What it is: Destihl Brewing was just another brewery making blonde ale, India pale ale, porter and all the rest until the world got a taste of its sour beers at the Great American Beer Festival in 2011. Destihl's sour program became an overnight sensation as some of the top names in the business heaped praise upon praise. Now that the downstaters have built a production brewery in Bloomington, its sour program has been scaled up for exportation, and the sour beers have landed in Chicago in a most unlikely vessel: 12-ounce cans. Among the first releases in Destihl's Wild Sour series is Flanders Red, which is exactly what its name promises: a tart and fruity Flanders Red, which is a classic sour Belgian style.
In the can: Pop the top and you'll find a reddish-brownish hue more befitting a fruit jam than a beer. But the color is an apt clue, as Flanders Red pops with plenty of jam-like flavor: plum, underripe strawberry, tart cherry and rhubarb, all wrapped in a prominent sourness. But the tartness is never mouth-puckering and finishes cleanly, without lingering unpleasantly — it resonates more like sour candy once it's gone. This deft Flanders Red and its hearty fruit complexion will appeal to red wine and savvy beer drinkers alike. (Seriously — if you count yourself as a wine drinker who doesn't like beer, give Flanders Red a try. Sours are often gateway beers for wine drinkers.)
Alcohol: 6.1 percent
Drink it with: This beer is satisfying and even a touch refreshing on its own, but Flanders Red is complex and best employed alongside a rich dish, like stew or, since this is the Midwest, brats slathered in grilled onions.
More information: destihlbrewery.com
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