Cantillon Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Unblended
Brussels, Belgium

Tutored tasting with Italian beer expert Lorenzo "Kuaska" Dabove. Hazy golden colour, wine appearance. Nose of vinegar, lemon, metallic, blood, pork meat, wet wood, "old poker cards" (Kuaska copyright) Taste gives an initial very light sweetness, metallic, tannines. Dry palate, the lambic sourness is not invading.

My favorite Cantillon so far (12 sampled as of January 2007). This is funk at its most mellow, at its most refined and certainly at the height of its glory. Pours a murky, oily looking beige/orange with not a hint of carbonation. Aroma is a knockout: gargantuan oak barrel, peaches, Vermentino grapes(awesome), grapefruit juice, lemon, pepper, leather and plenty of Brett. Barnyard funk of a lighter variety than as with typical Cantillon(or is this typical Cantillon?), I suspect because no carbonation is forcing it upward and out of the glass. The flavor is just as rich and outstanding. warmer now, more profound barnyard and sour notes arrive with a twisted fruit and noble hop character. Also detected are substantial lemon oils and a throttling oak taste that punishes and carresses my mouth all at once. Palate is as smooth as could be but for the funky bashing my taste buds are enduring. Finishes with a steady lingering sour ness that only subsides if I drink something else. This is definitely not a beer for the faint of heart or uninitiated of palate. Older versions have proven even more exciting and refined. Bad Ass.

37,5 bottle at Akkurat. This is great stuff, Lambic-bonanza. Only regrets is that the bottle was very young. will re-rate an oldder bottle soon.

I was shocked I liked this, because I wasn’t a true lambic fan. But man was this nice. Forget where I got the bottle, but it was bottled Jan 07 and I had it July 08 (it was the Organic). Pours even with no head or carbonation - the best color I have yet seen in a sour, lambic or geuze. Brilliant flavor that is deep and not tart (I think the lack of carb. helps a lot to trim the edge off the flavor): mustard, unripe peach, green grape peels, very slight wood, and lemon peel. Only had a couple ounces, but I was impressed and will find this one again.

At the Hopleaf in Chicago--man do they have a Belgian selection to make you weep! Dull, flat amber color, small but lasting milky head. Nose of sour apples, barnyard, grass and candy; flavor almost as intense and complex, extraordinarily sour, woody and smoky. Vinegar seems present in the nose and flavor as well, but this didn’t bother me; guess I’m getting used to these. Smoothes out just a bit as it warms. Extraordinary; can’t wait to try more Cantillon.

750 ml bottle. 2002 bottling. Unblended Lambic we meet at last. Still hazy golden colour. Heavy horseblanket, leather, hay, musky, dry, soft cheesy aroma. Sourness predominant in the flavour melded with dusty, yeasty, citrus, fruity, and more sour flavours. Light bodied and mouth puckering but absolute thirst quenching refreshment.

750 mL bottle (corked and capped, bottled in 2005) sampled late October 2005: pretty clear, golden hay; completely still. Lemon grass and citrus resin aroma with leather, limestone and bittersweet vanilla. Though the palate lacks all carbonation, this one doesn’t need it, because you are transported back to a time when beer isn’t supposed to be fizzy, where all of the flavours are completely natural and 100% unique. Flavours are lip puckering with bitter grapes and sour grass. Dry, acidic finish, simply splendid.

One of the last 1999 bottles at the brewery - an exceptional, JP Van Roy says. He isn't far wrong. Golden colour, no head (3 yr. old lambic!). Nose of aged oak wood, of old leatherbound books in an antiquariat and of wild mushrooms. taste gives more wood, tannines, unbelievable but there is some unfermented thing underneath and sherrywood casks. The finish is made up by all the volatiles from the above retreating. A dream of a beer...