Cantillon Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Unblended
Brussels, Belgium

1999: acidic peach nose, more the typical cantillon nose. Orange - like apple juice color. Grape and peach taste. Dry and spritzy. Flat though, I wasn’t that impressed.

750ml. I’ve been waiting for this one! 71 of 71!! Golden color. TBC says it smells like 1978 gas lines when he and his buddy made lemonade with real lemon + sugar. Prost! smells like an unflavored lambic, sour, tart, luscious. flavors are smooth. hroma of bandaids. Flavors are rather of tart malt.

Interesting appearance - in my glass, it looked like a hazy amber gold core surrounded by a thinner and lighter yellow outer level. Aroma was strong - summer fruits (apples - thanks, Alicia), musty oaky wood, yeasty; a ton of aromas that I can’t think of actual words for. Taste was vinous - very smooth and thicker than the other Cantillons I tasted (at Buckeye Lambic tasting 6/12/04). Medium sour and tart, some vinegar; oak at the end with a thin sweetness that lingers on and on. There’s a spicy peppery flavor that tingles the back of the throat. This stuff is complex - will have to revisit this again later.

I tried to rate this higher for its within styleness, but geez, it is so sour, I’m just not a fan. Poured with absolutely no head. The color was mildly cloudy amber orange. The aroma was straw and wild barnyard sourness. The flavor was much of the same with some vinegar coming through. I like my beers bitter, but this was funky and sour. Not my cup of tea.

Pours with an orange-gold body topped by a thin to medium thick head with little lacing. It’s sour, tart and full of horseblanket with a nice underlying fuitiness. Very nice. Medium bodied, smooth and crisp.

Body is dull medium-light amber. The head forms easily and fades easily. The aroma is mulch or the loam in a forest, hint of horse blanket and ripe citrus or peach. The flavor: Basalmic vinegar and cotton candy (minus the sweetness). Salt and really thin, sour kumquats or oranges that aren't quite ripe yet, a little orange peel as well. A bit bitter in the finish. Is tart, but not as harshly tart as the Hanssens Oude Gueuze I had a few days ago. I didn't care for it to start with, but the more you drink, the easier it gets.

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.

750ml. dated 8/22/06. pours clear orange with small bubbles around the rim. nose is real nice, sour and tart notes, white grape, very oaky, apricot, apples, and musty. flavor has an accessible sourness, tart, white grapes, lots of oak, mild acidity, actually very easy drinking and refreshing while still having that lambic charm and grace. this pours very close to still and would have improved with a more lively carbination. this could also use a longer palate. i’m really into this beer.