Cantillon Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Unblended
Brussels, Belgium

Pours out clear gold with no head. Smells funky, oaky and sweet. Taste is apple juice like. Funky yeast and notes of wood. Nice dry finish. Great old lambic taste. Tasty

22oz bottle. Pours clear gold, no head, no carbonation, we even tried to force some by giving a hard pour. This was our first unblended lambic. The nose is very oaky, tons of wood, with some tart apples. The taste is a little tart but very smooth and flat, reminds me a bit of the great Spanish Cider Sagardoa. Very different and we sipped on this beer all night long as a palate cleanser in between big imperial stouts.

Bottled 2003. Not completely still, but almost so. Clear gold colour. Crazy funky aroma dominated by a toasted sesame seed aroma quite reminiscent of Sesame Wheat biscuits. There’s also a bit of garbage water and olives. Loads of crazy shit going on, but whilst it smells good, I don’t think it’s great. Starts with a light, brief sweetness, then becomes sour, then bitter and salty in the end. Loads of bitter blue cheese flavours and quite a vinegary, salad dressing sourness. Some astringent woody flavours too. Quite a rough flavour, but not as sour as Rosé de Gambrinus. Loads of really great flavours, but I’m not sure it all melds in together like it should. The bitterness particularly clashes with the sourness, which is sometimes good, but often annoying. I must say I don’t really get the single malt comparison at all. For what it’s worth, this was quite a lot like my own home-brewed pLambic, only a lot more sour, so that at least made me feel good. Got a couple of bottles going into the cellar, hopefully in a couple of years this will be awesome.
RR: Label says 1999, cork 2003 - weird. This seems a fair bit thinner and sharper than the fresh lambic. Vinegary salad dressing, dried apricots and toasted sesame seeds. Kind of a hard mouthfeel, and quite bitter. It seems a bit out of balance for mine, though the aroma is still pretty incredible. I always thought this would be my favourite Cantillon, but it’s not even close, really.

Bottle opened by Douglas88, thanks for the brew mi amigo. You know, when you rate an Imperial Stout or an IPA you can draw from lifes experiences to describe the flavors or aromas.Hell, espresso, molasses, citrus, those are all things you can explain. But when a Lambic comes along and me being a city boy and never had a wet nasty horse blanket tossed drapped over my shoulders like Jeremiah Johnson might have, then how can use that as a descriptor? I do not know what the damn thing "smelt" like or even tasted like but it was a-fuckinging-mazing.

Pours hazy, orange, minor head. Acidic and yeasty aroma. Fruitish smell. Solid mouth feel with an lightly sour, fruity flavor.

2004 bottle. Low carbonation. Nose of apple cider, barnyard and honey. Not as acidic as expected (for Cantillon standards), yet tart and mouth-watering, woody and dry. The mouthfeel is mellow and smooth. The finale has great finesse. Much more interesting than a 2004 bottle tasted in 2006... Very statisfying. Pairs very well with sushis.

Aroma of wet wool blanket brett, onion peels, sour oranges, vinegar, and acidity. Taste is lemon, sour oranges, high acidity, barnyardy/brett, and onion. Tart finish, but a surprisingly light finish which seems balanced?

Flat entry. I simply didn’t expect this, nor did I care, if this lambic had a head or not. Nice, light orange color. Dry, deep woody notes in the nose with notes of grapefruit, lemon, white grapes, green apple, leather and flei infested horse hair. Much more approchable than I was expecting. Flavor begins with deep wine-like tannins and damp wood. Next comes the superbly woven fruit notes, mainly grapefruit, green apple and orange. The finish is dry, metallic and very acidic. More lingering and sour deep wet wood notes linger on. This lambic is everything and more of what it is trying to be. The gods blessed this barrel well. Phenomenal.