Cantillon Faro

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Faro
Brussels, Belgium

Draught at t’Spinnekopke, Brussels. Gentle sourness, a little jam. Aromaof candied fruits and jelly sweets. Regulated mouthful - good balance of citric flavour, with a short finish. Very smooth, almost docile.

A Mes rate: Poured from a large ceramic jug at Cantillon. Totally flat, obviously. Great orange colour. Toffee and sugar is just about there but not as sweet as other faros. Guess Cantillon just find it really hard to bring themselves to produce something sweet. Most unusual syrup texture. Almost has the feel of drinking neat cordial. Good old Cantillon make sure there is a quick kick of sour at the finish followed by a truckload of caramel. Definitely a top faro.

Sampled at brewery tour at Cantillion - Pours dark golden with no head. Aroma of sour grapes, cherries, and tart apples. Taste is sweeter than the rest of the Cantillion offerings, some toffee, only slightly tart, and very similar to the young lambic. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, tart, and nearly flat.

Tried at the Cantillon brewery 27/05/06. Bright caramel body, Initial sugar hit then can slightly taste the caramel with the sugar. I liked this but much rather be drinking the Gueze which I thought was great.

’t Spinnekopke, Brussel. Hazy dark brown with a thin bubbly head. Mushy, dusty and still fresh and fruity aroma with some dark candy(sweetened), some sulfur can be detected too. Tastes sweet, sourrish(not as acidic as other Cantillons), cobwebs, apple, dark candy and a bit band-aid(phenolic). Short sourrish finish. A bit sticky, full tasting, soft beer. Try it, if you’re in Brussel.

Draught at Le Zageman. Orange brown body with a small white top. The nose is pretty good - solid punchy fruit funkiness and sticky sweet apricot and peaches along with a smooth butteriness. Doesn’t seem nearly as scary as I anticipated a Faro to be though it is literally sticky from the sugar. Peach tartness to counteract but the sweetness cuts the acidity way too much for me to really enjoy this. Still quite good but I certainly don’t have a benchmark for the style. I’m off to a good start though!

Barrel@Cantillon, Brussels. Nose is surprisingly sweet for Cantillon, but i guess i shouldn’t be surprised as it is a faro. Caramely, slightly sugary toffee apple sweetness. There is a refreshng sourness, which lends well to this beer, as it seems to strike a good balance between sweet and sour. Very interesting nd definitely one of the best faro beers i have had.

Sampled after the Cantillon Open Brewing Day tour. Had to wait around a half hour for them to make it but it was worth it! Still amber. Nose is almost sugary sweet but retains a pleasant amount of tartness and sour fruits. taste is sweet-sour but has the sour fruits taking over and aided by light leathery notes, mild barnyardy flavors, and faint woodiness. There’s some raw suagry notes at times as well. Body is almost uncarbonated but still creates a strong presence in the mouth. Lots of dryness and mild acidity round out the mouthfeel on this. Finishes with lots of sour fruit sprinkled with sugar, faint leather and light sweat. Very nice faro!