Right Proper Brewing Co. - "Vintage Le Flaneur" sour ale

On Friday I swung by Right Proper Brewing Co.'s Shaw Brewpub to see what was on tap and have a pint after a long week. DC-area readers may have tried their "Raised By Wolves", a light and tasty American pale ale available in six-packs, or maybe had their smaller-batch stuff like "Baron Corvo" or"Astral Weeks", both in 16.9oz bottles. Well, the brewpub has these and much more, including the subject of today's review, "Vintage Le Flaneur".

This beer is a vin de cereale aged in sherry casks, clocking in at 10.00% ABV. It's open fermented with mixed-culture yeast; in this case Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus. Now, I admit that I have never heard of the term vin de cereale before. There's no info online about this style, so given the French translation - "wine of grains" - I would presume it to be something like a barleywine or wheatwine. A quick call to the taproom confirmed that vin de cereale is a term they coined to be essentially that, although a soured version...somewhat like an imperial soured ale. According to the brewery, they use a special technique to barrel-age the beer and then draw part out of the cask, replenishing the aging beer with new product to keep the vanillins and the yeast. Sounds neat!

Well, just one whiff of it shows off that Lactobacillus. Slight vinegar on the nose gives it away for sure. Taste does not disappoint, either - this vinous and fruity beer is lighter in body than expected, especially given the fact it's 10.00% ABV, but full of flavors nonetheless. I'm getting moderate raspberry notes, some fig, and a bit of black cherry with a nice dose of vinegar. There's a soft, refreshing quality to this and the flavors linger long in your mouth after swallowing, accompanied by that lactic astringency. This might be a nice option for those looking to dabble in the maltolactic fruit beers without going for full Flemish ales. Head down to the Shaw Brewpub and pick one up for $6.75 for an 8oz snifter!