BA Blended Flanders Red with Scottish Tayberries

Inspired by Flanders Reds of old, Goat Witch is a blended sour red ale combining 80% provision strength ‘young’ stock beer aged in steel, with around 20% ‘mature’ stock beer aged in ex-Heaven Hill bourbon oak barrels. The combination of old and young beers has produced a complex sweet and sour flavour profile with a subtle oak character.

This blended base was transferred onto 220g/l of 2022 harvest of Scottish Tayberries, sourced from farms located within 40 miles of the brewery. Tayberries are a cross between raspberries and blackberries. Expect complex raspberry aroma to dominate, with blackberry-forward characteristics on the palate. 

A cross between a Flanders Red and a British Stock Ale, brewed with a mixture of crystal, amber and rye malts. Primary fermentation was undertaken with one of our favourite brettanomyces blends, in addition to our house culture of yeast and bacteria.
The beer was then blended (70/30) with 2 year old Amber Sour Beer aged Rye Whiskey barrels.
We transferred this blended beer directly onto the lees and spent fruit (200kg redcurrants/blackcurrants) from our previous Flanders Red - Blood Incantation, in addition to another 200 kg of whole victoria plums, harvested at Pittormie Fruit Farm, 7 miles from the brewery.
A portion of these plums were smoked at the brewery, using oak staves from a red wine barrel. The resulting beer is complex and vinous, with a subtle smoke.

For this collaboration we have brewed a full-bodied classic barley wine to which we added many classic Rodenbach ingredients after fermentation, such as cranberry, elderberry and sour cherries. This has resulted in a beer with a unique taste dimension. At first you taste the full-bodied barley wine with its maltiness and ripe fruits, after which the nicely balanced, classic Rodenbach acidity comes up and you can clearly taste the cranberry and sour cherries.