Schafly's New Sour Beers

Have you tried Flanders Red Ale yet? Better get on it — Schafly's thinks it will be the new "it" beer of the tap room. 

Reports the Post-Dispatch: "After a great deal of experimenting with various combinations of the wild yeast and bacteria, [Schlafly Tap Room brewer Brennan] Greene and his team settled on the formula for Flanders Red. It started as a traditionally brewed red Belgian single ale that was 'infected' with the three bugs and aged for more than two years in used bourbon barrels that had previously been used for Schlafly's Imperial Stout. 'The pediococcus and the lactobacillus are actually killed by oxygen, but the brettanomyces eats the oxygen,' Greene says. 'All the bugs work together.'" 

Greene and Schafly's have other sour beers in the works as well, including a series of Oud Bruins, three flavored with fruit and one not, and a younger version of Flander's Red. "I really think that sour beers are going to be the next big thing because of the wide variety of flavors," Greene said to the Post-Dispatch. Better try Flander's Red before it's tapped out.