Cantillon FouFoune

Brewed by Cantillon
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Brussels, Belgium

Quando un lambic è grande, ci sono poche cose che posso preferire; e la Fou Foune di Cantillon è un grande lambic, con le albicocche a smorzare nell’aroma le asperità di una gueuze, ma per niente privo di carattere; bottiglia da 75cl condivisa allo Scugnizzo di Arezzo.

750ml bottle at Cambrinus, Brugge. Did not see the cork because the waitress did not give it to us and would not find it when we asked for it. Pours hazy yellow, medium foamy head, very short retention. Aroma is very peachy and tart. Taste is quite peachy and citrusy. Tartness felt overwhelming for the first few sips but then it became really drinkable. Overall a refreshing and tasty brew. Note to myself : I found it better than the Vigneronne.

750 ml bottle with 2008 stamped on cork. Body is a hazy orange with lots of tiny bubbles rising to the surface and a thin film of them swirly around the surface. The original head was pretty unsubstantial, rather fizzy and very short-lived. Aromas are intensely sour... vinegar and funk. It’s pungent and promises that what lies below will be quite an experience. That said, the flavor is a little bit weaker than expected. It is certainly tart... almost like sticking an entire lemon peel in your mouth and chewing, but it seems like it is missing a little complexity. There is a very fleeting apricot presence, but it is unpredictable as to when it shows itself. This of course is all while the beer is still pretty cold. As this warms, the flavors come out much fuller and it gets really good.

Bottle. The aroma is sour,peaches, later on it gets a little bit sweet. The head is medium large, white and foamy-lively, rather fast disappearing. The body is cloudy, lively and orange. The taste is very sour and light fruity. The body is light to medium with a lot of carbonation and a very dry body. The finish is very astringent.

Bottle shared by Andreasen11. Pours an hazy yellow colour with a white head. Aroma is very acidic, with lots of citrus, combined with grape and weak notes of humid cellar, wood and apricot. The flavour is extremely sour with dry grape, wood, a little dust and humid cellar notes, ending in a sour after taste, with a weak hint of apricot and what’s reminds me of sea buckthorn. It very sour but nice.

Bottle. Unclear yellow body with a medium white head. Lots of acid in nose with some grape fruit but mainly acid. Very citric sour acid in flavour. I dont get any apricot but intense acid. Creamy texture. The most acidic lambic Ive had. Very interesting.

Very fresh, inviting fruit lambic with suble funk aroma and sharp acidity in the nose. Flavour is intense, tears the mouth apart. The apricot is subtle (as expected) and shows very little signs here and there once you get past the initial sourness. Looks a bit dull, pale hazy yellowish.

250ml pour, on tap at Toronado in San Francisco, CA ($7.50!!). This one absolutely rocked me with its sourness. The bartender at first wondered whether I truly knew what I was ordering, I assured him, though I may look somewhat naive to the stuff (do I really?), I did in fact order it, picked it out from the hundred-or-so beers available, thus there is no need for a "warning". Somewhat irritated by this, I thought I should order two, one to savor at my table and one to unflinchingly pour down my throat in an instant while he watched, to show him what kind of stuff I am made of. A sort of beer geek spite. After having sufficiently convinced the bartender that I was worthy of a glass, he changed his tone and began to give me his own analysis, which I did not want or need. I took the beer back to my seat, and began drinking it. It took me about an hour to get through the 250ml, partly because it was so intense and extreme, partly because I wanted to prolong this glorious experience. Pours a hazy yellow-orange color with very little head. Ultra-sour, funky champagne-barrel musty woody aroma with a tinge of nondescript tree-fruit. Slightly citrusy perhaps. The flavors were punishingly sour, with only the slightest hint of apricot. It seems that the apricot, and its delicate and subltle flavors, are well-suited to provide a fruity background character to lambic beers, but cannot "shine through" the funk. Absolutely bone dry super tart finish. That was probably the most interesting aspect of this beer. The finish was abrupt and dry, but tickled the taste buds just enough to produce an intense craving for more and more. This is the hallmark Cantillon experience. This is the cornerstone of any sour beer addiction, in my opinion. It is sour candy for the adult beer geek. Amazing, as are most Cantillon brews. But this one had something extra special...