The other night I had the opportunity to meet Hildegard van Ostaden, the brewer from Urthel, her husband Bas, the business and design half of the Urthel team, and Jim Ebel, one of the brothers from Two Brothers Brewery. They were at the Four Firkins touting their newly released collaboration beer Moaten. Moaten is a Flemish word meaning “friends” and represents the relationship between the brewers that led to this collaboration. Two Brothers were the first American distributor of the Urthel beers. This early business relationship led to a friendship and a mutual respect for each other’s brewing prowess. For this first collaboration, brewed at Two Brothers outside of Chicago, they chose a Belgian style Flanders Red Ale. According to Jim Ebel, they deferred to Hildegard’s expertise in formulating the recipe. She is, afterall, a master Belgian brewer and taught brewing in Belgium for many years. I got the sense from him that another collaboration is in the offing, this time an American style to be brewed in Belgium. I can hardly wait.

Moaten is an oak aged Flanders Red Ale, a traditional sour ale from north western Belgium. It is typically a very wine-like beer featuring intense fruit character, caramel malt and a bright acidic sourness. The Urthel/Two Brothers version was fermented with champagne yeast and finished off with a dose of acid producing bacteria before being aged in spent whisky barrels. The barrels had previously been used for another Two Brothers beer, so the whisky flavors are all gone, leaving only a light oak. Here’s my notes:

Moaten
Two Brothers Brewery, Warrenville, Illinois
Brouwerij de Leyerth, Ruiselede, Belgium
Style: Flanders Red Ale
Serving Style: 12.7 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Vinous. Blackberry and grape fruitiness with light caramel malt. Very faint sourness that is less than other versions of the style.
Appearance: Deep reddish-amber and clear. Very small off-white head that stuck around in a thin layer of foam on the surface. Leaves some lace on the glass despite the small head.
Flavor: An explosion of flavors that gets more intense as the beer warms. A definite champagne-like vinous quality from the use of champagne yeast. White wine grape, blackberry, and raisin. The intense fruitiness sits on a base of rich caramel malt with some light toasty notes. The malt remains quite flavorful despite a high level of attenuation. Some herbal/peppery hop flavors are apparent but subdued, as is the bitterness. Again, the acidity is lower than other examples of the style and only really comes out after the beer has warmed a bit. Some oak notes lurk in the background.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, but with a rich and creamy malt. High attenuation leading to a dry finish. Effervescent carbonation.
Overall Impression: The real star of this beer is the beautiful fruitiness brought about by the combination of malt and yeast. The use of champagne yeast makes this beer unique, taking an already wine-like beer style and pushing it one step further. But don’t be alarmed. This is definitely still beer, as the caramel malt will attest. My only wish was that the sour acidity had been higher. While Jim and Hildegard spoke of wanting a subdued sourness, I am a fan of sour beers, and of Flanders Red Ale in particular. I missed the pucker and funk. I bought an extra bottle to lay down for a while. We’ll see if the bacterial beasties continue to do their work.