Cantillon Cuvée des Champions

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Brussels, Belgium

2004 vintage courtesy of Terry Boyd’s back room. Poured a hazy golden with a white head. Funky horseblanket and stinky cheese aroma. Flavor is very sour, with notes of cherry and grape and a bit of toffee. Causes phelgm to congeal in the back of the throat. Tart and dry finish. Great, one of the best lambic’s I’ve had.

A fine beer to have as my last rating of 2006. Cork dated 2005. Pours orange with a white sudsy head that is biggre than normal for a gueze. The aroma is fruity, has wild yeast, sour - but not as sour as most lambics. It is more tart and brett-like. Medium body with light semi-sharp body and finishes very crisp. The taste starts tart with barnyard / earthy traits as well as some fruity richness - lots of complexity with this one. The finish gets more tart - crisp and refreshing. Not much sourness to this one, but lots of biting tartness. Excellent gueze. (8/3/8/4/17 - 4.0)
Rerate notes: Aroma has, in addition to traits on notes, perfume traits, light chalk, some citrus and a hint of hops. Body is just about perfect for the style - fairly thin that is very sharp and crisp and carbonation that seems on the sharp side, but spreads flavors like soft carbonation. Taste has what is noted above, but also has some grainy citrus and more sour than I remembered. World class.

Shared by sliffy at CT4. Aroma of sourness, horseblanket, cheese, and funkiness. Flavor was sour and tart with a little earthiness. Pretty good lambic.

Bottle. Pours cloudy yellow/gold, with a white head. Aroma is slightly sour, with yeast and funk. Flavors are sour grapes, hops, lemon, earth, and spice. An intriguing brew....

Bottle CT$ shared by sliffy, thanks! Pours a golden yellow with a white head. Aroma of brett, funk, some yeast and some spices. Earthy flavor, some grapeskin and some sourness to it. Lively carbonation...fairly light with a sour/dry finish.

Shared by Sliffy at C-bus tasting #4. Huge thanks to Dan for sharing this incredible beer that I’ve really wanted to taste! This baby starts out with some Bootsy Collins Funk in the nose, sour and earthy as well. Hazy yellow appearance with a white head. Medium palate with good carbonation. Great light sour flavor with earthy notes mixed in. I love this style, and this is a great example of balance and drinkability.

Bottle: Hazy golden color with a white head. Aroma, funky and sour, some lemon grass, and yeast. Flavor, some light apples, lemon, sour and funky, nice and smooth though. Really nice beer.

750 ml bottle, thanks to The_Epeeist for the trade. Pours a hazy golden orange with an average bubbly white head that left some lacing. Aroma of barnyard, musty, grapes, some woodiness, floral and hints of the candi sugar sweetness. Great aroma, interesting how the dry hops added to the aroma of this one. Flavor of green apples, some tart lemon/grapefruit, sour, musty but very smooth, yet tart and drinkable for a Gueuze...glad I got ahold of two of these.