Boon Kriek Mariage Parfait

Brewed by Brouwerij F. Boon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Lembeek, Belgium

In short: My favourite Fruit Lambic ever. The driest and most intense I’ve had. Funky as hell too. A vintage masterpiece.
How: Generous sample from a nearly 20 year old bottle. Eternal thanks to Brian (BrianK) for sharing to gem. The highlight of Dark-Lord-Day 2008
The look: Redish amber body with a medium beige head.
In long: Ho man is this ever aromatic and tasty. I could smell that extra-funky sour aroma for hours. Taste is dry oak, dry cherries and dry everything. This is dusty, extra-sour, extra-tart and especially extra-dry. Never though I’d find a beer drier than 3 Fonteinen Framboos but here we are. This is “making faces” intense yet I couldn’t keep my lips off my glass and I really had to pace myself. Statistics say that those who claim to be enjoying a 20 years old fantastic Perfect Marriage are probably referring to this beer and not their spouse.

15+ year old bottle (as dated by Boon) Holy shit, this beer is dry. Nice and funky just the way i like it. I don’t know if it’s the age of this beer (I’m assuming so looking at previous reviews) that makes it amazing, but who cares this beer if insane. Definately going to put another 7 years on my last bottle and drink it at 20 years old, i can’t friggen wait. UPDATE: I can still remember almost exactly how this beer tastes 2 months after tasting it and it’s without a doubt the the best lambic i’ve ever had. That being said I’m bumping up my rating. The bottle we drank deserves it. My first 5.

20070610 Not sure of serving, probably 750ml, at Spuyten Beast of the Yeast. Leathery, woody (still woody?). Still lambic. Cherry stem astringency prominent. Lingering acidic tartness. Gorgeous aroma is full of cellar and barnyard notes. Mild waxiness on finish. Very nice beer that has obviously aged beautifully and would probably continue to do so.

Cleveland tasting - 750 ml bottle

I got a small sample of this towards the end of the night. There was a little sign of this one being over the hill but overall it wasn’t bad. I have now had the trifecta of Framboise, Kriek and Gueuze; the Framboise is still my favorite.

Aroma / Appearance - A murky red body swirled fluidly around the glass producing no carbonation or head. The scent of stale cherries blended with an extremely mellow sourness to form something that was less powerful than I was expecting. A few years ago this was probably pretty potent stuff. For now the edge is gone.

Flavor / Palate - Even after twenty other imperial stouts, gueuzes and sour beers this was easy to drink. It has definitely mellowed over time and is in decline if you are looking for that lambic kick. On the other hand there is still just a bit of cherriness left to make it worthwhile. It was better than some of the feeble attempts at fruit beers but I’d rather have tried this in its prime.

Courtesy of Styles

Bottle: The aroma is musty sweet cherry, with moderate yeastiness, dust, and cork. It pours a hazy brown with faint red highlights , lots of sediment, and a small pinkish-white head. The flavor starts yeasty with some light cherry. The cherry turns mildly tart in the finish along with some wood and cork in the finish. Light-medium bodied with mild carbonation.

Courtesy of styles. Hazy red body with a small beige head with a pink tint. Moderately tart and lightly sweet nose with cherry, basement notes and light berry. The flavor is lightly sour, lightly sweet with cherry, almond, yogurt and light cheese. Medium body is soft with moderate carbonation.

Label on bottle reads 1995. There is a massive amount of sediment that has permanently attached itself to the side of the bottle, which is proof that it has been resting on it’s side for quite some time. Pours a clear reddish amber, though much sediment seems to be lurking all over. Antiseptic woody nose that you just can’t help going back to again and again. It’s so thick and unique. Flavor is a mind blower. Slight sour tones. Kriek character is still going fairly strong. Cherry characteristics seem to be mixed in with a wood tone. Feel is silly smooth. Unbelievably drinkable. It’s almost sherry or port like. But an aged version. This was my first seriously aged beer, so I am sure my naiveté is making a difference here. It is just in a different class at this point from the age. I think this was an outstanding beer and a real treat to have.

bottled. reddish-brown, no head. aroma of redskins and loads of garbage juice, slight apple vinegar sourness, classy stuff