supports the suggestion of a vintage red wine.

Aroma

Complex fruity-sour profile with supporting malt. Fruitiness is high, and reminiscent of black cherries, oranges, plums, red currants, or fruit leather. Low to medium-low vanilla, chocolate, or peppery phenol can be present for complexity. The sour aroma ranges from moderate to high. A dominant vinegary character is inappropriate, although low to moderate levels of acetic acid are acceptable if balanced with the malt. No hop aroma.

Appearance

Deep red, burgundy to reddish-brown in color. Good clarity. White to very pale tan head. Average to good head retention.

Flavor

Moderate to moderately-high malty flavors often have a soft toasty-rich quality. Intense fruit flavors, same descriptors as aroma. Complex, moderate to high sourness, accentuated by the esters; should not be a simple lactic sourness. A dominant vinegary character is inappropriate, although low to moderate acetic acid is acceptable if balanced with the malt. Generally as the sour character increases, the malt character fades to more of a background flavor (and vice versa). Low to medium-low vanilla, chocolate, or peppery phenols optional. No hop flavor. Restrained bitterness; balanced to the malt side. Acids and tannins can enhance the perception of bitterness, and provide balance and structure. Some versions are sweetened, or blended to be sweet; allow for a wide range of sweetness levels, which can soften the acidic bite and acetic perception.

Mouthfeel

Medium body, often enhanced by tannins. Low to medium carbonation. Low to medium astringency, often with a prickly acidity. Deceivingly light and crisp on the palate although a somewhat sweet finish is not uncommon.

Vital Statistics

IBU
10 - 25
SRM
10 - 17
ABV
4.6% - 6.5%

Commercial Examples

  • Cuvée des Jacobins Rouge
  • Duchesse de Bourgogne

Similar Styles: How to Tell Them Apart

Use these guideline-based sensory contrasts to organize comparative tasting practice.

These aged Belgian sour ales combine dark fruit, malt, restrained hops, and a sweet-to-sour balance in a reddish-brown beer. Flanders Red Ale is lighter, more sharply fruity-tart, tannic, and potentially acetic like red wine; Oud Bruin is darker, maltier, less acetic, and richer in caramel, toffee, chocolate, and oxidative fruit.

Compare with: 23C. Oud Bruin

By aroma

  • Flanders Red Ale has high black-cherry, orange, plum, red-currant, or fruit-leather character with moderate to high sourness over supportive toast.
  • It is less malt-rich than Oud Bruin and may show balanced low to moderate acetic character, while dominant vinegar remains inappropriate.

By taste

  • Flanders Red Ale has complex moderate to high sourness rather than simple lactic acidity, with intense fruit and softer toasty malt.
  • Acid and oak tannin create a dry, structured, vintage-red-wine impression that Oud Bruin lacks.
  • Its lighter body, prickly acidity, and fruitier-tart balance separate it from the browner beer's caramel-chocolate richness.

Quick tell: Red-wine-like fruit, tannin, and sharper balanced acidity identify Flanders Red Ale.

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