Cantillon Cuvée des Champions

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Brussels, Belgium

2004 bottling, Sampled September 2005
Pours a hazy straw-orange color with a hint of ruby-grapefruit colored notes. The carbonation seems quite low, as the cork did not pop at all when pulled, it is carbonated though, but the head is wispy and a frothy pale color. Ah, the aroma; a suitable funky smell greet my nostrils as I take my first draught of the nose. The aroma is a mix of citrus, funky notes of mushroom, perhaps some notes of farmhouse cheese, and musty earth. The Brett character is quite pronounced, and the aroma just keeps the senses piqued for continued sniffing pleasure.

The beer is of course shockingly tart in the first sip, after that is through it becomes pleasingly tart with a bracing note of acidity. The beer is quite light, and has just enough carbonation to enhance the spritzy refreshing character. I do think that there is a bit of grassy herbal character here too from the dry hopping in the cask. This has a nice note of tart grapefruit, and is not nearly as funky in the taste as the nose suggests. There is a light note of funky cheese in the finish that seems to linger a bit in an astringent manner after the beer has been swallowed.

As this beer warms up it really begins to soften a bit, open up, and become quite a bit more fruity with lots of grapefruit and lemon notes. This is definitely quite enjoyable, and I definitely do not enjoy Lambics enough, it is definitely a special occasion type beer for me, and I would much prefer that it was an everyday beer for me.

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Poured a dark and slightly hazy orange. The aroma is initially vinegar and horseblanket. There are also oranges and leather. A nice musty aroma. The taste is sour vinegar and lemons at first. There is also some leather and flowers. After a little warming it mellows to apples and vinegar. A nice crisp and dry finish. You know this bad boy is a Canitllon. I have had this a couple times, nicely done, but a little one dimensional.

Apricot, light barnyard and rubbery phenolics greet the nose. Opaque yellow-gold with low, fizzy, white head that diminishes to slight ring. Apricot fruitiness with assertive bitterness that is surprising. Fair phenolic lambic character - rubbery, barnyard and cobweb flavours. Medium body with a texture that coats the teeth. Moderate carbonation but somehow it feels still in the mouth. Sampled at GBBF 2005 and then again at RBESG 2005!!!
Earlier Rating: 4/19/2005 Total Score: 3.8
Phenolics are mild in the nose (mmm leather and sweat!) with lightly tart fruity notes and some floral, herbaceous hops that feel like they are just visiting. Opaque orange-tan and fairly still with a shy white head that diminishes immediately and fully. Fair phenolics in the flavour offer up horseblanket, sweat, leather, salt and cheese and complement the lightly sour, tart, dry fruitiness. Medium body with low carbonation that seems to work well for this beer. Bottle enjoyed with beerbuzzmontreal, ClarkVV, MartinT, muzzlehatch, olivier, Rastacouere and Simon.

HUGE thanks to Dixen for sending this my way! It should be noted to all, that this uses the same label as the Cuvee des Champions. Dixen told me this and Jean-Pierre Van Roy confirmed it via email. Also, both beers use the same base lambic, according to Jean-Pierre. At any rate, let’s get on with the show, shall we? Pours a hazed gold with a bubbly champagne like head. Much denser bubble concentration than champagne, however. Nose is outstanding! Funky, citric and bitter. Lots of wood notes to this as well. Horseblanket coming through. I popped this in the fridge only a couple of hours ago so it could chill from it’s transatlantic flight. It’s a bit cooler than room temperature so it’s really bringing forth a lot of the aroma. Nose also sparks some ideas of lemon drops dancing with mellowed hops. Definitely a lot bigger than the Cuvee des Champions. I could not pick out the Tettnang and Goldings per se. Taste is suitably tart and funky. Lots of lemon, wood, chalk dust, sour fruits, horse blanket, damp earth tones and light hops. Body is light and refreshing. Nice dryness and acidity to this one. Very crisp at times. Lemon zest poking it’s head through. Leaves an almost sour melon flavor behind on the tongue. The finish reveals more bitterness, lemon notes, wood, grapefruits, lighter horseblanket and some ripe melons coming through. Very nice, indeed!
Earlier Rating: 5/21/2005 Total Score: 4.4
Bottle - corked and capped. Thanks to BuckNaked and jeffc666 for this. Clouded peach. No head at all on this. However, lots of bubbly effervescence streams spiral up from the sides and bottom of the glass. They meet their demise on the surface in the form of slight ripples. Nose is suitably tart. Sour fruit, light barnyard, cat urine, wet leather, and some damp woody notes. Taste is tart but mellow and very drinkable. Fermented peach, wet wood, sour berries, light leather, barnyard, some horse blanket, and damp basement. Body is slightly acidic and dry with lingering tartness. It does seem to lose it’s carbonation. Finish is diminished tartness, ripened fruit, light barnyard, more leathery notes, and minimal cat urine notes. Excellent beer!

Peachy orange-gold. Nose is, well, lambicy, funky and sour. Has an initial bright, sour burst, then it mellows out to soft grapes, sugars, and light hops. Enjoyable, not stunningly overpowering.

Bottle - sampled at the RBESP 2005
Cloudy yellow, creamy white head. Barn and Leather, citrus, subtle hoppyness. Lightish body. Citric barn aftertaste. Nice :-)

Pours with an orange body topped by a medium thick head with some lacing. It’s tart and sour with a slight barnyard note and a little lemon. Light to medium bodied, crisp and slightly dry.

An unclear light yellow beer with a thin white head. The aroma contains notes of grapefruit, and metal as well as hints of hops. The flavor is rather sweet for a Cantillon, but also grapefruit sour, and with some notes of metal in the middle, before a dry acidic and hoppy end sets in.
Earlier Rating: 10/24/2004 Total Score: 3.5
An unclear orange beer with an orange head. Both the flavor and the aroma is a mixture of sweetness and sourness - quite a nice balance - and on top of this the most dominant note is that of grapefruit.