Cantillon Blåbær Lambik

Huge thanks to Alex (MasterSki) for opening this one at our wild/sour tasting. 2009 Batch 4, poured from 375ml bottle into Bell’s Tulip. A - Pours purple/dark blue with a pink fluffy head. Lots of sticky lacing is left behind once the head dies down a bit. The look of this beer is unlike anything I’ve ever seen...something to be seen, no doubt about it! S - Blueberry funk/tart, mellow sweetness, and light acidic notes. It’s hard to put into words the perfection of this blueberry lambic, so pardon me if I just comment how awesome it is by saying, "it’s awesome". T - Well, what do you think it tastes like? Uh...blueberries? Yeah, I’d say so. Sweet blueberries, sour blueberries, funky blueberries. However you’d like your blueberries, this lambic dishes it out. A nice acidic bite but nothing too strong. This one stays pretty mellow when compared to the nose. M - Light, nice fizzy carbonation that cover the palate well. This is a great beer to swish around on your mouth and enjoy slowly. A nice rich finish, that I really enjoy. D - So easy to drink, I already want another all to myself!

Batch 2 bottle at PP Carlsbad. Murky amber tiny hue with a thin smattering of white foam. Nose is big blueberry with acidic tartness, light funk and vanilla, oaky wood. Flavor is tart and sour blueberries and other light fruits, uber tartness dominates, light bitterness, finishes dry. Medium body/ carbonation, prickly texture. A top line sour blueberry ale, all around solid flavor even though the sourness drowns out the blueberry near the end.

Batch #5 Violet pink foamy head. Sour, dry, fruity aroma. Initially just sour, in a pleasent limited way, then the blue berry sets in. Symphonic. Ends in sweet distinct berry. Medium body, fizzy. Very nice. However, after a few sips the sourness kills the blueberry taste. Medium body, fizzy. Purchased in Ølbutikken.

Batch 4. Pours with a slightly cloudy, rose body topped by a thin to medium thick head with some lacing. It’s sour and tart with nice underlying blueberry that adds some sweetness. Light bodied, crisp and dry. One of my favorite for sure.

Placeholder until a re-rate. Had a bottle from what I believe was March 2009, Batch 4?. Very disappointing and nothing like I remembered. Now I need to drink a bottle from the cellar (Batch 002) and hope to erase this bad memory.

2009 bottle. A rich, gorgeous velvet purple pour and a pillowy crown of pink. Blasts of blueberries and funk in the nose; beneath, vanilla, gritty fruit sugars, and minerals are just little accents on this massive, jammy juiciness, so rich and compelling atop the intimidating funk of cantillon.

Taut, punchy flavor of lemons and blueberries, tannins and oranges; the blueberries are so palpable that much like the freshest fruit they bring out hints of other fruits buried inside; the funk is way underneath this and plays a perfect complimenting role, which is much better to me than the confronting role it plays in foufone or saint lamvinus, for this purpose at least. Its detailed, not complicated, and the blueberries shine; lightly salty afterward.

Tight, full palate, brisk and puckering, giving an almost rich chocolate like blueberry flavor in the finish; intricate and impressively harmonious. Ty knew how bad i wanted this, thanks a ton buddy!

2007 375ml A - Wow, I’ve never seen a beer this color... As I pour this deep purple lambic almost 2 fingers of pink stained tan head rises and settles after a few seconds. S - The second I started pouring this I could smell the blueberries. When you’re nose deep in the glass there is a strong acidity and a nice healthy funk, lovely barnyard and cheese. T - Frickin’ awesome. Not the sourest Cantillon I’ve had, but definitely packs a punch. It blend very well with the funk going on as well. The blueberries are also the most present out of Cantillon fruit lambic that I’ve had. It might just be in my head but I swear the blueberries also add to the sourness, as if they were picked early. This one was carbonated pretty well and probably one of the only things I could find I didn’t like about, and I was trying pretty hard. Rarity and price aside, I could drink this any day of the year, I would just need 30 minutes to lose myself in it.

I was lucky enough to get me a couple of bottles of the ’09 2nd batch. The aroma is unmistakably blue berry and a lot! After half a bottle, I somehow loose the track of the berry flavor. Still, a climax of a lambic.