Cantillon Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Unblended
Brussels, Belgium

Peach-colored and cloudy-bodied, no head...aroma is very yeasty and puckeringly sour - no particular fruit presence. The flavor is also very, very tart: in my opinon, just mostly sour. I’m having a hard time placing any specific flavor with this one...I don’t know, maybe I just don’t get lambics.

Bottle from 2001 - Orange golden slightly hazy body, big bubbled white head; Great deep warm a little greasy nose, not as fresh as your usual Lambic, aroma: wet oak and horseblanket are the most predominant elements, sugared rotten apples and some fresh green fig peel behind, way back there is something fresh like green apples and orange juice and peel; The body has an almost oily texture, (almost) no carbonation, but lots of fresh fruity and lactic acids, it is actually a little bitter as well; It finishes very long, starting a bit slow almost thin, but soon evolving with a very balanced amount of lactic acids, again a small amount of bitterness, it has lots of aroma, more aged then fresh: overripe pear, overripe apple, cowshit, wet oak. Very special, I don’t think I have ever smelled the "classic" lambic/geuze (horseblanket, cowshit etc.) notes as clear as in this beer. I poured a glass from some hight, like with a Spanish cider, and it actually brought some freshness to the beer.

Gorgeous pale golden color much like good champagne with no head. Aroma is mostly sour/tart also soft wood. The entire aromatic experience is very soft like fine velvet. Flavor is mostly sour/tart with some wet wood. Overall experience is pleasent, but not awesome.

On tap at O’Briens. Pours a slightly hazy, lemony honey color with almost no head. Aromas of granny smith apples, lemon rind, and soft pears. A bit on the sweet side, but plenty of funky barnyard characters pleasant. Medium bodied, lightly carbonated mouthfeel. Some tasty chardonnay tannins and light oak provide most of the flavor depth, along with a bit of musty lemon rinds. Really could use more carbonation to liven up the mouthfeel and help give it a bit more of a crisp acidic edge, as I find it a touch to sweet as is.

Virtually no carbonation in this unblended lambic.Very acidic malt with big sour apple and grapefruit. nice clean bret finish.

75 cL bottle, tulip glass, 2000 bottling. Large fizzy head is quickly diminishing. Hazy amber-orange body. Wonderfully nasty aroma. Horseblanket, barnyard, and mold are the primary aromas. Sour fruits, wine, and caskwood are also present. Highly acidic, moderately sour flavor becomes a moderately acidic, highly sour finish. Not as bittingly sour as their Kriek or Gueuze. Caskwood is a little stronger in the flavor. Definitely rougher around the edges than other Cantillon brews. Lingering finish. Medium body is very dry and wine like with soft carbonation. Mildly astringent. If you're brave you'll let this one flow under your tongue. The bottom line is: like all Cantillon brews, I finished this 75 cL bottle without hesitation. Rerate: 11/23/03 I added a point to the appearnce as my last bottle had great, champagne like carbonation and produced large foamy heads.

Hazy golden. Soft, tart aroma, lemons, and capers. Nice mouthfeel, its a bit thinnish, but thats expected as it is a lambic, and nice carbonation. Fairly acidic, mostly acetic, but quite balanced. My first taste of an unblended lambic, surprisingly drinkable. In my mind it lacks a bit of the roundness of a blended lambic, but that doesn't mean I don't really like it!

Sample at Indy tasting Dick’s BBQ 3/31/06 - Aroma is sour, yeast, citrus, and clove. Pours hazy yellow with no head or lacing. Flavor matches aroma. There is a fruity taste in there I can’t put my finger on, maybe apricot or grapefruit. Palate is very tart yet it goes down smooth. I like the natural flavors and would like to nurse a whole bottle and really get into it.