It is quite refreshing to realize that I can spend an evening in my neighborhood drinking beers that I have neither tasted nor seen in any of the local stores, and that reassure me of the vibrancy and ecclecticism of Belgium's brewing scene.

Last night, the Friday of a particularly gruelling week, I visited l'Atelier (The Dealer), a beer bar with the singular purpose of keeping its patrons happy with over 200 beers on a carefully chosen and broad list hung imposingly on the wall. Kumar, with whom I was drinking, could probably have consumed a beer casually while I studied the list carefully, making sure my first beer counted. My attention was drawn to a label that I had not heard of called "Queue du Charrue", meaning "Line of Cars", that poured somewhat flat and had an appetizing ruby color. The label left little indication as to what lay inside, other than the vague categorization of "Bruin". (Brown). The color screamed Flemish Red Beer and upon smelling it my hunch was confirmed. It had plum wine notes overwhelming a delicate toffee base, and the acidity was obviously forthcoming on the palate.

Not nearly as sour as I had anticipated, this brown brewed by Verhaeghe in Vichte, West Flanders, stands as a wonderfully mellow example of this regional beer style that I had thought was slowly heading toward extinction. Not so, in fact, it appears to be quite popular. A similar beer brewed by the same brewery and sold on tap at this bar, "Duchesse de Burgogne" (Duchesse of Burgundy), was on every tray that passed by us.

After filling up on Queue, I selected another unknown label called Caves, which as it turns out, is also brewed by the same brewery as the two mentioned above. This one poured a copper color and left a bit more head. Again, the aroma belied its shady past, resting in oak tuns in some dark cellar acquiring a rustic, winey tang that seems almost impossible to find anywhere else in the world. The "off" swill drawn from filthy beer lines in seedy, poorly managed pubs does not count.

Since I was already getting a bit toasty by the time I tried Caves, I'll punt to Michael Jackson to explain its nuances as "...a Gueuze-like brew but with a fuller color and a nuttier, creamier palate." This seems to ring a bell.

For anyone wishing to delve deeper into this style, I've included a list of beers that fall within the sour red/brown beer category which are loosely defined as beers that claim all or part of their make-up to derive from stock aged in wooden barrels, tuns, or metal tanks (open or closed). An asterix indicates a beer in the style that acquires it sourness in other ways, either by blending with a lambic base or by other means uspecified.

Rodenbach - Klassiek, Grand Cru
Liefmans - Goudenband, Odnar, Oud Bruin (plus a Kriek and a Framboise made from them)
Verhaege - Duchesse de Burgongne, Queue du Charrue, Caves, Vichtenaar, Pandoer, Gapers Bier Ansold.
Van Steenberge - Bios
Van Honsebrouck - Bacchus
Strubbe - Ichtegem's Oud Bruin, Hoeve Bier
Facon - Ouden Bruin
Alken Maes - Zulte*
Bockor - Bellegems Bruin
Bavik - Petrus Oud Bruin
Cnudde - Cnudde Bruin
Timmermans - Bourgogne des Flandres*

An addtional note of interest is that the Dolle Brewers (Oerbier, Boskeun, Stille Nacht) used to use a Rodenbach yeast which gave their beers a similar character, but after the purchase to Palm, the supply was cut off and Dolle had to reinvent its range.