Cantillon FouFoune

2007 cork. Pours a murky hazy straw yellow with a thin white fine froth. Aroma is unexpectantly very sharp and fruity, tangerines/necturine like citrus, lovely lovely apricot... wow, smells super, wow that’s great, funky dusty, sharp but tolerable, sharp gueze but with complimentary maltiness to fill it out. Yikes! Gueuze like beer, wow the perfectly blended apricot, shockingly acidic and crisp, even for a cantillon, the apricot is a great fit for the gueze, fairly sweet, quite tart, I really feel like I’m drinking a flavorful gueze which is something that kriek and raspberry lambics can’t achieve. The bitterness is really one of the coolest part of this beer, it lingers mixing with a slight vanilla flavor that leaves the impression of the last bite of an orange popsicle. Medium bodied, sharp carbonation, fuller feeling, plesant mouth-feel. Delicious, clean, sharp, and super drinkable!!! LOVE IT!

2009 bottle served in a white wine glass at room temp. Pours a nice, slight thick orange-gold with a thin ring of white bubbles persisting. Beautiful nose full of peaches, apricots, slight funky brett. Really round in the nose. Like most Cantillon, it’s fairly bracing and hard in the mouth. Really big peach, apricot presence. Full and round, vinous and white wine like. The fruit is great at this age, but a hard, slightly metallic age tells me this one would likely get better with some years on it. Very enjoyable, kinda like a slightly more acidic Duck Duck Gooze.

Sample at Esbjerg Beerfestival. Small head with short duration. Color is hazy yellow. Aroma and taste are sour lactose acid, malt and fruits. Long sour finish.

Bottle. Jydske Øldage 2009. Frothy white fair mostly deminishing head. Yellow colour. Light malty very sour aroma. Moderate bitter very sour flavor. Apricut just present. Long powerfull lambic-sour finish. Oily palate.

Why did it take me so long to try this beer? Ive seen it available at Churchills (pubs are expensive places to try expensive beers), now its gone. Then Ryan had it at his Cantillon tasting, but \i left too early. Then Ive seen it here or there. Well I finally found a 2008 375mL bottle at Tanakaya in Tokyo and bought a bottle. Chilled in the fridge and poured into a large snifter. Beautiful cloudy orange amber color. Aroma...aroma..cough...well, ahem. After brewing 7 sours and noticing my own mistakes, and loving Cantillon for years, Im starting to notice some undesirable (to me at least) aromas in Cantillon beers. Of course there is the initial wonderful sour aroma, with a hint of acetic acid, which I like. Apricots are very difficult to discern in taste or aroma, but probably you can see it in the color. Next in full force in the aroma is a vegetal skunky aroma. Ive smelled in my ciders and one of my Berliner Weisses. Very remiscent of the garlic of Saaz hops, but it could be remnants of enterobacter production of DMS, though I would hope this would fade after the 1-2 years of barrel aging. It could be something related to aged hops. Whatever. Even though Im trying hard to avoid the DMS aroma in my sours (and I never notice it in American sours), Foufoune is still very good. Dryness amplifies the sourness like a young tart peach. Easy to drink. If money were no issue, I buy more, but since money is an issue, Ill stick to brewing more sours at home. Yum.

Bottle from 2005. Pours hazy golden yellow with a small lasting egg white head. Aroms of vinegar, lemon, wood, musty basement, yeast and spice. Sour and fruity flavour with notes of peach, balsamic vinegar, wood and green apples. Tasty.

Source:750 mL bottle at a tasting in Nashville.
Glass:Fullers snifter.
Appearance:Hazy orange pour with a thin white head.
Aroma:Cheese and apricots.
Flavor:Sour, stinky cheese, with a peachy finish.
Palate:Light body with solid carbonation.
Overall:Loved this. Want more.

Bottle. Ap: Light orange/dark yellow, Hazy! Ar: Champagnesque. Has a aged fruity character. Banana, vanilla. Not as sour as many other lambics. Fla: Fruity! Sour in a sweet fruity way. Tiny bitterness in the end.