 ClarkVV (3547), Allston, Massachusetts, USA
Aug 10, 2005 Updated: Sep 9, 2006
2004 bottle shared with Eyedrinkale on 8/5/2005. Thanks so much for the bottle Jacob, this kicked ass!
Pours the most lovely of cherry reds, with some strawberry-yellowish notes on the edges. Resembles a ripening sour cherry quite nicely, with the yellow to orange to red colors. Mountains of head rise up and is well-retained. Foamy and pinkish-white, with plenty of lacing as it recedes. Needless to say, it is unfiltered. The aroma promises good things to come, with a delicious light acid and tart cherry juice combination, backed by hints of dry vanilla and cask wood. The cherries are rich, yet dry and tart. And then the flavor. . .Oh good lord, this is something else!! As much as I appreciate and love Cantillon kriek, I think this one just took over my number one spot for favorite fruit lambic. An easy 10 for flavor, for me, as it is just perfectly balanced between pure, fresh, real tart cherries, dry and puckering, and a wonderful light malt that adds the perfect amount of balance, in sort of a honey and vanilla creme sort of way. The tartness is strong, but not quite as puckering as an old Cantillon kriek. Granted, these are very different beers, so it’s not really right to compare them. But wow, such fresh, boisterous cherry flavors with light funky-cheesy barnyard flavors. I really like the use of these young, sour cherries versus a more black/sweeter cherry. Such an exquisite balance between sweet and tart, sour and drinkable. If I had access to more of these bottles, I fear I wouldnt be drinking much else as a session beer.
This is one lambic I’m glad I have drank young, I couldnt bare to see any of this magnificent cherry flavor recede with age. Wow, cheers to Mr. Debelder. If the 3F Framboos is better than this then god help me when I try that one. So this is why Joris likes 3F so much. . . .
2003 bottle at GABF party. A darker, more tannic and almost sweeter smelling beer. Funkier and with more cherry pulp smell and less bright, tart cherry juice. The flavor was significantly less bright and tart than the 2004 bottle. I mistook it for just the plain kriek version. Still a wonderful beer, and I don’t imagine there to be any significant difference in quality, I just think this beer is best drunk as young as possible to capture the boisterous, tart, fresh cherry acids.
2005 bottle The odd things about this one is that it, when fresh was EXTREMELY tart, pungent, sour, acidic. I daresay, almost too much so? Just a bit overdone, I guess and without the dainty, delicate brightness of the 2004 batch. So, hoping that it would meld in to what the 2004 became after a year (near-perfect), I tried it again on 8/27/06 thanks to Tiggmtl. Wow. Almost slightly chalky, very weak sourness. The fruit has really gone South. Seems like a lot of the wheat smoothness shows through. No real flaws, just WAY too reserved. Just sort of there, unfortunately. Hopefully that was just an off bottle. Will try it again soon, no doubt. 8/5/7/4/15
piscator34 (937), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Oct 5, 2008 Bottled sample shared with oakbluff. Deep ruby red in colour with medium carbonation. Aromas of ripe sour cherry, mild wood, and a touch of funk. Great flavors of sour (but not overly so) cherries, mud, wood, farmhouse funk, light malts, and a bit of lemon. Not as crazy sour as Cantillon products, but everything is so well balanced. Very nice indeed.
oakbluff (222), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Oct 5, 2008 Bottle shared via piscator- thanks Kris for this tasty treat! Pours a rich dark cherry colour with pinkish head. Nose- charry forward with some wood. Taste- full mouthfeel with fresh plump tasting cherries, medium tartness earthy brett. The wood and cherry tartness mingle well to create a highly drinkable fruit lambic. Finishes with a soft lemony sourness. Lovely drink
SSSteve (1565), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Sep 19, 2008 murky dark purple under a small pink head. woody, brett, cherry, fruit aroma. flavor is very woody with cherry and brett. tart. mellow. smooth. not as acidic as the regular kriek. full body. good.
yespr (6889), Copenhagen O, Denmark
Sep 8, 2008 75 cL bottle, huge thanks to Hildigöltur. Pours clear and golden red with a fizzy pink head. Tart cherry deep spiced to mild dry almond aroma. Dry wooden and cherry almondish towards mild spiced initial flavoured. Dry cherry flavoured as main impression and a smooth and slight sulphorish note in addition. Acidic and tart finish with a nice cherry fruity accent.
bhensonb (3005), Woodland, California, USA
Aug 25, 2008 Bottle (01 march/ 2005) from Marcus. Very much appreciated. Pours a very dark reddish tinged brown with an emphemeral pinkish tan head. Aroma of sour cherry and brett. Medium body with fizzy/creamy carbonation. Flavor is sour, brettish, and puckering cherry. Finish is smooth, sour and a bit earthy. Not like sucking cherry pits. More like sucking sour cherry skins. Takes a long time for wood and oak to be noticeable, but it does happen. They don’t make many like this. It just gets better with time.
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