Cantillon Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru

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Pale golden beer with no head. Sour aroma, woody and herbal, floral, this is a strange bird, reminding me slightly of some white wines but still being quite its own thing entirely. Despite some brett characteristics that remind me that this is indeed a lambic I have never tasted anything like this. A challenging offer from Cantillon.

Cask @ Spuyten Duyvil. Pours a hazy golden-orange color with a medium-sized white head. The nose is that Cantillon funk combined with some earthy and grassy notes as well. Taste is the same, with a wonderful brett/funk finish that completes the whole experience. Well done, again, Cantillon.

2007 bottle Maybe I’m just not cool enough to enjoy lambics... Pours a pretty clear yellow-orange with no head. Smells sour, with a bit of funk, cheese, and some fruit, like apricot. The flavor is acrid, sour, slightly sweet, slightly funked, with a water aftertaste. The body of this beer is light. Overall, it’s interesting, but I won’t buy it again.

750ml Bottle (2007 Vintage): Aroma of tart fruit, slight funk, oak, slight Brett, and sour acid. Poured amber/orange in color with no head at all. Lightly cloudy. Not sparkling. Full of tiny particles throughout. Flavor is lightly sweet and light to moderate tart. Tastes of oak, tart fruit, slight Brett, wood, and slight barnyard. Light to medium body. Thin texture. Soft carbonation. Lightly tart, oak finish.

2005 bottle, aged 4 years. Each pour yields a body that is progressively more cloudy than the last, medium golden-amber in color, with a fleeting, off-white head of bubbles. There’s virtually no lacing left behind. The nose is nothing short of stunning, tart apricot showing as the dominant fruit component, with lemon essence, barnyard air, well-used oak, and hints of a dusty old house. There are hints of nectarine sweetness in there to keep the citric acidity in check, but as refined as it is, there’s still no mistaking this as one sour mother of a beer. Flavors mirror the aroma, tart apricot and zesty lemon calmed ever so slightly by sweet nectarine and hints of juicy peach. The brief respite from the sourness that the nectarine provides is quickly quashed as brash acidity attacks the throat on the swallow. Funky oak imparts hints of vanilla and musty wood flavors. This stuff is so refreshing and drinkable, thanks in great part to the lightly carbonated, semi-dry acidity that comes through on the moderate palate. There simply has to be a good amount of this exact strain in the Cantillon Cuvée des Champions, as the similarities are striking. Fantastic lambic.

On cask at Spuyten Duyvil at their Cantillon & de la Senne event. Pours a hazy apricot color with a thin to medium white head. Lovely funk, with nice notes of hay and wood. Thin to medium bodied, with light wood flavors. Excellent sourness with a nice balance of acid and vinegar before a long tart bretty finish.

Bottle 2002. Orange colour with absolutely no head. Very sour, tart, funky, sour fruit, lemon, cheese, oak. Flat with no carbonation to speak of. I need to try this one again in a less intoxicated state.