Duchesse de Bourgogne - Sour Ale #3

Actually, "sour ale" is the worst name for this super tasty Duchesse de Bourgogne. "Sour" sounds like there's something wrong with it, and it sounds kind of gross. Like the Rodenbach and the Monk's Café Flemish Sour Ale that One Woman had a while back, its real name is a Flanders/Flemish Red Ale, and sourness is only one of the many, many wonderful qualities of this beer!

A mahogany-stained walnut color, pretty dusty-pink head with a chiffon cake texture, it smells like earthy dank mushroom, and soft strawberry balsamic. The Duchesse is glamorous. Raspberries, tart cherry, oak, and some tobacco--I know, it sounds like a wine, and it is--kind of like the wise, sexy, sophisticated relative of a rosé wine. Actually, Flanders Reds are made in unlined oak vats like some wines. Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver says that dozens of wild yeast call the wood in these vats home. Since the wood cannot be sterilized, these mystery yeasts do their magic on the beer-to-be. A bit scary, but sure, why not. It tastes good.

Served mildly chilled, it pairs wonderfully with food. One Woman had this with an awesome explosive green "pasta primavera" with fresh fava beans and English peas, green garlic, zucchini, parsley all tangled up in pappardelle. It also inspires desert pairings--like the raspberry-topped lemon muffins (aka yum!!) that One Woman was moved to bake earlier in the day. The muffin recipe comes from the amazing smitten kitchen (click on the link and go make your own). I think cheese mongers could also go nuts pairing this with all sorts of fromage and food combos. The possibilities for this one are grand!

Musical pairing: Duke Ellington, "Sophisticated Lady". Crazy gorgeous Ellington harmonies. The lady is elegant, tough, smart, sexy, and yet, not what you expected. Which makes it that much more exciting. Here's another version of Sophisticated Lady with John Lamb (?) on bass? I can't decide which one is better.  Or how about this one with a solo by Harry Carney possibly holding the longest G# in the history of recorded music (by a sax player at least)? The real story of the Duchess is a sad one though. The Duchesse of Bourgogne was Mary of Burgundy, aka Mary the Rich. As the daughter of Charles the Bold, she became the heiress to his wealthy Burgundian domains, and was Duchesse for 5 years, but died in a horse-riding accident at the age of 25 in 1482. The beer is supposed to be named in her honor, maybe imagining what she what she would have become had she lived to see her duchy prosper (which it didn't--the Duchy of Burgundy pretty much fell with Charles' death in 1477). The beer clearly tells the happier success story here.