“First brewed by Richard over 15 years ago, Flemm is one of the original barrel aged sour recipes in Australia. Co-founders of BentSpoke Richard and Tracy first fell in love with barrel aged beers on a trip to Belgium, which included a guided tour of the famous Rodenbach brewery. A local farmer sitting at the bar of a brasserie close by, guided their beer choices and made sure they felt welcome. And, you guessed it; the farmers name was Flemm!”

Glassware: Trappist Chalice.

Appearance: Extremely dark brown, almost black, with a very faint mahogany hue. Just a short head emerges but it quickly forms a halo with minimal lace as we go.

Aroma: Smells the goods! Quite a hefty malt bill which brings a gorgeous fusion of sweet and earthy notes to balance the slightly tart cherry and blackberry. There’s a lovely albeit subtle hint of aged oak which really gives the nose its depth and complexity. Undertones of cigar skins, farmyard funk, rum & raisin and sweaty sourness. Diggin it!

Flavour: Similar to the nose in the sense that there’s very mild sourness but lots of chocolate and lightly roasted malt. There’s subtle cherry and dark fruit tartness upfront with a kind of rich and toasty oak through the middle. It finishes with a hint of smoke and funky dark fruit sweetness which holds on nicely.

Mouthfeel: Musty, somewhat thin and slippery. Mild-medium body with low Co2. 5% ABV. It’s surprising how it offers good length considering the light texture.

Overall: We thought we’d give this a run purely off the back of their Lambic (which from memory was their ’19 GABS beer). It was sensational. Although this was good it didn’t have the finesse that the Lambic did. Still, a very difficult style which they’ve executed pretty well.