Local beer trends of late, with the exception of IPAs (always IPAs), have drawn heavily from the Belgian brewing tradition.
First it was saison and farmhouse ales, then came exceptionally funky brett-laced beers and sharp, quenching sours. The latest movement in Ontario craft beer seems to be toward barrel-aged sours like red and brown ales in the Flemish vein.
The most recognizable and readily available Flanders red is Rodenbach. Approachable and wine-like, the premium Grand Cru and Vintage expressions are made by blending young beers with beers aged at greater length in giant wooden vats called foeders, making them astonishing complex and that much more appealing to beer geeks. Petrus and Liefmans both make tasty oud bruin, or old brown, sour ales.
Originally, these beers were turned sour by free-spirited microbes that found happy homes in fermentation tanks in the absence of proper refrigeration, sanitation standards and antibacterial hops. Now we make and drink them because they’re delicious: tart and luscious, unique and quaffable.
The use of wine barrels from Niagara and Prince Edward County, also involved in the creation of local beers beyond Flanders-inspired brews, complements the beers’ sour winey notes and puts an Ontario stamp on the final product.
Barrel-aged sour stouts, a seasonally appropriate hybrid style that emerged from the larger craft-beer renaissance, are also making a splash.
Bellwoods (124 Ossington, 416-535-4586, bellwoodsbrewery.com) has an extensive barrel-aging program, with beers like the oaky Motley Cru 2015 (a sour red ale aged in barrels with Pinot Noir grapes) and the insanely delicious 3 Minutes To Midnight (Bellwoods Imperial Stout brewed with cocoa nibs, cherries and raspberries) both on tap – or at least they were last week. Bellwoods also offers a ton of its own barrel-aged stock in bottles at the brew pub. See listing.
As part of its Greener Futures barrel-aged beer club, Beau’s (beaus.ca) plans to brew an oud bruin this summer. Membership is sold out for now but opens again in the autumn – likely just in time to get your hands on that sour brown ale.
The Amsterdam Brewhouse (245 Queens Quay West, 416-504-1020, amsterdambrewhouse.com) also has an aging program, routinely releasing treats like Eastern Migration (brewed collaboratively with Tooth and Nail), an English-style brown ale seasoned in barrels previously used by local producers to age Cabernet Merlot wines, giving it a Flanders twist. See listing.
WVRST (609 King West, 416-703-7775, wvrst.com) has a pretty cool cellaring program, including bottle-aged and barrel-aged wonders from near and far. See listing.
