I'll start with a review of my award winning Flanders Red. I am reviewing my 2011 batch of Flanders Red. I have a yearly tradition that every May I bottle and brew a new batch with some slight adjustments based off the previous batch. The batch I bottled this year had the right elements as you can see below in my review, but needed tweaking in order to better meet the style. This was my first attempt at blending this style beer and I'll share some advice from the experience.
Blending Advice (Notes from a Novice):
- Most Important Step: "Tastualize" your final product. This is very important as you taste each component, you have to figure out how it will fit in to your Final Blend. This sort of knowledge can really only come from experience. Taste as many beers from that style and figure out what you love in each beer.
For example, my "Perfect" Flanders Red:Aroma - Leads with cherry pie notes, then follows with oak (vanilla/coconut) and a sweet/sour balance. No sharp notes (like vinegar), the acetic acid level should be low enough to come across as a rounded soft sourness.
Taste - Flavor should mimic Aroma with same intensity of each character. I like my first taste to be sweet pie cherries, then some less sweet - candied dark fruits flavors from the malt and finish with the oak that helps to balance the sweetness and sourness so it feels drinkable and medium to full body.
- Look for differences between your batch and the "Perfect" beer
After I tasted my current batch and reviewed my "Perfect" Flanders Red, it was easy to identify what was missing. This batch needed that middle dark fruit flavor complexity and need an increase in mouthfeel.
- Evaluate options for missing components
Luckily, at the time of blending I had my Imperial Stout still aging in a keg. The Imperial Stout was very fruit forward and had very little roast character. After tasting it, it would better be labeled as an Old Ale. Using a graduated cylinder, I did several different ratios until I found a ratio I liked.
- Have experienced and non-experienced drinkers review your beer
Over the years I have realized the value in having both experienced beer judges and casual drinkers try my beers. The experienced judge's feedback is obviously helpful, but the casual drinker's feedback helps in other ways. Often times they aren't stuck on the common flavor terminology plus they don't know the style, but can tell you if they like it or not. If a casual drinker tastes a gold medal beer from almost any category in a homebrew contest, I will venture to say they will like it. To be the best beer for that style it will have great flavors that work together.
For the Flanders Red that we are discussing, I did this exact thing. I got my blend into as many mouths as I could. I had well respected beer judges try it and asked them to give me honest feedback. I also poured this for several friends that have never had this style. I learned that my "Perfect" beer is not always the most preferred. The majority of the feedback was to increase the sweetness (More toward Duchesse than Rodenbach Grand Cru). So for my competition blend, I added a bit of sour cherry juice and pomegranate juice to increase the fruit flavors and sweetness.
My final blend ended up being:
85% Flanders Red
10% Imperial Stout
2.5% Sour Cherry Juice
2.5% Pomegranate Juice
The blend was carbed up in a 2 liter bottle using a carb cap to around 2.5 volumes only 2 days before the competition. I left the bottles in the fridge to help with clarity and make sure the extra sugar wasn't consumed to add extra carbonation. This beer placed 2nd in Category 17 at the San Diego County Fair (which has turned out to be a huge competition) and after talking with the judges it was a coin flip for 1st and 2nd. My scoresheet was lost, but wouldn't be too helpful since this was a one time blend. For future competitions, I plan to open bottles and blend starting 2 weeks before the due date.
