Arbor Brasserie Greff Kriek

Brewed by Arbor Brewing Company Pub & Eatery
Style: Fruit Beer
Ann Arbor, Michigan USA

Bottle via Joel. Vintage 08/2005? The beer pours to a watery tomato juice like body with a white head. The aroma is cherries, funky barnyard. Nice balance of tartness to fruitiness. The flavor has tart cherries, light strawberries, nice balance of tartness and fruit. Quite nice. The palate is tart with a nice mouthfeel.

Courtesy of hopdog... appears a murky red with steady streams of CO2 rising to the top of the small, off-white head. Small traces of lacing are left around the glass. Smell is of sweaty socks, raspberries, funky cherries, and caramel. Taste is of the mentioned aromas with more berries, oak, and funkiness coming through in the tart flavors. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, tart, with a dry, mouth puckering finish.

Hazed, ruby-red grapefruit color with tiny bubbles working it out on top. Aroma captivates. Raspberry kernels and tart cherry fruit excretions join with cheese danishes and perfumey mulberry. Sour flavor excretes a cottony, tart cherry motif with a touch of vanilla and almond base traits. The perfume plays out with mulberry and lavender, and rose blossoms drop a few flavor petals as well. A hint of soupy cleanliness gets lined with lilac pollinations. Raspberry kernels arise with a touch of anisette. Sourdough gets smeared with strawberry casings and rye chips. Lime juice hangs on the lips when appropriately licked, and the tart cherry matter hangs onto the end.

Brick red. Fluffy pink-tinged ivory foam. Classy aroma of delicate cherry notes, cherry pits, and musty minerals. Hints of iron and melon. Slightly effervescent, but mostly feathery and weightless. Has just enough carbonic briskness to ignite a brief burst of iron and tart acidity. Modestly dry with peppery phenols. Muted brett flavor submits to a temporarily-jumbled mess of overripe cherries. Medicinal and crushed mineral astringency is perceptible, but not in the overpowering fashion which plagues some of their other 750’s. Remarkably clean, but mild-mannered and minimally funky, throughout, with finishing hints of melon and coconut scattered over a palpable base of toasty malt and underlying pale malt huskiness. Very impressive, although the flavor fails to mirror the refined cherry profile of the aroma. Really just suffers from being too delicate in the cherry and brett department and a tad too astringent, as well.

750ml bottle, May 2004: Pours a nice bright ruby hue with a small fizzy but lasting pink head in my NB flute glassware. The aroma has notes of tart cherry, musty and farmhouse yeast esters, and oak. The taste starts tart and sourwith a solid undertone of yeasty characteristics. Leads to bone dry woody finish. Could use a bit more cherry flavor however and as others have noted, the fruit flavor seems to peak and then disappear below the yeast. The feel is refreshing and clean for the style. Overall, a well done p-lambic that will not bowl you over but doesn’t offend the Kriek lover either.

750ml corked and caged. Hand marked bottling date: May 2004. Clear bright red body topped by a small light pink head. Looks very nice and refreshing. The aroma is lightly dusty, sour cherry, not much brettanomyces character in the aroma as you may expect. The flavor is nice but lacks the depth of the great Belgian Krieks. The flavor starts out sour cherry, then some nutty malt all followed by a bit too much strong cherry. The acidity picks up late keeping it from turning medicinal. The body is medium, lightly spritzy thus enhancing the acidity, and medium puckering sour on the palate with a tannin-esque finish, though your teeth stay clean. Overall it is a nice beer and kudos to the brewer for having a sense of adventure.

750ml caged and corked bottle labeled bottled on 815 (I’m guesing Aug, 1st 2005 as I bought this at the same time as the Framboise that was bottled in ’05). Poured a medium and cloudy reddish/pinkish color with a smaller sized pinkish off white head. Aromas of cherries, woody, caramel, and trace of cherry pie crust. Aromas on the softer side. Tastes of tart cherries, peppery, woody, and berries. Nice tart, puckering finish.

Bottle ala SoG. 8/05. A couple different looks to this one. One of the first pours was a slightly hazed pink amber, while a later pour (mine) was a heavily clouded light rust colored liquid. Pinkish off-white diminishing head. Tart nose with cherries and hints of herbal hops. Mild lemon and spices in the background. Tart cherries mixed with apple jacks cereal. A rather interesting combination. Mild attic dust and acid mix in the middle. Rather light and dry in the finish with strawberries and cloves. From looking at other reviews this looks to be a brew that is better fresher.