Beer Sherpa Recommends: pFriem Flanders Red

There are two or three styles of beer Americans really have a hard time recreating: altbier, English bitter, and especially, the tart ales of Flanders. It’s one of those styles that causes me to flinch when I see an American brew it–not only are American examples not particularly similar to Belgian ones, but they’re often chemical/acid stews. I personally have never had an American version I thought was worth the name, though when I tweeted that information out, people tweeted back the names of some I haven’t tried. Nevertheless, they’re at best rare, rare birds, these good American Flanders reds.

I should say, I had never had a good American Flanders Red until last week, when I tried Josh pFriem’s.  His just-released variation is absolutely sublime. I say “variation” because it’s not a recreation of an existing beer, but it does bear the hallmarks of the Belgian approach: rich complexity but broad appeal. Classic examples like Rodenbach or Verhaeghe contains tons of flavor elements, b …