#52026XC02612EU publication of PGI application for ‘Vlaams roodbruin bier / Flanders Red Ale’
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This notice moves ‘Vlaams roodbruin bier / Flanders Red Ale’ one step closer to protected EU geographical indication status. It publishes Belgium’s application to register the name as a Protected Geographical Indication for a mixed-fermentation beer from a defined part of West Flanders. If the registration is completed, only beer made in the specified area and following the product rules could use the protected name. Brewers, distributors, retailers, and competitors have a three-month window to oppose the application if they have a valid interest.
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Key Changes
- Publishes the PGI application for ‘Vlaams roodbruin bier / Flanders Red Ale’.
- Defines the production area as parts of West Flanders in Belgium.
- Opens a three-month opposition period before the Commission.
Obligations
What this law requires
Any Member State authority, third-country authority, or legitimately interested natural or legal person established or resident in a third country that wants to oppose the PGI application must lodge the opposition with the European Commission within three months of publication.
Brewers seeking to use the name ‘Vlaams roodbruin bier / Flanders Red Ale’ if registered as a PGI must carry out the entire brewing process, maturation in vats, and blending within the defined West Flanders production area.
Beer marketed under the protected name must be a mixed-fermentation beer matured entirely or partly in upright oak vats known as ‘foeders’.
Beer marketed under the protected name must have at least 3% alcohol by volume, original density above 7 °PL, colour between more than 50 EBC and less than 80 EBC, bitterness below 15 EBU, and CO2 content above 4.0 g/l and below 7.0 g/l.
For beer marketed under the protected name, barley malt must account for at least 60% of the total starch- and sugar-containing raw materials, while unprocessed grains, other malted grains, or fermentable sugars may account for no more than 40%.